FTP to HTTPS

Hey thanks for checking this out. Here is the deal... I am using Visual Studio 2005 and VB.NET. I have a bunch of clients out there currently using our Windows application. We also have a secure website and a FTP server. The Windows application uses a 3rd party FTP control to upload data to the clients FTP folder, and download data to the clients machine etc. Using the FTP control I have properties and methods that allow me to change directories, write, rename files etc...directly on the FTP server. We need to do this for different tasks and you cannot use System.IO to access directories and such from the clients desktop as they are remote.

There is a need to move away from FTP due to the constant agravation of firewalls, routers, anti virus etc...as each company has a different set up. Way too much support... We need to now use HTTPS to accomplish the same tasks.

The FTP server must remain. WebClient() is kind of generic and does not allow me to change directories, rename files etc...I need to. I was thinking I may be able to create a web service and install it on our secure website. The clients Windows application would make a call to the web service and the web service would have access to our FTP server because it is part of our network. This way I can then use System.IO. to do all of the work I would have done using the FTP control and gather all of the files I need. The web service would have to send back an HTTPS response pushing a ton of files to the clients machine.

Any thoughts on this solution?

Thanks a bunch!