Assessing Your Information Transfer Needs

Corporate executives and business analysts say that successful companies in the '90s will master the collection and use of information. Part of this success lies in a company's ability to share information efficiently among its staff, which is critical to maintaining a competitive edge in the marketplace. Whether you're moving sales data and inventory levels between corporate offices or budget projections and marketing presentations between executives, getting it from here to there can be a challenge. This paper discusses the challenges of evaluating your specific information-access needs to find the best solution.

Areas to consider when assessing your information transfer needs include:

• Accessing Remote Systems
  • Which connection type is best for you?

  • What about the Internet?

  • What are other businesses doing?

  • How do I move data between systems?

  • Which transfer protocol is best?

• Transferring Data Over a Network
  • Transfer Protocol advantages and disadvantages

• The Host System

• Commercial Communications Software

• The Automation Advantage

When assessing your information transfer needs, many factors must be considered. The factors reviewed here—speed, cost, reliability, compatibility, availability, and technical support—outline the need for careful evaluation of available options. Balancing these factors with your specific needs may not be simple, but it is not impossible.

Begin your evaluation by reviewing your physical environment to narrow your options quickly. Do you have serial, modem, or network connections; all three; DOS-based PCs, Windows-based PCs, UNIX, Macintosh; or an assortment of systems? Usually, this first review eliminates many products due to their basic capabilities and leaves a few products with more comprehensive capabilities, narrowing your evaluation.

Then, carefully scrutinize each product's features. If all of the products on the list handle your basic needs, they can be evaluated on specifics such as cost, technical support and automation abilities.

Once the right solution is selected and implemented, you can look forward to quick, secure and efficient data transfers, resulting in improved cost-effectiveness and competitiveness.