Introduction

SharePoint Online, part of Office 365, is a centralized document management and collaboration platform, that's often required to integrate with business systems or external partners using SFTP or FTPS protocols.

SharePoint Online itself doesn't offer native SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) or FTP (File Transfer Protocol) support.

This is where SFTPPlus MFT solution steps in. Acting as a secure gateway or connector between standard file transfer protocols and cloud services like SharePoint Online.

By using SFTPPlus MFT, you can achieve SFTP or FTPS access to your SharePoint Online content with full automation and post-transfer data processing.

Protocol flow for SFTPPlus integration with SharePoint Online

Bridging the Protocol Gap

There are 3 main use cases for SharePoint Online interaction:

  • Send/Upload content to SharePoint Online using standard SFTP or FTP tools.
  • Receive/Download content from SharePoint online using standard SFTP or FTP tools.
  • On-premise or cloud platform content move

Send/Upload content to SharePoint Online

Imagine for example that you have external partners/vendors that need to send you their invoices using the standard SFTP tools.

Your invoicing teams uses a SharePoint Online document library to process the invoices.

SFTPPlus MFT will operate as a standard SFTP, FTPS or even simple HTTPS server and will allow your partners to send their invoices using any standard tool or automated process.

Once the files are received by SFTPPlus MFT, it will automatically forward the files to a SharePoint Library.

You can configure advanced file management rules, like distribution of the files to different SharePoint libraries, based on the file type or partner ID.

Receive/Download content from SharePoint Online

Another use case would be an internal legacy financial management application, implemented using SAP, for which the reports are ingested using local files or SFTP.

Branch offices submit daily financial summaries to the headquarter, by publishing them on a SharePoint Online site.

SFTPPlus will periodically download the reports from one or multiple SharePoint Online document library and will make them available to the local financial tool or will upload the files using the standard SFTP protocol.

These use cases illustrate how SFTPPlus MFT bridges modern cloud infrastructure and traditional file-based systems, helping organizations modernize without disruption.

How It Works, Implementation Details

🔁 Protocol Conversion

  • SFTPPlus MFT will authenticate to SharePoint using a dedicated Office 365 service account
  • The WebDav protocol is used for the file transfers.
  • The dedicated Office 365 should use username and password and have multi-factor authentication disabled. SFTPPlus MFT will connect to SharePoint as an automated process. MFA is for authenticating a person.
  • Files are periodically checked on local or remote directories and are pushed or pulled to SharePoint Online
  • At the same time SFTPPlus MFT can operate as a standard FTPS or SFTP server or client.

🛠️ Configuration Highlights

  • SharePoint Online location is used in SFTPPlus MFT to define the connection parameters to SharePoint. This is where you define the base SharePoint site.
  • One or multiple transfers are configured to define the rules based on which the files are moved to and from SharePoint Online.
  • An SFTP server or an FTPS server is used to allow external partners to interact with SFTPPlus using standard protocols

To define the source or destination path on SharePoint Online, you will configure the transfer with a path using the following convention:

/SITE-NAME/Library Name/Path to/some folder/

Where:

  • SITE-NAME is the name of the SharePoint site
  • Library Name is the name of a library from the SharePoint site
  • Path to/some folder is any path or sub-path to the folder to and from where files are transferred.

Final Thoughts

With SFTPPlus MFT, organizations can seamlessly connect traditional SFTP/FTPS environments with SharePoint Online.
— enabling secure, automated, and monitored file transfers without requiring users to change their workflows. This makes SFTPPlus a powerful solution for modernizing your MFT operations while maintaining compatibility with both legacy and cloud-native systems.

Want to explore how SFTPPlus MFT can bridge your systems with SharePoint Online?

👉 Contact our dedicated SFTPPlus support team - we're here to help you design a secure, compliant, and tailored file transfer solution.