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What about the scalability of the solution?

We are using GoAnywhere MFT primarily for transferring files. These are reports from banks and from our vendors who conduct research for us, such as food counts in stores and other data. We transfer it for our Finance Department and BI team so they can generate additional reports for our management. 

We don't have many projects compared to other customers, however, it amounts to approximately 50 different jobs running during the day.

The product has a lot of benefits. For example, it allows us to automate a lot of processes.

This product has numerous benefits as it has automated many processes that we previously had to do manually every day. Some vendors generate reports during nighttime, which is helpful when the BI team works in different time zones - they are in the Eastern Time Zone while we are in the Mountain Time Zone in Colorado. The management is in Colorado as well, so when they start working, they already have reports at the beginning of their workday. There are many benefits, particularly in terms of automated processes, which helps significantly.

The product itself is very good, however, it requires additional knowledge for setup. Writing variables is sometimes difficult. It would be helpful if they provided additional basic training for administrators who manage this product. They have paid training available. That said, as someone who inherited this product and handles tickets when jobs fail, I had to figure out for myself how the product works and how to troubleshoot it.

I started in November 2021 and began using GoAnywhere MFT in January 2022, inheriting it from my predecessors and colleagues who were taking care of the product for our company.

We have one issue that occurs when someone is signed into the console. The session times out and disconnects, and when trying to sign in again, it doesn't allow access unless opened in incognito mode browser or from a different browser. The only solution found is to sign out when not needing to be connected to the console. Otherwise, you will get a 500 error. Other than that, it works very well, especially when kept up to date. My predecessor never updated it, but once we keep it updated, it never causes issues.

It's quite easy to scale. When adding new jobs, I typically find similar projects, copy them, edit the XML file, and apply the changes. It's straightforward unless our Finance or BI team needs something specific, which might take a couple of days to figure out as I combine this duty with other tasks.

Over three years of using the solution, we contacted technical support three or four times maximum. 

The most recent instance was after migration when there was an issue with the public IP. After changing the network interface, the license broke. Support deactivated the old license, activated the new one, and fixed the issue in about two to three hours. The first engineer was inexperienced and had to consult someone else, who resolved it quickly. Another instance was when the certificate expired, and we couldn't sign into the console because only HTTPS was enabled.

Neutral

We have not used any alternatives to GoAnywhere MFT.

The solution was already deployed when I joined, but I handled the migration to the new server. I built the new server and followed guidance from the GoAnywhere engineer, who watched and directed my actions while I shared my desktop.

Regarding maintenance, it only requires Windows updates for the server, which is automated by SCCM. We monitor for new versions of GoAnywhere MFT and install them within a week or two after release, depending on whether it's a critical update or if security issues were found. We follow a change control process through the ticketing system, and stakeholders must be informed of any changes. It's easy to maintain this product with monthly Windows updates and occasional GoAnywhere MFT updates.

We paid $3,500 for professional services, which covered two meetings plus a couple of hours with the engineer.

It's difficult to compare costs as I don't know how much competitors charge for their products. In my career, I haven't used anything except GoAnywhere MFT. However, it saves considerable time, and I would say the investment pays off.

The pricing is reasonable. We recently considered moving GoAnywhere MFT from on-premises to their Cloud solution, however, it proved too expensive. We decided to keep it on-premises and migrate the product to a newer version of Windows Server, from 2016 to 2022. 

We don't use connectors. We use SAP as our ERP system and don't have any CRM since we are primarily a retail company working with customers who come to stores to buy jewelry. We don't use agents, secure forms, or the GoFast feature. Our setup is simple and basic.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate GoAnywhere MFT a nine overall. Without knowledge, it can be challenging to manage as it uses XML files for configurations and has tricky variables. While it's not particularly intuitive for new users, it becomes easy once mastered.

We use GoAnywhere MFT for managed file transfer, secure mail feature, and SFTP. It serves as our SFTP system.

We utilize the GoAnywhere Agent, which allows us to connect internally to our network. It functions similarly to a VPN tunnel. With the cloud version, there is minimal maintenance involved, including no need to worry about security certificate updates.

Overall, it's been a good product for us, and I'm very happy with the support. There is also the ease of administration. You don't have to be a coding expert or anything like that to be able to create complex managed file transfer jobs.

