When organizations collaborate—whether as partners, customers, or suppliers—exchanging documents and files is an essential part of the process. NDAs, contracts, RFI, RFP, proposals, reports, technical specs, and even raw data files need to move back and forth between the two parties easily and securely—ideally in a manner that helps keep both organizations informed and aligned. In fact, fragmentation of content and communications across a myriad of tools—emails, messaging, and even, platforms to exchange files—is a big contributor to this lack of alignment.
That’s why the tools you choose for exchanging files with other organizations can impact not only efficiency and security but also the quality of your relationship with the other organization.
In this article, we’ll explore the top three methods for managing file exchange and when tools, such as those for external collaboration, are the best choice. The three main approaches we’re focusing on are:
Example Solutions: Managed File Transfer (MFT) Solutions: Progress MOVEit, Axyway
File Transfer solutions are designed to move files from one organization to another. These are typically one-way transfers between servers. The objective is to securely deliver the documents or files, and that’s it. In most cases, the sending party is responsible for initiating the transfer and managing the transmission to ensure the files reach the recipient safely and efficiently.
Use file transfer solutions when you need to securely send large or sensitive files in a one-way transaction. For example, they’re great for transferring technical data to a partner for reporting purposes, especially when there is no expectation of collaboration on the dataset. We often see these solutions, e.g., Managed File Transfer (MFT), commonly used when data sets are regularly sent between businesses as part of an ongoing reporting or compliance processes.
Example Solutions: Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive/Sharepoint
File sharing solutions are focused on control. Unlike file transfer solutions, which are about moving data, file sharing allows the sharing organization to retain control over the content, while granting or revoking access to the other party (accessing party) as needed.
Typically the accessing party can download or view the files or documents shared with them, but they usually don’t have (or are not expected to) modify or contribute to the content. As a result, most file sharing use cases are one way, with minimal interaction from the accessing party beyond downloading the files. Because of this, file sharing is often used in asymmetric interactions where minimal collaboration is needed.
File sharing platforms are great when you need to grant access to documents or files quickly and the recipient doesn’t need to modify them. This approach is perfect for those one-off or infrequent scenarios where you want to share reports, marketing materials, or presentations without giving the recipient full control. File sharing also tends to be more “user friendly” when compared to file transfer solutions (there are no servers to set up on either side).
Example Solutions: TakeTurns
While file transfer solutions are focused on moving data and file sharing solutions are focused on controlling access, external collaboration platforms, like TakeTurns, are designed to facilitate the deal. These platforms tend to be centered around the business-to-business phases of a specific transaction or workflow—negotiating an agreement, managing an RFx, onboarding a customer, etc. Platforms, like TakeTurns are designed to provide shared control over the associated content and communications shared between the parties.
Unlike file sharing, TakeTurns allows each organization to contribute to files, documents, and revisions, usually asynchronously. In addition, features such as—version management, document collection requests, required actions, annotations, real-time chat, etc—are all designed to maintain transparency and clarity for both parties, helping maintain alignment thereby improving deal velocity.
TakeTurns, like other external collaboration platforms, can be used for simple file sharing but it really shines in those scenarios where two organizations need to collaborate on documents or files as part of a deal or transaction. Examples would include: contract negotiation, supplier collaboration, sales engagements, audits—or any exchange of confidential information. These scenarios typically require ongoing discussions, multiple document versions, and feedback loops between the two organizations.
TakeTurns provides shared control over the documents, while centralizing all the content and communications into a single workspace, the TakeTurns Flow™. Both organizations contribute asynchronously to the Flow over the course of the deal. With features like version management, document collection requests, required actions, annotations, and real-time chat TakeTurns helps keep everything organized and transparent, foster collaboration, clarity, and alignment ultimately accelerating deal velocity.
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