Ingram Moved Book Order Intake From Its Own FTP and SFTP Servers to Files.com

Ingram Content Group operates book distribution and publisher services, including a UK operation that receives orders and product updates from clients. A distributor sits at the center of everyone else’s transactions, and many of those transactions arrive as files.

For years, that client-facing transfer channel ran on infrastructure Ingram hosted itself. In 2018, Ingram moved the intake to Files.com, replacing its FTP and SFTP servers while retaining both protocols for clients. The managed transfer layer later expanded to support print-on-demand files and a K-12 roster exchange.

Order Intake Ran on Servers Ingram Had to Host Itself

The UK operation ran internally hosted FTP and SFTP servers whose main purpose was receiving orders and product update files from clients. That put self-managed, internet-facing servers directly in the path of incoming orders. Every hour spent patching them and keeping them available was spent on plumbing rather than distribution, and any outage could stop orders from arriving.

The servers also could not simply be switched off. Clients were already connecting to them, some over FTP and some over SFTP, so the replacement had to accommodate both protocols.

In 2018, Ingram set out to replace the servers rather than keep hosting them. The replacement had to be hosted, so the maintenance stopped being Ingram’s job, while continuing to support the transfer methods its clients used. Ingram selected Files.com.

Files.com Took Over FTP and SFTP Intake

Files.com became the intake endpoint, answering on both FTP and SFTP. The same folders were also reachable from a web browser for users who did not script transfers. Hosting and availability shifted from Ingram’s internally managed servers to Files.com.

The platform also carries a leg of the workflow beyond intake. Files.com remote server syncs move print-on-demand files to and from an external fulfillment SFTP server, consolidating the exchange on the managed platform instead of leaving Ingram with another server to maintain.

No Servers to Run, and a Second Business Line on the Same Platform

With Files.com carrying the intake, Ingram retired the internally hosted FTP and SFTP servers it had built for that job.

• Client order and product-update intake now runs on a managed platform. Nobody at Ingram patches or babysits an internet-facing transfer server to keep the order door open.
• Clients can continue using FTP or SFTP, while the web interface provides another way to reach the same files.
• The platform expanded to a second business. ClassGather, Ingram’s K-12 line, runs its roster exchange on the same account: customers upload student rosters over SFTP, publishers download them, and folder-level settings sit with the customer doing the uploading. The portal runs under a branded custom hostname.

What began as a server replacement became a shared transfer layer across two operating units.

The Front Door Stopped Being Infrastructure

The durable change was not a new transfer method but a new operating model: the FTP and SFTP workflows remained, but the servers behind them no longer belonged to Ingram to run. The deployment has carried client transfer traffic since 2018, and in 2026 it is still moving print-on-demand files and student rosters.