Globalscape EFT vs Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct comparison

Globalscape EFT vs. Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct

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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

Globalscape EFT

Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)

13th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

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

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Managed File Transfer (MFT) category, the mindshare of Globalscape EFT is 4.1%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is 6.0%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Managed File Transfer (MFT) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct	6.0%
Globalscape EFT	4.1%
Other	89.9%

Managed File Transfer (MFT)

Featured Reviews

Ravi Kumar Dake

Software Developer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Seamless integration and enhanced automation streamline complex tasks while opportunities exist for improved batch file processing

The best feature of Globalscape EFT is that it has inbuilt encryption. We can use outside PGP encryption or we can use the inbuilt encryption as well, enabling us to do the encryption file transfer to the destinations. The other thing is that, by using the advanced workflow, we can make complex integrations for ease, and the workflow allows us to have alerts and everything by using email notifications through SMTP. We utilize the advanced automation capabilities, and we can also integrate to Azure. In one of the projects, we use Globalscape EFT as an intermediate integration and we use SAP BI where they send the files to Globalscape EFT. We take the files and push them to the banking system, where we get the response and return that back to the SAP system. Globalscape EFT can integrate with the Azure cloud systems as well. We can upload as many files as we can, and we can automate everything using SFTP software such as FileZilla, WinSCP, or any of the SFTP tools.

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reviewer1955103

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the automation engine, because it allows you to script or program and it has lots of different features and options. It's something like an IDE for programmers, where they can add variables, arrays, loops, et cetera."

"The most effective feature is its advanced workflow engine. Another feature is the flexibility of the code we use to create tasks."

"The staff went above and beyond to make our stay comfortable, offering suggestions for local attractions and even remembering our names throughout the weekend."

"It bolsters security with features like Data Loss Prevention and seamless integration with DLP for a safe and compliant environment which enables real-time document sharing and control over file actions."

"It made things easier. Before, there were five to 10 different software solutions spread out over 10 different servers. Now, everything is being centralized into one location; facilitating, supporting, maintaining, training people, etc. There have been gains just because Globalscape EFT is more efficient at moving things around than our previous other applications. For instance, if I am connecting to someone over the Internet or transmitting for the client, the speed of transmitting those files through SFTP is 20% to 30% faster than our previous automated solution. Therefore, we have seen time savings."

"A job skeleton can be used from test to production so you don't have to build jobs from scratch in production."

"The Event Rules functionality is a key feature. It is very simple to understand and work with. If you have a support team that doesn't know anything about coding, they can really relate to the way event rules are designed. So, I try to make them as simplistic as possible when we create file transmissions. When I first started working in Globalscape, a lot of the file transmissions were handled through Advanced Workflow, which is a similar product. We had a lot of scripts in Advanced Workflow. I moved them to Event Viewer in Globalscape because of the simplicity of building scripts and understanding how they work. It literally takes 5 to 10 minutes to set one up, but if you're in an advanced workflow, it could take an hour to two hours to understand via code what it is actually doing. It has definitely been a plus."

"The High Security Module is valuable. It allows for increased security. It allows me to integrate Globalscape with our Active Directory. So, we manage all our customer accounts outside of Globalscape, and it allows us to import them with LDAP queries. It's very convenient. It also gives our customers the confidence that it's a very secure product."

More Globalscape EFT pros

"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."

"Automation is the most valuable feature."

"The solution's file transfer speed is quite high."

"The Security Plus feature of this solution is excellent, and allows you to send encrypted files very securely to remote destinations."

"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."

"Connect Direct offers Check Point functionality to ensure data integrity during transfers."

"Offers secure file transfers with a fast and efficient protocol for very large files."

More Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct pros

Cons

"Instead of using a fat client to access the administrator panel, where you have to install client software on any server that you need to use to access, I would like them to switch to a web-based model where you could connect from anywhere without having to maintain and install the software."

"There are two ways to install Globalscape: as a standalone server or as a high-availability server, either Active-Active or Active-Standby. We are currently using standalone servers. That means if we want to upgrade the software, I shut down one of the two back-end servers, upgrade the software, make sure everything is correct, and then turn traffic back on to that one. I then proceed to upgrade the second server. With their high-availability solution, that is not a possibility. Both servers have to be shut down to perform the upgrade. We're a 24/7 shop. We don't have a window where we can have downtime."

"If Globalscape has a higher number of tasks, performance issues will occur."

"Another area for improvement is the ARM (Auditing and Reporting Module) database, in terms of accuracy and the data being logged."

"I do have some complaints or concerns around the centralized platform for the management of file transfer operations, and I know that they're working towards a better solution there. At its core, it's a good feature, but needs some improvements. I would like to see a web interface so that there is universal support across versions, because we have test and production environments that aren't always in sync. It would be nice to have one administrative interface to access both."

"In the beginning, it could be considered a bit challenging."

