2021. What an interesting year. With the world turned upside down by a pandemic that seemingly had its sights set on...
DataExpress can just as easily move a file to a program as it can move it to a robot …
DataExpress
Today there is a high correlation between DataExpress deployments and Financial Institutions (FIs). As we look at our NonStop customers, they depend upon DataExpress as it runs the gamut of FIs from banks to switches to card processors. Whether it is the card issuer or the payment processing network, at some point there are files that need to be moved and DataExpress has been moving some of the largest number of files between financial entities for decades. Just because you may not recognize the name, DataExpress, in all likelihood if you have a credit or debit card some of your information has been passed safely and securely from one FI to another via DataExpress.
However, it’s not just FIs that move files on a regular basis, nor are they the only organizations that are challenged with securely moving lots of files routinely. With so much attention of late being given to hackers, there is renewed focus on just how files arrive at a data center. Vulnerability exists across many touch points between data center systems and those of a company’s customers, business partners as well as their internal users. Whether it’s an individual user, a regulatory agency or another program, it has been the job of DataExpress to ensure files are moved from where they originate or have been stored to where they are needed.
Files though vary by type and just as importantly by content. While DataExpress pays no attention to what is in the files it moves, oftentimes it is the content that only makes sense to specific end points. A common theme among blog posts and commentaries featuring DataExpress has been the image of DataExpress as the FedEx of managed and secure file movements – whether we pick up the file or you deliver it to DataExpress, we make sure it gets to the right destination following the rules you select or mandate. But what if the end point is a Computer Numeric Control (CNC) device (or multiple CNC devices) such as a cutting device, or even a highly sophisticated manufacturing company’s robot?
At DataExpress, we don’t care if there is a robot on the end, we will simply get the data out of the NonStop system to where the file is needed and yes, we then can execute programs as required. While the image of FedEx “Package Transportation” holds up, when it comes to how customers configure and rely on DataExpress, well, oftentimes it’s just as valid to think “Waste Management.” We go around shifting stuff and taking it from one place to another even as we don’t care where it came from and don’t judge the content and we don’t care what happens to it when it’s put down where we were told to. Whether files are destined for an FI and include critical customer financial information or simply meant for a robot and include basic instructions to pick up a nut and thread a bolt, it matters little to DataExpress.
However, while DataExpress is overseeing the movement of the file, there are numerous checks involved such that any attempts at disrupting that movement are immediately detected – there’s multiple ways by which DataExpress can protect the information being passed between parties at either end of the transaction. And this is an important consideration for any company moving these files; we anticipate that there will always be a need to make sure there is no possibility of intercepting the transfer and altering the content. We may have no need to know what we are shipping but that’s not to say we don’t take steps to prevent unwanted tampering. We may be in waste management, but for the stuff we shift we still take responsibility – robots will not go out of control because of what we feed them.
One other aspect of the managed and secure file transfer is relevant today when it comes to moving files to end points other than computer programs. In our latest post to the NEWS / BLOG on the Data Express web site, IS TESTING AND VALIDATION ON THE NEW NONSTOP IN YOUR FUTURE PLANS? DATAEXPRESS EXPECTS THAT IT IS! we make reference to actions we can perform that are of value to when the need arises to send the same file to many devices. Sometimes these devices only accept files in specific formats. Should you prefer to use FTP for the file transfer to us even as you know the final delivery has to be made via a proprietary file transfer such as NDM then of course, we can do that as well. In so doing we can reformat data to match specific formats even as we support user exits to concatenate multi-files into just a single file. And we can do the exact opposite via user exits – breaking a single file into multiple files, or even bursting a single file to multiple addressees.
The elegance of our solution is that we aren’t the utility that you prefer to manipulate the file, we just make those utilities line up to meet expectations on either end. If it has been a while since you last checked out the rest of our web site then you may want to take a fresh look at our home page, www.dataexpress.com. DataExpress is a secure managed file transfer application that allows you to schedule, route, format and securely transmit business-critical data over public and private networks quickly and easily, while tracking your data every step of the way. So yes, check out everything that is now published on a web site and of course, don’t hesitate to send us an email if you have any questions about what you find on any web page.