Despite the rapid evolution of financial markets, legacy technology still lingers in the back offices of some of the world’s most sophisticated asset managers: FTP.
It’s 2025, the idea that high-value financial data continues to move through a protocol designed for the dial-up/floppy-disk era is not just outdated, it’s a growing operational and reputational risk.
Beyond Legacy: Understanding the Risk
FTP was never built for today’s realities. It predates cloud computing, modern cybersecurity practices, and the increasingly complex regulatory and ESG data landscape that defines asset management. Yet, it remains deeply embedded in critical workflows, powering performance systems, compliance checks, and index rebalances.
The problem? Every process that relies on FTP becomes more brittle, opaque, and vulnerable. Failures often happen silently, leaving data teams scrambling to troubleshoot under tight market deadlines. This is more than an inconvenience; it’s a nightmare of operational risk waiting to surface.
What Financial Data Really Needs
Asset managers need reliability, observability, and accountability with their data. FTP offers none of these. There’s no inherent logging, no clear audit trail, and little control when failures occur. Teams are left searching for answers when minutes matter most.
Modern data infrastructure must meet a higher standard: resilient, transparent, and engineered for today’s demands. This means moving away from static file drops toward intelligent, automated pipelines.
Moving Beyond File Transfers: The Case for Modern Data Engineering
The future of data operations isn’t about transferring files—it’s about building robust data pipelines. Smart, observable, and scalable pipelines that ensure data is trusted, validated, and ready for analysis the moment it arrives.
Transitioning away from FTP is more than a technical upgrade. It unlocks operational efficiency, accelerates scale, and reduces risk. Firms that modernize experience tangible benefits: fewer operational disruptions, stronger compliance, and infrastructure that evolves with their business.
The Industry Is Shifting: FTP Needs to Go
The broader ecosystem is already moving forward. Vendors are sunsetting FTP support, regulators are raising transparency standards, and competitors are investing in next-generation data delivery models.
At Rimes, we are building for that future. Our delivery solutions don’t just replace FTP—they remove its limitations. Whether delivering complex ESG datasets, mastered content, or index data, we ensure that data arrives trusted, traceable, and ready for immediate use.
The market is moving. Rimes is here to help you move with it – contact us today.
