Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct vs Thru comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct and Thru based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Progress Software, BMC, IBM and others in Managed File Transfer (MFT).
To learn more, read our detailed Managed File Transfer (MFT) Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Ahmed El Attar
Anonymous User
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The Security Plus feature of this solution is excellent, and allows you to send encrypted files very securely to remote destinations.""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.""Offers secure file transfers with 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.""Automation is the most valuable feature.""Security is the most valuable feature of this product."

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"The stability of Thru is very good."

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Cons
"This solution cannot be deployed on a root_squash NFS, which limits superuser privileges.""The user interface could be more user-friendly.""Technical support is the number one concern.""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.""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 needs to be improved.""Sometimes we face issues and can't figure out the cause of failures.""User interface is not user friendly."

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"The initial setup of Thru needed an engineer to be involved."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Annual licensing fee."
  • "The price and licensing of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is expensive."
  • More Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Overall, the price of the solution is good for what it does, but when you want to add some features it can get expensive."
  • More Thru Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: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.
    Top Answer:The stability of Thru is very good.
    Top Answer:We purchased the basic solution, only to realize that there is an add-on model that would allow us to manage workflows automatically. However, it was very expensive, so we did not use it. Our… more »
    Top Answer:I've been specialising in MFT solutions since 1999, so have quite a lot of experience in this space. I know Thru's platform well, having featured on their webinars and my company Pro2col resells Thru… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    3,378
    Comparisons
    2,681
    Reviews
    5
    Average Words per Review
    522
    Rating
    8.8
    Views
    172
    Comparisons
    67
    Reviews
    1
    Average Words per Review
    319
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Learn More
    Interactive Demo
    IBM
    Demo Not Available
    Overview

    IBM's Sterling Connect:Direct is a software product that offers security-hardened, point-to-point file transfers to reduce reliance on insecure File Transfer Protocol (FTP) transmissions. It is designed for high-volume file distribution within and between businesses. The solution guarantees more reliable file movement, from batch integration and movement of large images or catalogs to synchronization with distant sites. Sterling Connect:Direct also enables hybrid cloud deployment through certified containers, allowing for simple and consistent deployment lifecycle management.

    Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct Features

    Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Performance capabilities such as extraordinary scalability and low latency.
    • Automated, dependable file transmission that permits unattended, round-the-clock operations.
    • Designed to run on a variety of operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, UNIX, Linux, IBM z/OS, OpenVMS, i5/OS, and HP NonStop.
    • Advanced security features with cutting-edge encryption to meet regulatory and industry standards.
    • IBM certified containers for Sterling Connect:Direct are enterprise-grade, secure product editions that are scalable, secure, easy to install, and manage update and rollback processes. They also have integrated common software services for consistent deployment lifecycle management.
    • Boosts transfer speed for large files over high-speed networks by up to four times the previous speed while reducing latency.
    • Gives existing FTP transfers the ability to retry, checkpoint, and compress existing transfers.
    • Supports a variety of network protocols, including TCP/IP, Systems Network Architecture (SNA), and an optional high-speed add-on based on Aspera FASP technology.

    Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • High performance: Takes care of your most demanding workloads, including multi-gigabyte files to large volumes of small files.
    • Reliable file delivery: To help ensure predictable, assured file delivery, it offers automated scheduling, checkpoint restart, and automatic recovery.
    • Secure transmission of files: Maintains the confidentiality of customer information and supports regulatory compliance measures.
    • Speed up patching and installation: By deploying your solution with a certified container that contains all necessary components, you can drastically cut installation and patch time from hours to minutes.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its robust file processing and its security for file transfers. PeerSpot users take note of the advantages of these features in their reviews:

    Michele I., Business Unit Manager at Innovery, writes of the solution, “The file processing is done very well. By default, there are a lot of configurations that can be customized. 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.”

    Camilo M., Pre-sales Engineer at Dell EMC, mentions, “It's a great tool because it offers secure file transfers and it has a fast and efficient protocol for very large files.”

    Thru’s enterprise-class managed file transfer as a service (MFTaaS) started in the cloud in 2002 and continues to provide cloud-based automated file transfer and ad hoc file sharing capabilities to some of the world’s largest corporations. Our cloud-native architecture continually delivers tangible, escalating returns on investment by uniquely addressing the most challenging secure file transfer requirements.

    Meet governance and compliance standards with the help of Thru: Every layer of our service has antivirus scanning, end-to-end encryption and a full audit trail.

    Significantly reduce IT overhead and costs from on-premises servers: Migrate to our cloud to hand off deployment, maintenance, scaling and more to Thru’s award-winning team of file transfer experts.

    Our out-of-the-box MFT connectors and APIs extend integration platform (iPaaS) capabilities, adding persistence and guaranteed delivery to file transfers.

    Execute internal or external file transfers with Thru's distributed hybrid architecture: The Thru Node (an MFT agent) is installed on-premises for internal transfers with orchestration by the cloud.

    Contact Thru to discuss your managed file transfer options.

    Sample Customers
    HZMO, Bank of Communications
    Dell EMC, Plus 500, Manhattan Associates, NetworkRail, Blackbaud, AB InBev, Blackwoods, Sage, Crocs
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm43%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Government7%
    Insurance Company6%
    No Data Available
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise86%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business12%
    Midsize Enterprise7%
    Large Enterprise80%
    No Data Available
    Buyer's Guide
    Managed File Transfer (MFT)
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Progress Software, BMC, IBM and others in Managed File Transfer (MFT). Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is ranked 6th in Managed File Transfer (MFT) with 7 reviews while Thru is ranked 19th in Managed File Transfer (MFT) with 1 review. Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is rated 8.2, while Thru is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct writes "Good automation features but needs improvement in the monitoring dashboard ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Thru writes "Scalable, reliable, and excellent support". Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is most compared with IBM Sterling File Gateway, Kiteworks, Aspera Managed File Transfer, MOVEit and Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT, whereas Thru is most compared with .

    See our list of best Managed File Transfer (MFT) vendors.

    We monitor all Managed File Transfer (MFT) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.