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IBM Sterling File Gateway vs MOVEit comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.7
IBM Sterling File Gateway offers cost-effective, reliable file management for retail operations with user-friendly features and strong support.
Sentiment score
5.3
MOVEit delivers ROI in the first year through cost savings, improved satisfaction, and scalability despite implementation complexity.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.9
IBM Sterling File Gateway's support is responsive and reliable, despite occasional delays and complexity complaints; 24/7 availability is valued.
Sentiment score
5.7
MOVEit customer service receives mixed reviews, praised for responsiveness and expertise, but some users report delays and restricted access.
For the cloud environment, they had taken only 16x5 support, but for the on-premises, they had taken 24x7 support.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
IBM Sterling File Gateway offers scalable, configurable solutions supporting large volumes and protocols, despite potential licensing and configuration constraints.
Sentiment score
6.5
MOVEit scales effectively, managing increased workloads without hardware upgrades, despite storage needs due to large file sizes.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.6
IBM Sterling File Gateway is generally stable, but can face performance issues with upgrades, high data volumes, and resource limits.
Sentiment score
6.8
MOVEit is stable but can experience security and network issues, requiring troubleshooting for optimal performance, especially with external factors.
We were hit by malicious malware attacks in the last two years more comparatively.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Sterling File Gateway needs user interface enhancements, better stability, more storage support, and improved user management and licensing.
MOVEit needs enhanced data management, better scalability, improved security, and user training to fully optimize its capabilities.
When you have to show the report to management, they don't understand the scripted format. They need everything in Excel.
Improving SharePoint connectivity usage, which has limitations, would open up considerable usage and enhance MOVEit significantly.
 

Setup Cost

IBM Sterling File Gateway offers secure file transfers, considered costly yet valuable, with varied pricing based on specifications.
MOVEit is viewed as cost-effective with yearly fees; technical support and upgrades incur additional costs.
 

Valuable Features

IBM Sterling File Gateway provides secure, adaptable file transfers with strong encryption, protocol support, user-friendly interface, and centralized management.
MOVEit ensures secure, user-friendly file transfers with automation, robust security features, cloud integration, and comprehensive troubleshooting capabilities.
When files are placed in the transfer server, they are completely encrypted, and even administrators with access to the storage service cannot identify files due to different IDs.
The file transfer utility of MOVEit is most user-friendly and easy to understand.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Sterling File Gateway
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MOVEit
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Managed File Transfer (MFT) category, the mindshare of IBM Sterling File Gateway is 9.3%, down from 12.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MOVEit is 9.3%, down from 10.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed File Transfer (MFT) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Sterling File Gateway9.3%
MOVEit9.3%
Other81.4%
Managed File Transfer (MFT)
 

Featured Reviews

Vinutha Gangadhara - PeerSpot reviewer
Ability to customize on top of the inbuilt processes, user-friendly and well-categorized
I’ve been part of this client for the last seven-plus years. It’s been close to 70 to 80 continuous improvements we have delivered. The priority ones which we always shortlist are the recurring incidents or recurring issues, which came in the initial phase of the year when we took this entire landscape under our maintenance. One such incident I can recollect is with respect to performance tuning. We committed to our users 99.99% and above as the availability metrics for Sterling Integrator. This has acted as a high-availability system, but we treat it as mission-critical. When it comes to the commitment we give to users, we have to ensure the system is kept most stable. So, the majority of the problem was in the communication channels. Whenever we enabled additional logging for the communication channel, the system used to have hiccups. So we worked with the vendor, stating that the visibility channel framework needs to be changed because the moment we enable more logging, it literally brings the system down, or the system doesn’t work as it should. They took our input and delivered a better framework in their next releases, which helped us after upgrading to have that stability intact. As the system grows, we ensure to have performance tuning triggered and optimize the business process wherever required. For example, by default, Sterling Integrator business process will have full logging enabled. We took care of those things. Not all business processes or workflows require full logging enabled. Only a few critical ones require every step logs. For the rest, we categorized and reduced the logging for those workflows. That actually helped us to increase the IO overall from ten milliseconds to six milliseconds. That was a good achievement. Apart from that, in terms of queues, how we maintain the queues, how we defined all file queues across the critical business process is one thing we felt was done better. The threads we assign for the priority queues and the business processes were configured to those priority queues, whatever is critical, so that it gets high priority to allow the threads to process. So that queue thread Sterling was taken under the performance tuning. Apart from that, I think some of the best practices which IBM recommends is what we usually run through every year. We just have the health check done through IBM, and we just ensure that all the best practice recommendations are added in the system.
Kiran Raju L - PeerSpot reviewer
User adaptability impresses with room for enhanced reporting features
The solution lacks a flow view wherein you will not be able to see the integrated jobs in a flow diagram view. This becomes trickier to understand which flow is failing unless you were part of the design team. Reporting for MOVEit needs a lot more work. For example, if I have to pull a task report for a specific requirement such as its history and task attributes, the report doesn't come in a CSV format, which is consumable. It always comes in a scripted format. When you have to show the report to management, they don't understand the scripted format. They need everything in Excel. The reporting feature needs to work on having it in an Excel format. It has been pretty stable, but we were hit by malicious malware attacks in the last two years more comparatively. Depending upon the type of license that is owned and the support with the license, it is up to par with other leading marketing tools.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
34%
Insurance Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Insurance Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Sterling File Gateway?
The cost-effectiveness of IBM Sterling File Gateway was a major factor in our decision to use it, in comparison to the higher costs associated with DataPower.
What needs improvement with IBM Sterling File Gateway?
The product itself wasn't very easy to comprehend. I required a lot of customization that didn’t meet my needs. I resolved more issues than IBM did. Sterling needs better testing for larger custome...
What is your primary use case for IBM Sterling File Gateway?
I utilized Sterling primarily for SFTP and Connect Direct. I have a complicated system involving ZOS mainframe, data power, and various complex rules as I was trying to replace everything with Ster...
What do you like most about MOVEit?
The automation is generally very simple that helps with operational efficiency. Since we mainly created interfaces and scheduled transfers, the tool itself handled the file transfer automation.
What needs improvement with MOVEit?
The product must improve its security features. Recently, there have been multiple attacks on the solution. It has ruined the reputation of clients who use the solution. The vendor must ensure that...
What is your primary use case for MOVEit?
We can use the product to transfer files. I work for a bank. The files we transfer have PGP encryption by default. The data we send or receive is encrypted, ensuring that there is no data breach.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Ipswitch File Transfer, Ipswitch Managed File Transfer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Cambridgeshire County Council, Capita Document & Information Services, Enterasys, City of Guelph, Hermes
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Sterling File Gateway vs. MOVEit and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.