Repliweb Software Goes End of Life on January 31, 2022

In August of 2020, Qlik the owners of the Attunity and Repliweb product portfolios announced the retirement of a number of the products they had acquired.

Do I need to replace my end of life Repliweb?
What is the best alternative to Repliweb?
Can I use MFT to replace Repliweb?

These include:

  • Qlik Connect, formerly Attunity Connect
  • Attunity Repliweb R1, formerly Repliweb Deployment (R1)
  • Qlik Managed File Transfer, formerly Repliweb MFT
  • Attunity FASTcopy, formerly Repliweb FASTcopy
  • Attunity Drive Mapper, formerly Repliweb Drive Mapper (RDM)
  • Qlik Visibility, formerly Attunity Visibility

While these products will continue to be supported until the end of January 2022, Qlik are not offering an alternative for existing users. They say it’s not aligned to the ‘strategy of the wider Qlik portfolio’.

Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence when one software vendor acquires another, and it can cause obvious extra work and concern for users of the technology. Yet it can also be a great opportunity for organisations to review their requirements and look at moving to an alternative, modern platform with additional functionality, support, and maintenance.

Repliweb Logo Qlik

Do I need to change my Repliweb MFT?

The short answer is yes! Running unsupported software brings high risks to security, business continuity and efficiency.

    • Risk 1: Security
      You won’t get software updates with updated security features. This means you could be running outdated operating systems, or out of date ciphers. Not only does this expose your organisation to malware, ransomware and other viruses, but it affects your ISO 27001 accreditation and relationship with customers.
    • Risk 2: Business continuity
      File transfer operations underpin the majority of business processes. If you have a production affecting issue, you are going to need to access support as quickly as possible. If your software is end-of-life, that support simply won’t be available.
    • Risk 3: Staff time
      Trying to solve an issue without experts at the end of the phone will take considerable staff time that could be far better deployed elsewhere.
    • Risk 4: Software incompatibility
      New applications are optimised for the most recent operating systems. That means when using EOL operating systems, you can’t upgrade to the latest and greatest, so you’ll have to hold onto legacy applications.
Discuss your requirements

Repliweb Managed File Transfer (MFT) Alternative

 

Managed file transfer solutions specialise in the secure exchange of sensitive files, with both external supply chain partners and internally around an organisation’s network.

Given the fast-approaching end-of-life date, businesses relying on Repliweb software for securely moving data, could find themselves in a spot of bother – especially if it is part of their mission-critical infrastructure. If they have any problems, technical support will not be offered to users after the end-of-life date, unless they are in possession of a multi-year agreement.

Options are limited. You could replace Repliweb MFT with a modern managed file transfer alternative, or determine whether other integration tools already in place can pick up the workload. If an alternative managed file transfer technology is required, Pro2col can help.

Pro2col recently helped a large financial services organisation to migrate over 20 trading partners and workflows from Repliweb MFT to an alternative solution. Working with the customer, our experts scoped their requirements, reviewed the options in the marketplace, recommended a solution which would scale with their future requirements, and migrated their workflows to it.

As independent MFT experts since 2004 we’ve got a pretty good idea which products and vendors have a strong track record for innovation, documentation, support and active roadmaps. We help our customers to shortcut the process of product selection and reduce the likelihood of choosing the wrong software for your current and future requirements.

How to replace Repliweb MFT

 

If replacing your MFT product is something you would like to discuss, we would be pleased to help. Having delivered over 800 MFT solutions, our team will help you with the most important element of your project – making sure you have a clear view of what it is you are replacing and ensuring your future hybrid cloud and integration requirements are considered.

You can call us for an informal chat, or complete our free online software comparison questionnaire. You answer a series of questions, and our experts will review them against the leading products on the market, providing a personalised, independent product recommendation.

Compare other MFT solutions

What is Repliweb MFT functionality?

 

If you are seeking to replace Repliweb MFT below is a list of the core functionality which you may be looking to replace.

  • Secure file transfers
  • Scalability to handle large loads
  • Auditing of file transfers
  • File transfer acceleration up to 10x faster than FTP
  • Web UI and desktop client to simplify for end users*
  • Enforced security policies
  • Pre/post transfer processing
  • CLI/API integration
  • Sharepoint Connector for internal and external file sharing
  • Wide variety of transfer protocols and encryption algorithms
  • Content filtering
  • Virus scanning
  • DMZ front end

* The WebUI provided by Repliweb MFT uses a Java plugin in a web browser. The use of Java functionality has been considered insecure since 2017 when most other modern MFT solutions replaced it with HTML5.

Pro2col Mft Diagram

History of Repliweb MFT

 

Repliweb was established in 2000, with an initial focus on file replication and application deployment automation. In 2005, Repliweb acquired Softlink Limited, adding B-Hub MFT to the Repliweb portfolio.

By 2009, Repliweb was a strong established vendor in the MFT marketplace, having been listed in Gartner’s second ‘Managed File Transfer Report’ in the ‘visionaries’ quadrant with a high ‘ability to execute’. (See our review of the Gartner Managed File Transfer Magic Quadrant ten years on).

In September 2011, Repliweb was acquired for $7.8m by Attunity, becoming part of a wider portfolio of data management, integration, replication and deployment solutions.

In May 2019, Attunity was acquired by Qlik Technologies.

In August 2020, Qlik’s Community Manager Jamie Gregory, announced the retirement of Attunity Repliweb MFT.

 

About the Author

  
headshot of Christ Payne, Director of Strategic Alliances and Technical at Pro2col

 

Chris Payne is the Director of Strategic Alliances and Technical at Pro2col, with decades of experience in software management and Managed File Transfer solutions. Chris is not your traditional techie with server racks under the stairs. He advocates for a healthy work/life balance, saving his love for technology for work and developing his passion for craft beer at home. Chris is a qualified brewer and has on occasion whipped out the brewing equipment. He’ll be up for a Friday pint.

Find out more about Chris Payne here.

 

References

https://community.qlik.com/t5/Support-Updates-Blog/Retirement-of-legacy-Attunity-products-on-January-31-2022/ba-p/1732910
https://www.prweb.com/releases/file_transfer/managed_file/prweb1478744.htm
https://www.linkedin.com/company/repliweb/about/
https://www.qlik.com/us/products/data-integration-products
https://www.qlik.com/us/attunity
https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/inno/stories/news/2011/09/07/attunity-acquires-repliweb-to-enhance-data-amp.html 

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