Supporting the diverse needs of a rapidly growing business

Established in 1969, Fidelity International has grown to become one of the leading providers of world class investment solutions and retirement expertise to institutions, individuals and their advisers – and is responsible for £315.6bn of client assets globally.

In the beginning, whilst Fidelity were always steadfast in the protection of their data, file transfers were complex and time-consuming. A transfer involved the business team sending a transfer request to the IT team, asking them to set up network connections and open firewalls so the business team could connect with their business partners.

As the business grew, the number of files transferred around the business and to external business partners by FTP or SFTP increased. It became apparent that to continue to deliver a competitive and reliable service to their growing number of customers, they needed to find a file transfer solution that would be secure, user-friendly and more streamlined, steering the business away from a dependence on FTP and email file transfers.

The challenge of the Financial Services market

There were two key factors prompting Fidelity to introduce an MFT platform:

1. Business growth
   As the business continued to grow, the volume of transfers grew too. Users needed to see whether file transfers were successful, to stay ahead of regulatory requirements and to continue to protect their data in the way their customers expected from Fidelity. The business needed to be able to see who was making transfers and how, where and when files were being sent.
2. Increased data protection regulations
   EU regulations around data protection meant Fidelity wanted to introduce tighter control with more visibility for their file transfers, staying one step ahead of the regulatory requirements and ensuring it could continue to compete as a market leader.

Fidelity already worked with a multitude of partners, some with their own gateway and others without any file transfer solution at all. This meant that Fidelity needed a platform able to support multiple protocols. They needed a solution that supported regulatory compliance in the UK, was compatible with SFTP, and easily scalable so it could grow with the business.

Fidelity contacted HANDD, as HelpSystems UK’s premium partner, for advice.

The solution

An analysis of the MFT market was carried out, isolating the essential features any adopted MFT solution should have, from those features that were simply desirable.

With a shortlist complete, it was possible to compare each possible option taking into consideration the benefits each solution would deliver against the cost of the solution. GoAnywhere was identified as the product that scored most highly from a cost/benefit perspective and HANDD worked closely with Fidelity to roll GoAnywhere out across its UK business.

HANDD ensured that Fidelity’s adoption of GoAnywhere was quick and seamless by identifying potential issues that could arise during implementation and finding appropriate solutions. HANDD’s specialist MFT consultants ensured GoAnywhere was fully integrated with Fidelity’s other applications to make the most of opportunities to streamline workflow, and in no time at all GoAnywhere was delivering safer and more secure file transfers.

The process of introducing MFT has increased awareness of the security and success of data transfers across the business at all levels, driving up general data security.

HANDD continue to support Fidelity, helping them to get the most from their investment, delivering flexible licensing options that enable GoAnywhere to grow with the business in a sustainable manner.

Through HANDD’s connections across the industry, Fidelity have access to GoAnywhere User Forums and other platform adopters, giving them the opportunity to discover new ways to simplify and secure further business processes from their existing GoAnywhere solution.

And with HANDD’s team of experts available to provide comprehensive support and training as required, Fidelity can be confident that if they have any questions, queries or concerns about their GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer Solution, they can get answers when they need them and stay up to date with the latest software changes.

“HANDD have supported us throughout our MFT journey and continue to do so. The expectations of what file transfer can do have grown and the product has matured to meet them.”

Kevin Midderigh, Technical Consultant, Fidelity International