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Files.com vs Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Files.com
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
8th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sterling Commerce Connect:D...
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Managed File Transfer (MFT) category, the mindshare of Files.com is 0.7%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is 5.4%, down from 8.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed File Transfer (MFT) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct5.4%
Files.com0.7%
Other93.9%
Managed File Transfer (MFT)
 

Featured Reviews

Ajay Kadu - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Consultant at Infosys
Secure file sharing has become straightforward and meets strict compliance needs
Files.com is a secure and easy-to-setup product with multiple integration options for on-premise servers or any of the public cloud servers. The setup is quite easy, and they follow all the data security standards, making it easy to set up and use. Files.com has an option to set permissions. We can have Active Directory-based corporate authentication as well as local user creation on their platform, and we can manage permissions independently. We can give all the rights to the end-user. They can set up their folders and permissions the way they want. The solution is flexible, allowing users to choose what they want to share with internal parties or external vendors and what kind of rights they want to give on folders and files. Everything is granular permissions by administrator and by end-user, and it is quite easy to set the permissions. Files.com uses standard HTTPS, ensuring encrypted transfer of files from the main point to the end-user. They follow all the top data security standards, like the European standard or the US standard. Whatever country we are operating from, they have all the compliances listed on their platform, which is why we chose to go with them. The benefit is that Files.com is a platform we do not have to manage, so the infrastructure is there at their end. We just have a web interface, and for end-users, they also have a desktop application. We just have to access the web interface and can set it up the way we want our file-sharing setup. Logs are there, so we can review who is accessing what, what kind of data is being accessed, and what kind of action is being taken.
reviewer1955103 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Vice President at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Has delivered robust secure file transfer with exceptional encryption features
Based on experience, the one area IBM can improve for Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is the support mechanism. While support is available 24/7 whenever required, the solution time during American hours can take longer. In general, during American hours, the resource availability is not up to the standard. However, availability of support staff during UK timings or GMT timings is very good; they are supportive and helpful. Functionality-wise, they can make additional improvements to Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct. They recently improved by adding a GUI for configurations on Windows as well as UNIX platforms, which is very helpful. However, the web client is cumbersome and not as interactive as it should be. The CLI part is comprehensive, but the GUI needs improvement.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Files.com has positively impacted my organization by improving the speed of access and the ease of being able to share the download links with suppliers; we've had no issues with suppliers not being able to access the content that's been uploaded to Files.com."
"Files.com has positively impacted my organization by making it much easier to set up new clients than in the past when I used other transfer methods, providing great flexibility and efficiency for onboarding new customers."
"Files.com does exactly what is needed—there is no fussing around, no fighting with the platform, it is just solid and stable and does exactly what is needed without any hassle."
"I think the quality of support from Files.com is amazing."
"Files.com is a secure and easy-to-setup product with multiple integration options for on-premise servers or any of the public cloud servers."
"Files.com should be encouraged over competitors like ShareFile because of the support, ease of use, and the willingness to work directly with clients to get the job done every time."
"Files.com has made the process of receiving secure documents from customers much more streamlined."
"Files.com has positively impacted our organization by streamlining a process that was really fractured before, allowing us to streamline our practice, and it's acceptable for our clients, vendors, and employees on how to move data around securely, safely, and quickly."
"The Security Plus feature of this solution is excellent, and allows you to send encrypted files very securely to remote destinations."
"The solution's file transfer speed is quite high."
"Security is the most valuable feature of this product."
"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."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is its flexibility with encryption."
"Automation is the most valuable feature."
"Connect Direct offers Check Point functionality to ensure data integrity during transfers."
 

Cons

"A return on investment has not been seen in terms of money or time saved or fewer employees needed."
"My third concern is that I now need to cancel it and no one has replied to me, and they've just charged me again, which is annoying because I wanted to be able to cancel and you cannot cancel within the platform."
"One area where Files.com can be improved is that it has a very expensive cost model that does not have a lot of flexibility in it compared to other similar products."
"The only thing is that their pricing may be somewhat not suitable for many customers. I find it a little costly."
"This solution cannot be deployed on a root_squash NFS, which limits superuser privileges."
"The resources required for this tool are costly and not easily available in the market."
"Technical support is the number one concern."
"Sometimes we face issues and can't figure out the cause of failures."
"I do not have any notes for improvement."
"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."
"The initial setup could be simpler and better."
"User interface is not user friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The solution's licensing cost is too high."
"The price and licensing of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is expensive."
"Annual licensing fee."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Real Estate/Law Firm
18%
Wholesaler/Distributor
16%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
33%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Media Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Files.com?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been positive; I think the pricing is fair, the setup cost was very easy, and licensing allows me to choose a larger number of user account...
What needs improvement with Files.com?
Most of the content is pretty well listed on their portal. The only thing is that their pricing may be somewhat not suitable for many customers. I find it a little costly. For a small organization,...
What is your primary use case for Files.com?
I am from the IT department for my company, and we have been using Files.com for one of our customers for the last five to six months. We are a customer of Files.com. The main purpose is for secure...
What needs improvement with Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?
Based on experience, the one area IBM can improve for Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is the support mechanism. While support is available 24/7 whenever required, the solution time during American...
What is your primary use case for Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?
The majority use case for Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is for file transfer, specifically secure file transfer.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
HZMO, Bank of Communications
Find out what your peers are saying about Files.com vs. Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,768 professionals have used our research since 2012.