Bates White Replaces Legacy Globalscape with Files.com’s Modern Cloud MFT
Professional Services / Economic & Litigation Consulting · Washington, D.C., USA
Bates White is an economic and litigation consulting firm headquartered just off Washington D.C.’s K Street corridor. Since 1999, the firm has worked with Fortune 500 companies, law firms, and government agencies on complex financial, antitrust, healthcare, and energy cases. Its work is data-driven and processes terabytes of sensitive client information every week.
Overview
Because of the nature of that work, Bates White places a high premium on security, auditability, and client experience. Those qualities protect the firm’s reputation and the certifications it must maintain in regulated industries.
For years, Bates White ran an on-premises Globalscape EFT server (now part of Fortra) as its primary Managed File Transfer platform. As the firm grew, the limitations of that system became a problem.
Challenges
The Globalscape system created several operational problems for Bates White:
- Data drag on large transfers. Large Databricks outputs, often over 100 GB, were stored in Amazon S3. Globalscape couldn’t move them efficiently, so data engineers downloaded the datasets manually with WinSCP. That created bandwidth congestion, version control issues, and significant delays to case timelines.
- Inconsistent client experience. Bates White wanted a single branded experience for traditional SFTP users and browser-based collaborators. Globalscape didn’t offer one.
- Data synchronization across environments. The firm needed to sync data between AWS S3, Azure, and on-prem NAS shares without forcing data into the cloud permanently. The legacy system couldn’t do it.
Solution
Bates White selected Files.com as its new enterprise MFT platform. Working with the Files.com onboarding team, they deployed:
- A DMZ model rebuilt on the Files.com Agent. The lightweight Files.com Agent let Bates White replicate their previous DMZ model. External parties get a familiar SFTP endpoint while all data stays inside a hardened on-premises share.
- Live S3 remote server mount. Agent-based sync jobs pull only delta changes from S3 to the LAN every five minutes. Manual file transfers are gone, and 100 GB research files stay in sync without clogging bandwidth.
- Branded client experience. A vanity URL, full white-labeling, and dedicated IP addresses give clients a Bates White-branded portal instead of a third-party host.
- Granular retention and auto-disable policies. Files.com’s per-folder file expiration and automatic account-disable features apply retention rules without manual work and without custom scripting.
- IT integration through the REST API. The REST API connects to Entra ID for SSO, SCIM provisioning, and ServiceNow workflows. User access management is automated and the IT team is freed for higher-value work.
Results
- 4-to-1 efficiency gain. Data engineers now access S3 outputs as a mapped drive. Large datasets replicate across the LAN at wire speed instead of trickling through WinSCP sessions. Analysts start modeling hours sooner, which speeds deliverables to counsel and regulators.
- Lower operational drag. Self-service user management, automated retention policies, and upcoming SCIM and ServiceNow integrations let the IT team focus on strategic work instead of manual account creation and file management.
- Future-proofed cloud strategy. Files.com connected the firm’s S3 workflows immediately, and the platform’s readiness for Azure Blob and OneDrive connectors gives Bates White room to scale.
“Data engineers access 100 GB Databricks outputs as a mapped drive, replicating across the LAN at wire speed.”
Conclusion
Replacing the fragmented legacy MFT stack with Files.com gave Bates White a secure, efficient, and scalable data exchange process. The platform streamlines operations, tightens compliance, and accelerates data workflows so the firm can keep meeting the demands of its litigation and economic-impact work.