How much does ‘free’ FTP really cost?

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) has long garnered mass popularity as a simple and ‘free’ file sharing tool, making it one of the most approachable resources in a business toolbox. But the illusion that FTP is free belies a much greater, more deceptive long-term cost.

It’s a cost that, over time, will devour a company’s bottom line.

This article represents a huge wake-up call…an undeniable break-through that will change the way you think about FTP as a ‘free’ tool for your everyday business needs.

Forget everything you know about FTP and discover the true costs in our break-down below. Most FTP clients are indeed free to download…but a business can’t run with just the client.

This list represents the typical FTP infrastructure for a business, with approximate costs for each item:

Hardware - $2500 (or more)

While the price will vary depending on the processor on the server and other factors such as hard disk space, a reliable and capable FTP server won’t be cheap. Plan on extra costs such as server operating system software and other oft-forgotten necessities.

Software - $500

There is no shortage of FTP software out there, and some of them are even “free” (although remember there’s no such thing when it comes to FTP). But you won’t just need a client, you’ll need FTP server software, which range widely in price from $200 to $2,000.  On average, a solid, cost-effective program can be had for around $500.

Bandwidth/Hosting - $1300 initial, $900 per month

The costs of hardware might actually be pretty easy to swallow in comparison to the rest of the expenses, which will continually sap away your budget. These items are also dynamic resources which might not work how you’d like them to all the time – which means, in the event of problems, you’re tacking on more lost productivity and more evaporating money.

In the case of bandwidth and hosting, plan on forking over around $1,300 just for setup, configuring, backups and other services (especially if you employ a datacenter and your servers end up off-site). After that, you’re probably paying just shy of $1,000 to keep things humming along each month. Bear in mind these costs don’t take into account any issues encountered along the way or any additional services you might need.

Setup & Configuration (1 Day / $600)

Another widely variable cost that you’ll endure is the dreaded set-up and configuration phase. You’ll likely have a couple of in-house techs tackle this tall task, in which case you’re looking at a time and payroll cost of around $600 and a solid day’s work. If you can do all this stuff yourself, bravo! Just calculate how much a full day of your time is worth and use that cost for your projections.

This setup will involve installing and configuring your server OS, setting up security protocols as well as configuring backups, FTP software, permissions, firewalls, IP addresses and the network. Plan for the possibility of additional time (and money) to deal with any necessary patches, troubleshooting or upgrades.

Ongoing Maintenance - $1,800 (or more) per month

The maintenance costs for upkeep on your FTP infrastructure will include any handling by your IT staff as well as any technical support you might get from your datacenter or webhost. On average, the cost runs about $1,800 per month. If your firm is like the many others that use FTP on a daily basis for all necessary file sharing and document management, be sure to budget toward the high end on this item as your users (and your server) will need lots of attention from IT team members.

Emergencies, Breakdowns and Setbacks - $1,100 (or more) per month

Because FTP is not designed to handle the type of work that most companies push through it, the infrastructure is prone to a huge variety of problems. Whether permissions are constantly needing updates, files get lost or overwritten, your hardware fails or you end up draining all your bandwidth too quickly, the end result is the same: You’re forking over more money to patch things up – and this doesn’t even account for the lost revenues endured during the outage.

This list encompasses the base costs typical in most FTP environments in the corporate space. While there are tons of variables and hidden costs not mentioned here, just the base numbers are sobering enough. Now that we have our estimates, let’s add it all up and see how much FTP really costs:

Hardware………...…….$2500

Software………...……..$500

Bandwidth……...……..$1300 + $900/Mo.

Setup & Config….….$600

Maintenance…….…..$1800/Mo.

Crises & Setbacks..$1100/Mo.

The grand total is..................... $4,900 initially, plus $3,800 monthly. 

So after a full year, your “free” FTP systems will have cost you about $50,500!!

The  best take-away you can get from all this number-crunching is the abandonment of the myth of so-called ‘free FTP’ (‘free’ being most likely the only appealing factor that drew you towards it in the first place). There’s no further reason to use FTP now that the true costs are exposed. Instead, switch to a cloud based FTP Replacement solution that’s designed for the tasks at hand.

If you upgrade to a more optimal tool, you might find that ‘missing’ money or swiftly-draining payroll hours are quickly and significantly mitigated. By ditching FTP, it is entirely possible that you’ll see massive boosts to your bottom line simply by switching to a more effective solution.