Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT vs Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
7th
Average Rating
9.2
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sterling Commerce Connect:D...
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Managed File Transfer (MFT) category, the mindshare of Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT is 7.5%, up from 6.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is 7.3%, down from 9.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed File Transfer (MFT)
Unique Categories:
No other categories found
No other categories found
 

Featured Reviews

GB
Mar 28, 2024
Flexible, value for money, and very easy to use
GoAnywhere MFT helps centralize the exchange of data between systems, employees, customers, and trading partners. The interface of GoAnywhere MFT is good. It is easy to use. It is clear. The help is very good. GoAnywhere’s workflow features eliminate the need for custom programs and scripts for file transfer. It is very important for us because normally when you receive the file, you need to perform a lot of work to be sure that you can deliver or integrate with the backend. It helps to have the capabilities for automation or manipulation of the files through the workflows. GoAnywhere’s workflow features help to eliminate manual processes, especially processes related to encryption using BGP.
Ankit Rahangdale - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 6, 2022
Secure, fast, and 100% reliable
The setup depends on the requirement. In the current environment or current project, we have it as a middleware. We have other tools for displaying the output of a file, and there is an application that is taking it to the display servers so that it can display the data. That is one implementation in the current project. There are also multiple implementations for their finance-related file transmission because that requires security. All the financial data is automatically transferred by the Connect:Direct whenever the application team puts a file into one of the directories. We provide the directory where they need to put the file. We have the automation job that picks up the file and delivers it to the user or the application that needs to utilize that file. Its setup is straightforward. The concept is straightforward. All the related information is also available on the internet. If any of the newbies want to check or get some info on Connect:Direct, they can go to the IBM site, and they will get all the details regarding the implementation, configuration, and any issues they are facing. They can just check with the error message, and they will be able to get some details about it. It is a pretty straightforward tool. In open systems servers, the setup and configuration take 10 minutes or less than that. It also supports silent installation, which hardly takes two minutes. It can be deployed anywhere. It supports on-premises and cloud deployments. IBM recently provided a patch for cloud HPE servers. There were a few vulnerabilities that caused data leaks, and they have fixed that in their recent updates.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Another nice feature is that you can invoke a native program from GoAnywhere. That helps you because you don't have to get fancy with agents. If a native program runs on the server that GoAnywhere is running on, like sed or perl, you can use it,"
"GoAnywhere centralizes data exchanges, helping to facilitate file transfers between our critical systems."
"Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT supports the PeSIT protocol."
"The use of this product has helped improve our organization and its ability to send or receive. It has done this by allowing us to remove any homegrown process and centralize needed actions."
"The user interface is simple."
"Transactions transfer in close to real time. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time because of the volume that we have, but the transactions transfer in seconds to the external platform."
"GoAnywhere stands out for its user-friendly project creation, intuitive testing and troubleshooting, and especially its notification system, which keeps me informed of any issues that need attention, a feature we lacked before."
"The security and vendor management features are helpful in terms of providing access to data."
"The product has been very stable."
"The most valuable feature is that it provides 100% reliability for file transmission. It ensures that files get delivered in a secure manner. When you use Connect:Direct, your file 100% gets delivered to the next delivery location. If the log shows that a file got delivered, it will have all the transmitted data without truncation or other data issues."
"Automation is the most valuable feature."
"Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is a solution that is on the market for a very long time. There is an integrator that has been developed and evolves every year. On the roadmap, there is always a new integration. For example, it's one of the solutions in the market that out of the box can handle EBICS protocol. The file processing is done very well. By default, there are a lot of configurations that can be customized."
"Security is the most valuable feature of this product."
"The Security Plus feature of this solution is excellent, and allows you to send encrypted files very securely to remote destinations."
"Offers secure file transfers with a fast and efficient protocol for very large files."
 

Cons

"We are a little concerned because the maximum number of open connections allowed is 200, and we are pretty much maxed out... if they expanded the number of open connections allowed, we would be better off."
"Its user interface can be improved. The current user interface is a little basic for some of the use cases. We have to use an external component to enhance it. When we need a more appealing user interface, we use an additional component, and that works okay."
"There's not a lot of improvement I can think of. Maybe in the tools section, they have an SQL Wizard and a URL Wizard, which are really good. I think that the SQL Wizard might need some improvement. I don't know how to improve it, but it's just a little slow here and there."
"There's one persnickety issue about NAS permissions. That is a problem we have run into with GoAnywhere. I would like to see more focus on compatibility with/enforcement of user roles and access permissions across NAS, among other things. We have filed a couple of tickets on that in the past."
"The solution's built-in functions could be better; I want to see easier file transfers and management."
"The process of adding a vendor is very easy. You just point and click. You create your job, schedule, and project, and off you go. You just need to know what the processes do when you add in a new job that runs daily and so on. For us, it is not a problem, but maybe the documentation on that could be a little more straightforward. We, however, have no problems figuring that out. It is pretty straightforward for us."
"If the hostname has a dash in it then it does not work."
"Fortra needs to offer more use cases for GoAnywhere MFT during training."
"This solution cannot be deployed on a root_squash NFS, which limits superuser privileges."
"They have File Agent, which is an additional utility and a component of Connect:Direct, for automated file transmission. In that utility, there is some issue with the file name. There is a limitation on the file name, and that is being fixed by IBM."
"Sometimes we face issues and can't figure out the cause of failures."
"User interface is not user friendly."
"Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct could improve by adding some of the functionality that some other vendors have. For example, GoAnywhere has call agents, which are small clients that can be installed on the endpoints and can be handled by the central point on the server. If I want to do this with the IBM solution, I have to sell a lot of account addresses. The price could be unprofitable for the customer. There is some small functionality that could be implemented and could be easily done to improve this solution."
"Technical support is the number one concern."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"The user interface could be more user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"To have a solution like this for the price we're paying makes it cheap. Considering the time that it has saved us, and considering the development that we don't need to do, such as connectors and handling servers, the price is really affordable."
"The product is not cheap, but it is not expensive."
"GoAnywhere was the most attractively priced product that met our needs. In our PoC it really came down to MOVEit and GoAnywhere, and GoAnywhere's pricing was about 30 percent less."
"HelpSystems GoAnywhere MFT is very reasonably priced for the value it brings."
"Pricing is based on a one-time license."
"For what we pay to GoAnywhere every year, we are getting a fantastic deal. From a dollar perspective, it provides very good value."
"The product's pricing is reasonable."
"I get the invoices, and its price is fine and appropriate. It is well priced. Even if it was double the price, we'd use it. For us, it is indispensable. We're not going to go anywhere else. There are no additional costs. Its licensing is good. There is just one charge that we get. That's it."
"Annual licensing fee."
"The price and licensing of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
43%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
GoDrive eliminates the need to use the exchange server for file sharing.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
GoAnywhere's price is justified by its features and the time it saves me. In other words, the value I get from the software makes the cost worthwhile.
What needs improvement with Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
My only technical difficulty has been finding certificates nearing expiration. While this suggests room for improvement in certificate management, it's more likely I just need to consult the docume...
What needs improvement with Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?
There is room for improvement in monitoring. We don't have good visibility tools and monitoring, so I believe there may be some enhancement needed in its monitoring dashboard.
 

Also Known As

HelpSystems GoAnywhere MFT, GoAnywhere MFT, GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer,
No data available
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

McKesson City of Modesto, California Kwik Trip Northwestern University Charter Communications
HZMO, Bank of Communications
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT vs. Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
787,779 professionals have used our research since 2012.