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"Sterling Commerce is a software company that helps our customers optimize and transform their Business Collaboration Network inside and outside the enterprise quickly, easily, and securely so they can accelerate revenues and reduce costs."
Source : Sterling Commerce
Magic Quadrant for Managed File Transfer
Managed File Transfer (MFT) is also known as :
Managed File Transfer,
MFT,
Guaranteed MFT,
Sterling Managed File Transfer,
File Transfer Management,
Secure File Transfer,
Managed File Transfer Solution Provides,
MFT File Transfer,
Manage File Transfer,
Guaranteed Managed File Transfer,
Secure Managed File Transfer,
Secure File Transfer Servers,
Sterling Managed File Transfer Benefit ,
Managed File Transfer Product Ranked,
Managed File Transfer Solutions,
Free File Transfer,
Digital Media Management,
Transfer Files Fast and Easy,
Enable Secure Enterprise-Scale File Transfers,
File Transfer Product Family.
The perfect storm of compliance, risk, governance and performance has caused the
vendors in the managed file transfer space to segment and specialize. Still, there are
enough commonalities to make "apples to apples" comparisons.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Companies should consider managed file transfer (MFT) suite vendors that meet their tactical
and strategic needs. It's all too easy to act reactively and deploy technology that only supports
one protocol or security standard; it's much more prudent to deploy a product that can be easily
expanded and upgraded to handle multiple protocols and multiple standards in a well-managed
way that's fully auditable.
MAGIC QUADRANT
Market Overview
Numerous factors cause companies to re-examine how they manage the movement of
information from system to system, partner to partner and person to person. FTP alone is not a
viable option to give you the insight, security, performance and, ultimately, the risk mitigation
necessary to responsibly conduct business. Fortunately, there is a set of vendors that offers the
technologies, services and disciplines to help you managed all aspects of the transfer of
information. Collectively, Gartner tracks 20 vendors in this space offering MFT functionality in
multiple deployment models, including services, appliances and traditional software. Additionally,
all the vendors represent various spectrums of the MFT suite market, including multienterprise
collaboration, internal integration and support for common collaboration mechanisms, including e-
mail.
Market Definition/Description
As defined in previous research ("Revisiting the Managed File Transfer Market and Vendors That
Support It"), MFT suites are usually comprised of four discrete functionalities that can be
deployed separately but are usually deployed as a suite:
- Server " Technologies that include the ability to manage all aspects of the file transfer
support multiple communications, security protocols and mechanisms, workflow,
provisioning, some transformation, application programming interfaces (APIs) and
adapters, and streaming input/output.
- Client " A subset of some of the technologies above, but mainly used for tight
integration with a server product. Clients are used by applications (via programmatic
means) and by humans for collaboration, such as large file transfers using established
e-mail systems.
- Proxy " Technologies used to abstract other elements of the infrastructure, such as a
proxy deployed in a "demilitarized zone," used to conceal the true IP addresses and
ports of a sender and recipient.
- Plug-in " Technologies that interoperate or integrate with applications, enabling them to
natively communicate with servers.
Gartner estimates that the market for MFT suites and services is approximately $450 million and
is growing at a rate of 21% to 26% year over year (see "Market Trends: Multienterprise/B2B
Infrastructure Market, Worldwide, 2008"). Fortunately for many of these vendors, while the overall
market for MFT solutions grows at a healthy rate, the overall pool of enterprises needing MFT
solutions grows even faster. "While the big fish in the pond becomes bigger, the pond itself is
growing even faster." For the most part, the largest and most common competitors are
homegrown FTP solutions, which are technically free, but, as many of our clients realize, are
neither well managed, secured nor without maintenance headaches.
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
The criteria for inclusion is marketing, selling and deploying a solution for purely MFT.
Additionally, the solution should not be just a feature, but rather a distinct product with a
corresponding stock-keeping unit number, audience and revenue that can be easily broken out in
the vendor's financials. Although there are exceptions, the vendors in this Magic Quadrant have a
minimum of $4 million in annual revenue.
Evaluation Criteria
Ability to Execute
Gartner analysts evaluate technology providers on the quality and efficacy of the processes,
systems, methods or procedures that enable IT provider performance to be competitive, efficient
and effective, and to positively affect revenue, retention and reputation. Ultimately, technology
providers are judged on their ability and success in capitalizing on their vision.
