How Thorn Technologies Transformed Good Apple’s Data Infrastructure

Good Apple, a healthcare and pharma media agency, needed to get accurate data to its clients reliably. Its in-house SFTP server crashed, many clients didn’t use SFTP, and data errors had to be found by hand.

OVERVIEW

Data Sharing for Healthcare + SFTP Gateway

Good Apple, a data-driven marketing agency serving brands like BirchBox, PepsiCo, and Starbucks, needed a more reliable way to manage and share growing volumes of client data. Its in-house SFTP server was unstable, file sharing was difficult for non-SFTP users, reporting tools were limited, and manual data checks were slowing the team down.

Thorn Technologies implemented SFTP Gateway, StorageLink, a custom analytics dashboard, and an automated QA tool to create a more scalable, secure, and user-friendly data infrastructure.
The result was more reliable file transfers, easier client collaboration, stronger security, and fewer manual processes—freeing Good Apple to focus on its core marketing work.

The Challenge

The problem

Good Apple couldn’t reliably get accurate data to its clients.

Unreliable SFTP Server

Good Apple’s in-house SFTP server frequently crashed, delaying transfers and creating bottlenecks for employees and clients.

Difficult file sharing

Many clients and partners were unfamiliar with SFTP, making secure file transfers cumbersome and inefficient.

Limited reporting controls

Good Apple needed stronger dashboard permissions, better branding, and a more polished experience within its Looker environment.

Manual data monitoring

Manual checks made it difficult to catch loading errors and anomalies before data reached client reports.

What we built

The solution

Thorn deployed SFTP Gateway and StorageLink, then built custom tools around them to fit how Good Apple works.

✓

High-Availability SFTP Gateway

Thorn replaced the in-house server with SFTP Gateway behind a load balancer, so access no longer depends on one server. Users and folder permissions are managed from a web dashboard or REST API.

✓

StorageLink for Browser Sharing

StorageLink lets clients create folders and drag and drop files in a web browser, with no SFTP client needed. Files stay in Good Apple’s own cloud storage, under its administrators’ control.

✓

Branded Looker Portal

Thorn built a web portal that presents Good Apple’s Looker dashboards with its branding and permission controls. Users attach briefs, campaign summaries, and slide decks from Google Docs, and sign in through AWS Cognito, Amazon’s login service.

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IP Allow Lists

Each SFTP account can be limited to approved IP addresses, so only known locations can connect. The restriction helped Good Apple meet its compliance requirements.

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StorageLink Inside Crisp

Thorn integrated StorageLink into Crisp, Good Apple’s data platform, giving the agency a branded portal for client files. Clients on different cloud providers can all share data through that one portal.

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Automated Data QA

A scheduled tool compares Snowflake data to a trusted reference table using sums, moving averages, and growth rates. Results outside set bounds send an alert, and a failed table load sends an immediate notification.

The results

Good Apple now gets accurate data to its clients reliably, through stable transfers, one portal, and automated checks.

Stable

File transfers, no more server crashes

Browser

File sharing, no SFTP client needed

1 portal

Dashboards, documents, and files together

Flagged

Data errors, before clients see them

Operational gains

Strategic gains

The Team

The team behind the build

Thorn Technologies, based in the Washington and Baltimore metro, builds cloud file transfer software for Fortune 500 teams across fintech, healthcare, retail, and beyond. We design for the uptime and compliance bar that enterprise deals demand.

Have questions or want a demo?

Talk to the team that would run your migration.

info@thorntech.com

(410) 429-0255

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