Managed File Transfer - Data Protection Solutions for the Educational Institutions

Education and welfare support is a critical area that data protection is paramount. As some of the most vulnerable members of society, students can be scammed very easily, so it’s important to cut as much access as possible to their data without limiting access for those that need it such as institutions and education authorities have to consider the need of security and data integrity while transporting and moving it from areas of need. Managed File Transfer is one of the easiest ways to accomplish this.

Managed File Transfer (MFT) software is rapidly emerging as one of the most effective file transfer strategies for enterprises today. It enables organizations to not only protect sensitive data, but also ensures compliance, improved reliability and helps increase IT productivity.

Understanding the Complex Needs of Student Data
Student data isn’t just grades and tutor notes – there is information about parents, discipline, attendance, and for older students, such as in college or university, Financial aid, housing and mental health or medical information. All of it amounts to some of the most critical data available on a person not held by a financial institution, credit check and scoring or medical spine.

Managed File transfer can solve the problems associated with transferring or handling data, without creating a burden on the infrastructure of the system. It can even be used for the secure delivery of critical texts and university data storage, protecting resources from unauthorised access without cutting off student or professor/tutor access.


University Data 101
University data specifically can be troublesome – especially if there are several campuses split over a city or region – or if the offices handling finance and support are in a different campus from the main halls – these criteria specifically require data that has ease of access without being updated, and a system agile enough to transmit changes, and back up those changes in real time. Especially in the case of data being delivered for lesson plans or other education critical regions, MFT can create and foster an air of agile and active learning, and give the students a fully tailored environment that learns and evolves with them.

FTP would be too difficult to manage in these situations – and would create download and upload problems, connection problems in large classes, and data log jams that would slow down, or impede learning altogether, while email delivery would be inefficient for large classes. A centralised, MFT based system would eliminate these problems without costly changes to existing systems and would allow institutions to move with compliance and legislative needs without burdening them with additional IT infrastructure that was only transient in use.


MFT can also foster an atmosphere of trust and ease of access without costly additional GUI or system changes that might overtax the budgets of these institutes – keeping costs low for the students and government support systems alike. Without MFT, the solutions become cumbersome and difficult to integrate, and sometimes create more problems than they solve, but by removing the need of FTP to user terminal transfer, by securing emailed files from outside access and by cutting down on bandwidth and support, MFT gives universities and educational institutions a chance to foster a sense of independence while ensuring the safety of those in their care.


Work in Education and need more information about how Managed File Transfer can benefit your organisation?

HANDD Business Solutions are independent, Managed File Transfer specialists providing solutions to some of the largest public and private sector companies across Europe. HANDD provide file transfer solutions from leading MFT software vendors including IPSWITCH File Transfer, MessageWay, GlobalSCAPE, Linoma, South River Technologies and BOOLE Server. For further information about secure managed file transfer and data exchanges please visit www.handd.co.uk or call HANDD Business Solutions on +44 (0) 845 643 4063.