AS3 Applicability Statement 3 – Secure And Reliable FTP-messaging
AS3 Applicability Statement 3 was developed to be a reliable and secure messaging specification based on the secure FTP protocol. AS3 Applicability Statement 3 transport model looks like a client-server model and is opposite to AS2 model (peer-to-peer approach). The common feature of AS3 and AS2 is MDN’s – receipt notifications. AS3 (Applicability Statement 3) is a push-pull type of protocol and does not require a persistent connection unlike AS2. AS3 implementation can be very suitable for some industries with heavy investments in FTP applications and security.
Usual File Transfer Protocol is commonly used due to its easy adoption and high security level. However, FTP is not the best solution for financial institutions and healthcare organization because their data is quite sensitive. One more disadvantage of this type of EDI data messaging is that it does not provide receipt confirmation.
AS3 was developed by IETF (the Internet Engineering Task Force) to overcome FTP connection problems mentioned above. One of the AS3 advantages is the use of MDNs – Message Disposition Notifications. They provide a legal way to verify receipt of a message. The identity of the message receiver can be ensured by the digital signature. It can be requested along with the receipt by the sender while sending message. This combination of MDN and digital signature provides high level of verification and security.
AS3 is an open standards protocol promoting interoperability. This will be interesting for big organizations with many trading partners. The solution does not restrict such business in operational implementation of the data exchange.
The combination of all advantages mentioned above make AS3 attractive for modern companies. Security, efficiency and reliability serve as an optimal messaging solution.