South River Technologies and Osterman Research: Enterprise IT Is losing Control Over Business Data

ANNAPOLIS, MD--(Marketwired - Feb 25, 2015) - A survey of senior IT decision makers sponsored by South River Technologies (SRT), has found that businesses are increasingly losing control of critical business data.

The research surveyed 167 senior IT decision makers at North American companies averaging 1,500 employees and was conducted by Osterman Research.

Numerous findings were uncovered related to the 'Dropbox problem,' the term for the unsanctioned employee use of sync and share services including Dropbox, Box, OneDrive and Google Drive.

84% of respondent said they were 'concerned' over employee-managed file-sharing services, though when asked about their management of information security for file-sharing, just 7% said they would give their company an 'A grade.'

Despite this concern and clear gap in implementing a solution, the research found that only 14% of IT decision makers had migrated their employees off of consumer-focused tools, although 58% considered it a 'high or moderately high priority'.

The Osterman research uncovered other challenges including the pervasive use of email to transfer files with 95% of those questioned stating that email was used for file-sharing, followed by Microsoft SharePoint (63%), then FTP services (58%). Just over half (54%) said that IT-managed file sync and share tools were being used, while 41% admitted that employee-managed tools were the common means of transferring files. Osterman Research believes this number to be significantly higher, due to its concealment from corporate IT.

"Working to change employee behavior and modify the use of consumer-focused sync and share tools needs to be a priority for business and technology management," said Michael Ryan, CEO of South River Technologies. "Employees are literally walking out of the door with valuable company data in their personal cloud-based accounts, on their smartphones and on their home computers. This increases the likelihood of data breaches, and has huge regulatory consequences."

The data shows the business challenge surrounding the increasing penetration of consumer-focused sharing tools. The latest data estimates that almost half (49%) of business-based Dropbox installations are without IT permission. This is paralleled across other tools.

Michael Osterman, President, Osterman Research said: "For many enterprises, the problem already exists and the challenge is how to change the status quo, and to educate and influence the behavior of employees that are accustomed to working with personally-deployed applications that they feel are accessible and easy-to-use. They don't realize the insecurity of the solutions. This is why SRT commissioned this research -- it has been committed to secure managed file transfer for ten years, including solutions that incorporate sync and share capabilities into managed file transfer. SRT understands the need for employee-friendly, simple and quick file-sharing that meets the needs of corporate IT: governance, automation, security and reporting."

In January 2015 South River Technologies introduced version 11 of Cornerstone MFT, which combines file sync, and share capabilities with enterprise-grade managed file transfer.

For more information, see the Osterman whitepaper here, or visit www.southrivertech.com

About South River Technologies
South River Technologies develops software for managed file transfer and enterprise file sharing. The SRT family of products provides strong security while offering the most intuitive interfaces to facilitate rapid adoption. Solutions include WebDrive universal file access and Cornerstone MFT Server. SRT products offer security features such as two-factor authentication, intelligent password enforcement and automated events to thwart hackers. Productivity is promoted with one-click file sharing and direct editing of server-based files. SRT solutions focus on balancing security and ease of use, while enabling compliance, auditing and visibility.

Founded in 2001, South River Technologies is a privately held company based in Annapolis, MD. SRT solutions enhance the productivity and security of nearly 90,000 customers in 135 countries. Products are sold directly and through resellers and distributors in 40 countries. SRT software is available in English, French, German and Japanese.