Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct Reviews

Vendor: IBM

3.9 out of 5

9 reviews
66% willing to recommend

524 followers

What is Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?

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.

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Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is the #8 ranked solution in top Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions. PeerSpot users give Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct an average rating of 7.8 out of 10. Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is most commonly compared to Control-M: Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct vs Control-M. Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 77% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 44% of all views.

Buyer's Guide

Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct

December 2024

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Featured reviews

Sumit Mundik

Application Development Senior Analyst at Accenture

The initial setup of the solution is not straightforward because it's not GUI-based. If you are installing the solution on a UNIX server, you should have a basic understanding of UNIX. You should know how to go from one directory to another, what the config files are, how to edit those files, and how to get the backup of those files. You need a little technical knowledge for it. The developers working on the solution are very costly for the organization. Also, the complexity of having this kind of setup is very difficult. This solution is only used by giant financial companies like BNY Mellon, Barclays, and JPMorgan Chase. They cannot replace the solution because they have several files transferred internally using it. It is very difficult and cost-consuming for them to change, migrate, or upgrade their system. That's the reason they are not able to do it very easily.

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Ankit Rahangdale

Infrastructure Tech Lead at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

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.

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Caio Nascimento

Senior Consultant at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

The package that IBM delivers does not come with many premade tools or templates. This means we have to create a lot of things by ourselves, which requires more work. We have a team of four to five people just to develop map-based programs. Additionally, the initial setup could be simpler and better.

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Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct mindshare

As of January 2025, the mindshare of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct in the Managed File Transfer (MFT) category stands at 8.5%, down from 8.7% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Managed File Transfer (MFT)

PeerAnalyst reports

Type	Title	Date
Category	Managed File Transfer (MFT)	Jan 20, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Jan 20, 2025	Download
Comparison	Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct vs IBM Sterling File Gateway	Jan 20, 2025	Download
Comparison	Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct vs Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT	Jan 20, 2025	Download
Comparison	Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct vs MOVEit	Jan 20, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Control-M	4.4	4.4%	98%	118 interviews Add to research
IBM Sterling File Gateway	3.9	12.1%	84%	18 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct offers Checkpoint Restart, robust FASP technology, and seamless initial setup. Users value its security and scalability, noting its integrator's continuous evolution. The tool excels in secure, reliable file transfers and supports diverse installation types. It provides unmatched encryption flexibility, high-speed data transfer, and strong automation features. Users highlight its ability to guarantee 100% file delivery reliability, and effective handling of EBICS protocol with customizable configurations.

"The most valuable feature of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is its flexibility with encryption."
"The solution's file transfer speed is quite high."
"Automation is the most valuable feature."

Room for Improvement

Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct could enhance its user interface to be more intuitive and simplify node and connection management. Integrating a reverse proxy into the DMZ and providing more adapters would be beneficial. The current licensing cost is high and installation requires expertise, while monitoring tools are limited. There are challenges with certificates and the software's compatibility with root_squash NFS, and users often need to develop custom tools due to a lack of premade options.

"The initial setup could be simpler and better."
"The resources required for this tool are costly and not easily available in the market."
"Sometimes we face issues and can't figure out the cause of failures."

Pricing

Enterprise users report that Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct has a pricing model based on hardware capacity, making it more expensive with robust systems. Licensing is annual and involves additional costs for session concurrency and container flexibility, which some find costly compared to competitors like Primero. Though it's seen as the cheapest among its solutions, negotiations on pricing aren't straightforward. The platform is considered expensive overall, especially for specific scenarios requiring many licenses.

"The solution's licensing cost is too high."
"The price and licensing of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is expensive."
"Annual licensing fee."

Popular Use Cases

Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is employed for secure file transfers, particularly where third parties mandate this protocol. It facilitates node-to-node transmissions, supporting industries like finance, logistics, and manufacturing. Deployments are primarily on-premise, with growing cloud options. Users transfer files using diverse protocols such as SFPP and FTPS, manage internal data movement, and support protocol conversions, including SWIFT to ISO 20022. Organizations utilize it for both internal and partner data exchanges, emphasizing security and protocol flexibility.

Service and Support

Customers have mixed feelings about Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct's customer service. Many find technical support challenging, with issues in response quality and delays. IBM's reliance on sending standard links instead of understanding client issues frustrates users. Initial years post-acquisition had unskilled technical teams, but service improved over time. While some praise the helpfulness and effective ticketing system, complex cases take longer to resolve, sometimes up to 15 days. Local support portals are available for assistance.

Deployment

Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct's initial setup varies in complexity. Some find it straightforward and simple, requiring minimal time for installation, especially for users with technical knowledge. Others experience a more intricate process due to security guidelines and integration complexities. Setup time can range from minutes to hours depending on requirements and environment. On UNIX servers, basic technical skills are essential. The setup can be challenging, particularly for financial institutions with extensive data transfer needs.

Scalability

Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is praised for its impressive scalability, accommodating business growth efficiently. Users frequently expand it without difficulty, handling high-volume transfers and leveraging automatic scaling with technologies like Kubernetes. Although scalability is usually straightforward, some users note minor complexities. Businesses have integrated Connect:Direct extensively, highlighting its capability to scale horizontally and vertically. Robust infrastructure generally complements its use, requiring minimal environmental changes while primarily focusing on extending file system capacity.

Stability

Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is recognized for its stability, exhibiting no bugs, glitches, crashes, or freezes, making it highly reliable. Users report consistent vertical and horizontal stability, with no maintenance issues. It is extensively used in industries like banking for secure, fast file transmission due to its simplicity and robust nature. Many have experienced full delivery assurance and report that it remains a strong, stable system without any operational problems.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers

By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

44%

Computer Software Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Retailer

Media Company

Comms Service Provider

University

Healthcare Company

Outsourcing Company

Educational Organization

Hospitality Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

Non Profit

Wholesaler/Distributor

Logistics Company

Recruiting/Hr Firm

Legal Firm

Performing Arts

Consumer Goods Company

Construction Company

Compare Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct with alternative products

Learn more about Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct

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.”