The company
EQORefer is a fast-growing B2B referral platform that connects employers with referral networks. To work, the product needs employee data from each employer client — their active workforce, department structure, and contact details.
The problem: every employer exports that data differently. Workday exports use one set of column names. BambooHR uses another. Some clients have internal HR systems with completely custom schemas. None of them match each other, and none of them match EQORefer's internal format.
The problem
Every time EQORefer onboarded a new enterprise client, an engineer had to get on the call — look at the client's file format, write mapping code, update validations, and deploy. As they grew, engineering became a bottleneck for every single client.
Before FileFeed, they used Couchdrop for cloud SFTP. It handled file transfers reliably, but everything after the transfer — mapping, validation, transformation, error handling — was still fully manual. The integration logic lived directly in their codebase, which meant each new client added more code to maintain, and any format change from an existing client could break things.
- Developer required on every new client onboarding call
- Custom mapping code written and deployed per client format
- Integration logic tangled into their core codebase
- Failed imports meant manual log digging with no observability
- CS team had no ability to onboard clients independently
What they built with FileFeed
EQORefer replaced their entire file processing layer with FileFeed. Each enterprise client now gets a dedicated SFTP space and a pipeline configured to their specific format — all from the dashboard, no code changes required.
When a client drops a file, FileFeed picks it up automatically, validates the structure against the schema, maps fields to EQORefer's target format, applies any transformations, and delivers clean JSON to their API via webhook. The whole flow runs without anyone touching it.
They also needed to support bidirectional exchange. Some clients require a processed CSV file delivered back to them via SFTP after each run. FileFeed handles the outbound leg too — no additional infrastructure, no extra code on EQORefer's side.
Bidirectional support was a key requirement. Some clients aren't just sending data — they expect a confirmation file back in their SFTP folder. FileFeed handles both directions through the same pipeline configuration.
The result
EQORefer's CS team now onboards new enterprise clients without any engineering involvement. When a new client is added, the team opens the FileFeed dashboard, configures a pipeline for that client's format, shares SFTP credentials, and the client starts dropping files. No code. No deployment. No developer on the call.
No engineer needed on client calls. The CS team configures pipelines directly in the FileFeed dashboard.
Each integration lives in FileFeed configuration, not in EQORefer's codebase.
Clients who need files delivered back get them automatically — same pipeline, outbound SFTP included.
Full pipeline run history, reprocessing on demand, and document search replace manual log digging.
SFTP hosting, validation, mapping, transformation, and delivery — all inside FileFeed.
Before FileFeed, every new client meant writing code. Now the CS team handles it from a dashboard. FileFeed replaced Couchdrop and all of their manual scripts — delivering a scalable, predictable way to handle every client's data format.
Why this matters beyond EQORefer
EQORefer's situation is not unique. Any B2B SaaS company whose enterprise clients deliver data via file — in whatever format the client uses — faces this same problem. The choice is usually between building and maintaining the processing layer in-house, or not scaling beyond the clients you can manually onboard. FileFeed is a third option: a platform that owns the entire file flow, so your team doesn't have to.
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