Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT for Windows (BYOL)

My main use case for GoAnywhere MFT is managed file transfer for both user-to-user based file transfer and automation-based file transfer, where we automatically transfer files between one source server to another destination server on a scheduled-based or on a monitored-based.

For user-to-user transfers, we allow the user to log in using Active Directory accounts or using their single sign-on integration, and once they log in, they simply upload their files and share those files with other users in the same organization or outside the organization. Sometimes, we create shared folders where multiple departments can use these shared folders to collaborate and use our shared files among each other. Similarly, I use the automation part from server to server where I have a specific infrastructure where files come to it; I use GoAnywhere MFT to automatically take a copy of those files and send it to another destination server in a separate infrastructure without having to do any of it manually.

Our main use case also involves sharing large files, especially with people who are outside the organization, since we have a lot of limitations when it comes to Outlook; we cannot share big files on Outlook, so we use GoAnywhere MFT to share any number of files or any file size or file type with any organization outside the network because we work with a lot of third-party companies where we require to share a lot of data with them or sometimes we need a lot of data from them, so we use it accordingly.

GoAnywhere MFT has positively impacted my organization by simplifying the file transfer process, making it easier, and enhancing security.

Specific outcomes or metrics that show this positive impact include time saving and scalability; on any given day, you can share any file you want with anyone you want.

GoAnywhere MFT does save a lot of time on a daily basis, especially with the automation workflow; it allows you to focus on your work rather than sitting and copying files manually from one place to another, so you come back the next day and find all the files you need in the destination where you needed them.

The best features GoAnywhere MFT offers include scalability, security, ease of use, and technical features overall.

What stands out to me with its scalability is that we can deploy multiple servers easily, and we can set them up running as high availability in active-active mode; another point for scalability is that we can deploy MFT agents, which can simplify the scalability and we can run automation on multiple locations or remote sites. In terms of security, all the file transfers are moved in a secure way using secure protocols like HTTPS or SFTP, utilizing AES 256 encryption, and it is a FIPS 140-2 supported solution. Additionally, it features extensive customization concerning role-based access, allowing better security because if I give any access to any user inside of my system, I can customize the exact role and the permissions that user gets when using GoAnywhere MFT.

The automation engine I have seen in GoAnywhere MFT is one of the strongest in the market; I have seen other Move It or other automation systems when it comes to file transfers, but they do not have the extensive capabilities of GoAnywhere MFT, especially the customization that you can do in the automation engine, as well as integration with the ICAP solution so that the file, when moving from one place to another through automation, is sent to an external third-party system that does the scanning and verification that this file is secure, does not have any malware, or does not possess any threat against the organization.

I make use of GoAnywhere MFT agents, and it is very important to my operations because we want to move files within remote locations. If you have only one GoAnywhere MFT server and want to move files within a remote location, this external server would cause delays in file transfer since the file would have to leave the organization and then come back to it. Using an agent in that remote location simplifies the process, allowing faster movement of files within the same organization while providing full control and audit logs from the GoAnywhere MFT server, ensuring complete visibility over the GoAnywhere MFT agents.

I believe GoAnywhere MFT could be improved with a better UI regarding user-to-user file sharing; one of the most requested features is related to user collaboration. Currently, if I share a Word document with another user inside of GoAnywhere MFT, that user lacks the capability to edit the document directly. Multiple users cannot access or collaborate on the same file simultaneously; each user has to download the file separately, edit it, and then overwrite the existing file on MFT. A great addition would be to allow multiple users to collaborate and edit the same file without needing to download it to their machines and re-upload it.

I have been using GoAnywhere MFT for the last five years.

GoAnywhere MFT is stable.

GoAnywhere MFT's scalability is very easy to scale.

Customer support honestly needs to be improved because we faced a lot of issues with customer support, and it is probably the most significant downside about GoAnywhere MFT. From my experience, we have faced many challenges, including slow responses and a lack of responses from the support team, with many issues remaining unresolved for extended periods due to the support team's inaction or lack of support.

I previously used Move It Automation; we switched to GoAnywhere MFT because its automation engine is much more powerful, allowing more customization and especially the ICAP integration, which I did not have in Move It Automation.

I have seen a return on investment primarily consisting of time saved and effort saved; the return on investment involves saving time and reducing workload.

My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing has been good overall.

Before choosing GoAnywhere MFT, I did not evaluate other options.

GoAnywhere MFT is a great tool that saves you a lot of time; it has a lot of security features and a strong automation engine. The best use cases are server-to-server file transfers and user-to-user file transfers, all coming in one single solution.

Regarding GoAnywhere MFT's AI capabilities, I have not seen any AI capabilities in GoAnywhere MFT.

Currently, I am not using any connectors for services such as Salesforce, SharePoint online, Microsoft Dynamics 365, or other services.

I rate GoAnywhere MFT an eight out of ten because, as I mentioned, there are these two missing features I have talked about, and once they are integrated, it can be considered as ten out of ten.

I mainly use GoAnywhere MFT for file transfer and data integrations. We use it to move files between internal systems and external vendors, and also databases like Oracle and SQL, as well as cloud storage like Azure and AWS. This is our main use case for GoAnywhere MFT. After vendors send files or data, we validate it and move it to Azure Blob or ADLS on Azure.

What I appreciate most about GoAnywhere MFT is that without maintaining separate Python scripts, shell scripts, cron jobs in Linux, or any other encryption tools and monitoring for every file transfer, I can manage most of that from one platform: GoAnywhere MFT. I also appreciate the automations in GoAnywhere MFT, the security is excellent, and the monitoring and the number of integrations available for cloud storage are valuable.

