Introduction
Exchange Online, part of Office 365, is used in organizations as a platform for exchanging files via email, especially in workflows involving external partners, vendors, or clients. It enables users to send and receive documents such as invoices, contracts, reports, and spreadsheets as email attachments, providing a familiar and accessible method for sharing critical business data.
Exchange Online is often required to integrate with business systems or external partners using SFTP or FTPS protocols. Exchange Online only supports protocols like IMAP or Graph API and doesn't offer SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) or FTP (File Transfer Protocol) support.
This is where SFTPPlus MFT solution can help your organization. Acting as an SFTP or FTPS connector between standard file transfer protocols and files attached to messages from Exchange Online.
End users can send files using Outlook or Office 365 mailboxes, and with the help of SFTPPlus MFT, those files are made available over SFTP or FTPS to allow integration with legacy business applications or applications hosted on the cloud.
Exchange Online Attachment Delivery with SFTPPlus MFT
Email continues to be a key channel for business communication, including the exchange of documents such as invoices or reports.
Manually processing attachments from Exchange Online (Office 365) inboxes is inefficient and error-prone, especially when those attachments need to be delivered to on-premise systems or cloud storage like Azure Blob, AWS S3, or Google Cloud Storage.
With SFTPPlus MFT, organizations can automate the retrieval, processing, and delivery of email attachments from Exchange Online, providing a secure and scalable bridge between email-based workflows and downstream business systems.
Let's say your business:
- Receives reports and purchase orders via email daily.
- Needs to archive PDF reports to AWS S3, store CSVs in an on-premise ERP system, or move emails based on keywords in the subject.
- Requires users and systems to access these files via SFTP or FTPS.
SFTPPlus MFT can fully automate this process using a combination of its email integration, file filtering, API support, and standard file transfer services.
How It Works
🔄 Email Polling and Authentication
SFTPPlus MFT uses Microsoft Graph API over OAuth 2.0 to securely access an Exchange Online mailbox (Office 365).
- Mailboxes are polled at a defined interval.
- New messages with attachments are detected.
- Authentication is handled via SFTPPlus MFT registered Entra ID apps with modern, secure token-based access.
Check our documentation to read more about how to allow SFTPPlus to access the Office 365 mailboxes.
📥 Attachment Download and Processing
- Attachments are downloaded from matching emails
- On network errors, the attachment transfer is automatically retried.
- The size of the attachment and transfer speed are recorded in detail audit logs.
- Files or messages can be automatically removed once successfully transferred
📁 File Routing Based on Business Rules
SFTPPlus MFT filtering rules can sort files by:
- Attachment file type (e.g., .pdf, .csv, .xml)
- Email subject
- Email folder (Inbox, subfolders, etc.)
Different actions can be triggered. For example:
- PDF files → Uploaded to Azure Blob Storage
- CSV files → Copied to a local folder for ingestion by an on-premise database
- ZIP archives → Sent to Google Cloud Storage
This logic is defined via SFTPPlus MFT event-driven no-code engine, allowing complete customization without the need of programming or writing code. Everything is configured using a simple to use web based portal.
🌐 End-User Access via Standard Protocols
The files that were extracted from emails and routed to appropriate targets are also exposed through:
- SFTP/FTPS services built into SFTPPlus MFT
- Secure authentication (password, public key, LDAP/AD)
- Granular access control and auditing
This allows end users and third-party systems to download files securely and reliably using simple and standard file transfer protocols like FTP or SFTP, without having to interact directly with the complexity of Exchange Online or Office 365 authentication and security policies.
Real-World Example
A logistics company receives thousands of shipping documents each day via email from suppliers. Using SFTPPlus MFT, the system:
- Downloads attachments from one or multiple mailboxes.
- Sends PDFs to Azure Blob Storage.
- Routes .csv manifests to an on-prem business application.
- Provides a secure SFTP interface for internal teams to fetch and review the documents.
The result? No more manual downloads, sorting, or transfers, just secure, automated, rules-based processing.
Automate and Simplify File Collection from Office 365
SFTPPlus MFT transforms Exchange Online mailboxes into automated input channels for business workflows, handling complex routing, cloud integration, and secure delivery, all with enterprise-grade logging and security.
Want to streamline your email-based data workflows?
👉 Contact our dedicated SFTPPlus support team for expert consultancy on integrating Exchange Online or Office 365 with your infrastructure using SFTPPlus MFT.