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Fortra's Globalscape WAFS vs Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct comparison

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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

Fortra's Globalscape WAFS
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
25th
Average Rating
4.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sterling Commerce Connect:D...
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
8th
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 November 2026, in the Managed File Transfer (MFT) category, the mindshare of Fortra's Globalscape WAFS is 1.3%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is 4.0%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed File Transfer (MFT) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct4.0%
Fortra's Globalscape WAFS1.3%
Other94.7%
Managed File Transfer (MFT)
 

Featured Reviews

it_user2754 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a construction company with 51-200 employees
We dropped the product because of the corruption issue.
Two main issues. 1) It can be a bandwidth resource hog over a small WAN link. We would routinely saturate a 3Mbps link with WAFS. This can be mitigated with tuning what gets replicated. 2) In some cases, it can look like the files get replicated because the files have the correct date, file size, etc. However, the file itself was actually all nulls. In our replication case, we had more than 10,000 files get corrupted this way (out of 1.2 million). GlobalScape support basically said that there were issues with W2K8 R2 but the problem actually dated back to 2008 on a W2K3 server.We dropped the product because of the corruption issue.
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

"When it works, WAFS is a good way to keep data synchronized between multiple servers in multiple locations."
"For Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct, my overall rating is ten out of ten."
"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."
"It's a great tool because it offers secure file transfers and it has a fast and efficient protocol for very large files."
"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 product has been very stable."
"Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is one of the stronger MFT solutions in the market, it is available in each type of installation, and offers SaaS, PaaS, YaaS, on-premise."
"Connect Direct offers Check Point functionality to ensure data integrity during transfers."
"The solution's file transfer speed is quite high."
 

Cons

"In some cases, it can look like the files get replicated because the files have the correct date, file size, etc. However, the file itself was actually all nulls."
"The initial setup could be simpler and better."
"I do not have any notes for improvement."
"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."
"The user interface could be more user-friendly."
"User interface is not user friendly."
"Sometimes we face issues and can't figure out the cause of failures."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"The resources required for this tool are costly and not easily available in the market."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
31%
Construction Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Retailer
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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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.
What advice do you have for others considering Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?
Integration with my IT infrastructure using Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is very straightforward. We have APIs, and Connect:Direct works via API connections. It has two ports: one transfer port...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
HZMO, Bank of Communications
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra, BMC, Progress Software and others in Managed File Transfer (MFT). Updated: October 2026.
920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.