I use connectors for services such as Azure Blob and Amazon S3. I have used the connectors for GoAnywhere MFT via SFTP or FTP, which makes it easier to connect external vendors and cloud storage and also databases without building everything from scratch. Connectors are very useful for establishing a secured connection between GoAnywhere MFT and external systems. The integration of cloud storage is really helpful for us. We have configured our Azure Blob and ADLS connection and use it to upload or download files.

The connectors I use in GoAnywhere MFT are out of the box, such as SFTP and FTP, as they are commonly used protocols and are already available.

I have used GoAnywhere Agents, which are useful when I need to automate file transfers or workflows on a remote system or without exposing those systems directly to a central server. We have used the agents for that purpose.

We have used Secure Forms to transfer text data securely when we need to collect files or information from users through a secured web-based form, instead of asking them to use FTP or email for credential data or banking information. An external user or business partner can upload documents through a secure form, and submitted data or files can be processed through the workflow. Secure Forms is very useful for encrypted data or credential data.

I have tried using GoFast, which is mainly useful for accelerating large file transfers whenever we are dealing with large files or transferring data over a long network or long distance. When we are working with big data, GoFast helps because transfers get slow because of latency or network issues. GoFast is very helpful in that scenario.

I have not found any dislikes regarding GoAnywhere MFT. Sometimes it gets slowed because we have to transfer big data, though this is natural because it takes some time. There are no such issues beyond that. With respect to cost, I do not have any special insights about that. There is some learning required for configurations at the starting stage, but after learning all the configurations and setup, it is really easy to use.

I have been using GoAnywhere MFT for around one year.

GoAnywhere MFT is highly scalable. We use it with our cloud integration, and GoAnywhere MFT is independently very scalable. It can scale in terms of number of users, file transfer workflows, or connections with our cloud. It is very good in scalability.

I have contacted the technical support for GoAnywhere MFT on one of my projects when there was a complex issue such as a certificate problem or authentication failure. There was also a connector issue for Azure. The support team helped us for around two to three days to troubleshoot that issue. I give the support for GoAnywhere MFT a rating of nine out of ten. I give the support this rating because they were really helpful for the configuration as we were facing many issues in that area. Even our seniors were quite confused, but they really helped us with the configuration and connectivity.

I have not used any alternatives to GoAnywhere MFT, as I use GoAnywhere MFT only. I am working with GoAnywhere MFT or the data file transfer tool for the first time.

When I joined the company, GoAnywhere MFT was already in place and had been deployed before I joined. Learning how to use GoAnywhere MFT is not very difficult. We have to take some help from the support team or seniors. The basic file transfer operations like SFTP, scheduling, and simple workflows are fairly easy to understand. When we have to start working on advanced features such as encryption, agents, or multiple connectors, it gets quite difficult, and we have to take help from the seniors or the support team for GoAnywhere MFT.

There is no maintenance required from my end for GoAnywhere MFT, as there is another maintenance team for this, including networking engineers. They maintain all the requirements, and we only focus on the data pipeline and maintaining all the environments to run that pipeline easily and smoothly. I would give GoAnywhere MFT a rating of nine out of ten.

I use GoAnywhere MFT for securely transferring files between different systems and environments, moving data files such as CSV or other structured files between our internal systems, the Azure cloud storage, and external partners. I mainly use it to automate file transfers and schedule workflows, which reduces our workload.

The main important features I appreciate about GoAnywhere MFT are its security, monitoring, and automation capabilities. Once a workflow is configured, it becomes very easy to automate file transferring.

The overall speed of the support is very good, but it depends upon the size of the data. The service is reliable and performs well, making file transfers generally quick. If the data is regular and consistent, it works smoothly, and monitoring helps me identify any delays or issues. Overall, the speed is good but can depend on file size and network conditions.

When I first started using GoAnywhere MFT, I faced some issues configuring it, especially with setting up complex workflows, permissions, and integrations. I encountered some challenges initially, but after that, I became accustomed to the interface and overall functionality. While there have been no significant issues with GoAnywhere MFT, new users may need some time to learn and become comfortable with it.

I have used GoAnywhere MFT for approximately six to twelve months, working as a data engineer.

I have never seen errors or bugs on GoAnywhere MFT platform. However, while transferring data, we have faced some issues due to inconsistent data or some pipeline issues, but the platform itself has been stable.

The scalability of GoAnywhere MFT is great as it scales well with the number of file transfer workflows and data volume increases. For very large and highly complex environments, the configuration is really good, making it easy to maintain performance and scalability.

I have contacted GoAnywhere MFT customer support a few times for configuration or integration-related issues, especially in the beginning. They provided me with good assistance and guided me to troubleshoot and resolve those technical issues.

The initial deployment of GoAnywhere MFT is very easy but does require some configuration and planning. With support from customer service, we identified the system and file transfer needs, and according to their guidance, we configured the necessary connections, users, permissions, and security settings. Overall, the initial deployment was very easy with their help.

I have used alternatives to GoAnywhere MFT, such as SFTP-based solutions or cloud-native file transfer services like Azure storage with SFTP support.

I have explored the Agent-based functionality mainly to automate and manage file transfer activities across our different systems, whether on-premises or in the cloud. This is useful for reducing manual work and ensuring files are transferred consistently.

I have exposure to the Secure Forms feature, which is useful for collecting files or information securely from users or external parties. It allows us to submit credential information in a controlled way instead of relying on emails or less secure file-sharing methods.

I have used GoFast, which provides a more streamlined user experience for managing file transfer activities. It makes common tasks easier to access and helps users work with the platform more efficiently, making it a nice improvement from a usability perspective.

I would rate this product an eight out of ten.