The whole application of GoAnywhere MFT is excellent. The user interface is intuitive. The flexibility for creating projects for managed file transfer is quite robust. I can easily add new modules to any project through a drag and drop process, which is really nice. I have the ability to manually edit the XML code that is produced when creating a project using that method. I can also export the XML code.

The Secure FTP feature gives me the ability to manually block IP addresses. It's a very secure system that automatically blocks certain IP addresses after multiple malicious connection attempts. Setting up new accounts is straightforward, and it's a robust SFTP system that uses the same interface as the regular GoAnywhere MFT, making it familiar for users. I can produce reports for security and have full control over secure protocols allowed on the system, making it easy to comply with security standards such as Sarbanes-Oxley.

The Secure Mail feature is impressive. I've worked with several different secure mail applications, and this one has comparable features. You can dictate security levels, such as requiring a username and password or simply sending links. It also allows business users to request large files from vendors or partners without utilizing an FTP system for large file transfers. When requesting files, recipients can click on a link and upload their file through a secure file transfer. If I needed a 200-gig file from you, I could send you a request. You click on the link, and then you can upload your file. It's a secure file transfer. That's a nice feature about it. 

The application uses resources such as network connections to shared directories or SFTP connections. I would appreciate seeing utilization metrics for these resources. For example, when opening a resource, it would be beneficial to see which projects are utilizing that resource. A project transfers files from one location to another, and these locations are the resources. When opening the configuration for a resource such as an SFTP site, it would be helpful if it displayed which projects are utilizing that resource. 

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the product. We did have some issues a couple of months back where we were having some unscheduled outages, and the support team worked with me closely and provided a solution that appears to have fixed the problem. I haven't seen any issues in over a month now.

We have been using the cloud version of GoAnywhere MFT for approximately two years.

We experienced some unscheduled outages a couple of months back, but the support team worked closely with us and provided a solution that appears to have fixed the problem. Essentially, the application needed to be updated to the current version, so I really can't blame the application because our cloud wasn't on the current version. We have a very crowded schedule as far as our MFT jobs are concerned. The delay was because I had to wait after we went through payroll and month closing tasks before doing an upgrade. We did experience a little bit of trouble, but it was resolved quickly.

The experience was excellent. The support technician who worked with me initially owned the ticket through the whole process, even after escalating to developers or higher-level support. The technician stayed with the ticket until resolution and followed up afterward.

Positive

The nearest alternative I've used is Oracle Cloud Integrations, which is essentially a fancy managed file transfer system. It has connections similar to resources and file transfer capability, including SFTP capability. It does not have secure mail capability, but it is comparable to an Oracle Integration type system.

I've been with the company for 25 years. Prior to using the cloud version of GoAnywhere MFT, we were hosting GoAnywhere MFT in-house. It was an on-prem system, whereas now, we're in the cloud. We've been using the cloud version for only two years, but we used the in-house version for six years prior to that. I was instrumental in moving to the cloud version. I also did the proposal to use GoAnywhere SFTP. I did a proof of concept and all that. I pushed it through. I was pretty much the one who pushed for GoAnywhere SFTP, but we have been using the MFT service for years and years.

Deploying GoAnywhere MFT was straightforward, especially the cloud version. We encountered minor issues with whitelisting IP addresses during the learning process. The challenging part was transferring our old MFT on-premises jobs to the new cloud version.

There was some confusion with the agent because it functions as two different sides of the same application. The agent side communicates with your network while the other side operates independently. Creating projects in the correct area is crucial. For example, projects needing an internal network connection should be created inside the agent console. The process of switching between the regular console and agent console could be improved, as it's somewhat cumbersome.

The cloud version deployment was simple, though on-premises installation can be more complex.

In terms of maintenance, I don't even have to worry about security certificates anymore. Previously, I had to update the security certificates on the on-prem servers, but that's true for any application. There's almost no management.

The pricing for GoAnywhere MFT seems reasonable when compared to other similar services, especially cloud services. Azure is significantly more expensive.

We don't use its connectors at this point. It's pretty much standalone. We are an Oracle cloud customer as well. Most integrations are managed within the cloud because they have their own connectors. Cloud-to-cloud transfers for services like Salesforce don't require routing through our system unless it's for archival purposes.

It's an excellent product. I would recommend it. I would rate GoAnywhere MFT a nine out of ten. The cloud version is relatively new to everyone, and there were instances where the support team was going through their own learning process. However, they handled everything professionally. The pace of technology advancement is rapid, but they maintain excellent service.