"The folder monitoring services need improvement. Currently, with the folder monitoring services in Globalscape, if any changes are made to our firewalls, network, or something else that affects the directory services where the files are located, for some reason, the folder monitoring services get cut out, and the files are left there. They remain in the folder without being sent. I have over 50 file transmission processes that I would have to go to manually re-drop a file into the folder so that it processes the file transmission. There are times where even though I re-drop a file, it still doesn't work. In that case, I have to resynchronize the folder monitoring process, and it is a very big headache on my side that I have to deal with. It is not only related to Globalscape or their development team. It is on our side too. I just sent a support case where we found out yesterday that we had a file transmission that hasn't run in a whole year, and it was an important one. No one on the business side or the IT support side, as well as the vendor, had indicated that the file wasn't received or the data hadn't been updated. I found out that it was the folder monitoring service that was the problem when I initially had the problem last October, and this was the file that I just missed. So, I re-dropped the file in yesterday, and the monitor worked. It runs every week, so we sent a file to that folder, and it processed that out."

"Globalscape EFT is prone to errors because one single click can lead to a file being sent to another vendor, and it doesn't give any warning if the code goes out of certain loops."

More Globalscape EFT cons

"User interface is not user friendly."

"I do not have any notes for improvement."

"Sometimes we face issues and can't figure out the cause of failures."

"Technical support is the number one concern."

"The resources required for this tool are costly and not easily available in the market."

"The user interface could be more user-friendly."

"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."

More Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a very good product in terms of purchase. It didn't cost that much, even with the way we had scaled and architecturally put things in place. It is definitely comparable to other products."

"We are paying around 30K per year."

"The solution is reasonably priced in comparison to other products."

"It is much more competitively priced. Axway is probably three or four times more expensive than Globalscape. I like the server-based license. It's easier to manage than a seat license, which our previous product Axway had. Axway's license model is to charge by the account while Globalscape's model is by the server. It is much simpler and much easier when audit time comes."

"The on-prem licensing is very good. It's a perpetual license and I would advise others to purchase that license. That way, you don't have to pay yearly."

"Maintenance and services for Globalscape EFT have an annual price tag, and it is not cheap."

"It offers excellent value and its pricing is straightforward, making it easy to acquire, set up, and use."

"A large factor in our decision to go with Globalscape was the price."

More Globalscape EFT pricing and cost advice

"Annual licensing fee."

"The price and licensing of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is expensive."

"The solution's licensing cost is too high."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Healthcare Company

11%

Energy/Utilities Company

Financial Services Firm

34%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Media Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Large Enterprise	14

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Globalscape Managed File Transfer?

I never looked at the pricing for Globalscape EFT because it was at the management level where my line manager handled it. I was a team lead, so we only did the RFQs and everything. I never had a c...

What needs improvement with Globalscape Managed File Transfer?

Globalscape EFT is prone to errors because one single click can lead to a file being sent to another vendor, and it doesn't give any warning if the code goes out of certain loops. The user interfac...

What is your primary use case for Globalscape Managed File Transfer?

Currently, I'm working on Globalscape EFT 2020. The usual use cases for Globalscape EFT that we are applying involve imports and data that we send from our organization to different vendors, and so...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?

Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is an expensive platform.

What needs improvement with Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?

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.

GoAnywhere MFT vs Globalscape EFT

Comparisons

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Compared 27% of the time

IBM Sterling File Gateway vs Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct

Compared 21% of the time

BMC Control-M Managed File Transfer vs Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct

Compared 7% of the time

Axway AMPLIFY Managed File Transfer vs Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct

Compared 6% of the time

CA XCOM Data Transport vs Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct

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Product Reports

Globalscape EFT

Download Globalscape EFT product report

Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct

Download Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct product report

Also Known As

Globalscape GlobalSCAPE Managed File Transfer

No data available

Overview

Globalscape EFT, a robust file transfer platform, offers ease of setup, strong security, and user-friendly automation features suitable for secure data exchange across Windows and Linux environments.

Globalscape EFT supports centralized management, strong security protocols, and simplified automation, making it an ideal choice for businesses requiring secure file transfers. It integrates seamlessly with Active Directory and provides advanced features like PGP encryption, API support, and compliance controls. Users appreciate its efficient setup process, graphical interface, and reliable customer service. However, there is a need for enhancements in cloud capabilities, faster file transfers, and a transition to a web-based admin. Challenges include folder monitoring, concurrent use issues, and complex upgrades in high-availability environments. Users seek improved alert systems and reporting capabilities.

What are the most important features?

Ease of Setup: Facilitates quick deployment without complex configuration.
Security: Includes PGP encryption and compliance controls for safe data handling.
Automation: Offers an advanced workflow engine for streamlined processes.
Integration: Compatible with Active Directory to manage user accounts efficiently.

What benefits should users look for?

User-Friendly: Intuitive interface reduces the learning curve for administrators.
Compliance: Ensures regulatory requirements are met with built-in controls.
Support: Reliable customer service assists with any operational issues.

Industries rely on Globalscape EFT for secure file exchanges, SFTP storage, and file encryption, integrating it with diverse systems for custom automation. Common uses include internal/external file transfers, compliance reporting, and secure communications across regions. It's implemented in both on-prem and cloud settings, maintaining managed file transmissions for multiple sites.

Fortra

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.”

IBM

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

HZMO, Bank of Communications

Globalscape EFT vs. Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct