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Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct vs Thru comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Sterling Commerce Connect:D...
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Thru
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Managed File Transfer (MFT) category, the mindshare of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is 4.0%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Thru is 2.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed File Transfer (MFT) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct4.0%
Thru2.1%
Other93.9%
Managed File Transfer (MFT)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1955103 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
reviewer1090674 - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Analyst at a media company with 1-10 employees
Scalable, reliable, and excellent support
I have been using Thru for approximately two years The stability of Thru is very good. Thru is a scalable solution. We have approximately 50 people using this solution. The technical support from Thru is great. I rate the support of Thru a five out of five. Positive The initial setup of Thru…

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 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."
"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."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is its flexibility with encryption."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the security."
"It's a great tool because it offers secure file transfers and it has a fast and efficient protocol for very large files."
"Automation is the most valuable feature."
"The technical support from Thru is great."
"The stability of Thru is very good."
 

Cons

"The user interface could be more user-friendly."
"Sometimes we face issues and can't figure out the cause of failures."
"Technical support is difficult to work with."
"I do not have any notes for improvement."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"User interface is not user friendly."
"Functionality-wise, they can make additional improvements to Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct."
"The resources required for this tool are costly and not easily available in the market."
"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."
"The initial setup of Thru needed an engineer to be involved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price and licensing of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is expensive."
"The solution's licensing cost is too high."
"Annual licensing fee."
"Overall, the price of the solution is good for what it does, but when you want to add some features it can get expensive."
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920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Construction Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Retailer
5%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise10
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?
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...
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.
What advice do you have for others considering Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?
Integration with my IT infrastructure using Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is very straightforward. We have APIs, and Connect:Direct works via API connections. It has two ports: one transfer port...
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Interactive Demo

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

HZMO, Bank of Communications
Dell EMC, Plus 500, Manhattan Associates, NetworkRail, Blackbaud, AB InBev, Blackwoods, Sage, Crocs
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra, BMC, Progress Software and others in Managed File Transfer (MFT). Updated: October 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.