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Axway AMPLIFY Managed File Transfer vs Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Axway AMPLIFY Managed File ...
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sterling Commerce Connect:D...
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Managed File Transfer (MFT) category, the mindshare of Axway AMPLIFY Managed File Transfer is 4.0%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is 7.7%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed File Transfer (MFT)
 

Featured Reviews

Sayantan Sarkar - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly and doesn't take much space when getting installed
When it comes to the tool's scalability, I cannot say that everything can be done in the best version. There is always a scope for improvement. The tool can try to make it a little bit more flexible so that we can easily invoke the APIs, and in such a way, it can be made a little bit better. In general, everything is fine with respect to the tool's scalability. My company has encountered some challenges. The tool does not allow the explicit port for some of the protocols, like FTP. We are still selling the tool to some of our clients. I feel they should allow us to do some testing for the SMB-related protocols or Windows path-related protocols, which we are not allowing, making it difficult for us to identify the issue with respect to those SMB protocols as well as Amazon S3's protocols. I believe it is an area that needs to be fixed so that it will help the end customer do those types of tests without the help of another external tool. As of now, I can remember only these two scenarios where improvements are needed.
Sumit Mundik - PeerSpot reviewer
Has good file transfer speed, but licensing cost is too high
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It’s very flexible."
"The product's initial setup phase is pretty straightforward."
"Axway consolidated all of our communications into one platform, simplifying network and port management. Now, all we have to do is open one port to this application, and we can remove all the firewall rules on that port. It's much more straightforward to manage from a security perspective. We used to rely on an archaic FTP solution, but Axway features SFTP, so it was an improvement security-wise."
"AMPLIFY has all the essential features for managing file transfer."
"It makes a logical link between the inbound/outbound transfer, and makes it clearly visible. This is a very important feature for managing transfer with different environments, and it's very helpful in case of troubleshooting."
"The product is simple for encrypting data transfer of all the assets in our system."
"It is an easy-to-use and stable product."
"It provides a good amount of storage capacity for a reasonable price and has a good range of connectors."
"The Security Plus feature of this solution is excellent, and allows you to send encrypted files very securely to remote destinations."
"The solution's file transfer speed is quite high."
"Automation is the most valuable feature."
"Security is the most valuable feature of this product."
"Connect Direct offers Check Point functionality to ensure data integrity during transfers."
"The most valuable feature of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is its flexibility with encryption."
"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."
"For Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct, my overall rating is ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"The initial setup was quite complex."
"The areas in need of improvement are the monitoring and the cut-off management, when needed. Today you have at least two solutions: Buy the other Axway suite, Sentinel, or integrate it into your monitoring system."
"Sometimes, the application's embedded databases couldn't perform well for a higher volume of data."
"It is complicated to manage multi-operations, particularly in handling file name changes within file transcripts."
"The tool can try to make it a little bit more flexible so that we can easily invoke the APIs, and in such a way, it can be made a little bit better."
"One area of improvement is troubleshooting. When a transfer fails, they provide little information about the login, which makes troubleshooting difficult. Also, file transfer scheduling is primitive. By that, I mean you can't define a complex schedule, like scheduling a job to run at particular hours multiple times in a day."
"We only hope that they continue to keep updating the solution and improving the offering. They could always do more updates and releases."
"Their monitoring is not up to the mark and needs improvement."
"Technical support is the number one concern."
"I do not have any notes for improvement."
"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."
"The initial setup could be simpler and better."
"Sometimes we face issues and can't figure out the cause of failures."
"This solution cannot be deployed on a root_squash NFS, which limits superuser privileges."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"AMPLIFY's license is a one-time investment."
"Pricing and licensing is related to the protocols you choose to support."
"The platform's price aligns with the market."
"It is quite expensive, and because of that, we get good service from them in return for the price paid."
"Annual licensing fee."
"The solution's licensing cost is too high."
"The price and licensing of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
30%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
41%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
Insurance Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Axway AMPLIFY Managed File Transfer?
The product is simple for encrypting data transfer of all the assets in our system.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Axway AMPLIFY Managed File Transfer?
There's infinite pricing available on their portal, however, it's typically accompanied by a discount. However, detailed pricing information is confidential and was not shared in this call.
What needs improvement with Axway AMPLIFY Managed File Transfer?
Their monitoring is not up to the mark and needs improvement. They should have enhanced auto-reconnection capabilities for interrupted file transfers and implement features allowing chunk movement ...
What needs improvement with Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?
I do not find anything that needs improvement in Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct as a product. I have been supporting this solution, and it serves billions of customers well. Capgemini, in collabo...
What is your primary use case for Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?
The primary use case of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is to transmit data. It offers two modes of transfers: SFTP, which is straightforward, and FTPS, which provides secure file transfer. A sign...
 

Also Known As

SecureTransport, Axway SecureTransport, AMPLIFY MFT
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

BNP Paribas Securities Services, Bollor_, E.ON AG Group, BMW Group, IdenTrust, Gassco, International Post Corporation, SNCF, DB Schenker Logistics, Logius, CSCA, La Poste
HZMO, Bank of Communications
Find out what your peers are saying about Axway AMPLIFY Managed File Transfer vs. Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.