Completeness of Vision
Gartner evaluates technology providers on their ability to convincingly articulate their current and
future market direction, innovation, customer needs, competitive forces and how well they map to
the Gartner position. Ultimately, technology providers are rated on their understanding of how
market forces can be exploited to create opportunities for the provider.
Leaders
Leaders are most likely to have high revenue and commitment to the market, high market share
and installed bases, and products that are of interest to a large audience. Additionally, leaders
have presented domain expertise and compelling messages that have penetrated the market
(intentionally or unintentionally).
Challengers
Challengers have focused significant resources in this market, but they have a narrower
understanding of the market and a less-impressive product strategy, or they've deliberately
chosen to limit the scope of their product lines. For example, vendors that service the small or
midsize business space primarily provide support for one or two protocols, such as FTP, and
security mechanisms, such as "pretty good privacy" (PGP).
Visionaries
Visionaries understand the market and customer requirements well, but have fewer assets
available or committed to the pursuit of this particular market than leaders. Specific to the MFT
suite market, visionaries offer the functionality requirements often requested by Type A (early
technology adopters) companies, such as an service-oriented architecture (SOA) with
interoperable interfaces, business process management (BPM) and an integrated service
environment for design and modeling. However, many visionaries compete in multiple markets,
trying to balance and juggle resources and marketing messages.
Niche Players
Niche players are limited to a particular geographical or industry segment, or have a smaller
range of features or resources that, when taken together, preclude them from competing across
the board in many major segments of this market. We expect that various vendors that specialize
in content and extraction, transformation and loading will enter this quadrant and quickly move
into the Challengers' quadrant.
Vendor Strengths and Cautions
Accellion
Strengths
- E-mail attachment offloading is noninvasive, enabling employees easy use of the MFT
solution in conjunction with established e-mail environments.
- Appliance and virtual appliances are simple to install and configure, without the need for
professional services.
Cautions
- Accellion primarily is seen as just an e-mail-attachment-offloading vendor. Gartner rarely
sees Accellion in RFPs and requests for information (RFIs) for holistic MFT suite
deployments.
- Some prospects that are unaware of the virtualization options offered by Accellion
erroneously dismiss the solution as expensive to upgrade and scale. Accellion needs to
ensure that the variety of deployment options for scalability and upgrades are well-
known and understood to mitigate these assumptions.
ASG
Strengths
- ASG's MFT suite is integrated with the large portfolio (more than 80 applications) of
ASG, including system management and monitoring solutions.
- It also is integrated with ASG's repository for asset and life cycle management.
Cautions
- Although ASG's MFT suite is valuable, particularly in monitoring and management
scenarios, ASG is infrequently considered for enterprise MFT due to lack of messaging
and marketing outside its customer base.
- ASG has not proactively addressed the assumption in the market that its MFT solutions
can only be deployed within an established ASG environment.
Axway
Strengths
- Axway's interoperable service-centric suite includes MFT, business-to-business (B2B)
gateway and integration technologies, enabling users to extend their MFT to their
partners.
- Complex event-processing functionality, including business activity monitoring, enables
users to deploy prepackaged processes, such as Controlled Substance Ordering
System (CSOS), e-pedigree and claims processing.
Cautions
- Despite the continued strength of the "retired" Cyclone Commerce brand, Axway brand
awareness is still lacking in North America.
- Tactical solutions, such as single-connection PGP/FTP, are perceived as too expensive
and too complex for many prospects.
Biscom
Strengths
- Strong content management and filtering technologies are included in Biscom's MFT
suite.
- Biscom's MFT suite supports the transmission any type of document, including fax, PDF
and unstructured.
Cautions
- Although Biscom is gaining visibility in the MFT suite market, most of its revenue is
based on fax servers and fax software.
- Biscom's suite lacks support for common communication and security protocols, such as
Applicability Statement 2 (AS2).
CA
Strengths
- CA has a large installed base of mainframe, legacy and distributed system users.
- CA provides support for peer-to-peer and client/server, and support for legacy protocols
and communication mechanisms, including Systems Network Architecture, TCP/IP
(including IPv6) and X.25.
Cautions
- Although CA's technology has evolved to support modern architectures (by including
modern protocols and security mechanisms), companies that are modernizing their
infrastructures frequently consider CA's MFT suite as a candidate for modernization.
- CA's messaging and marketing mostly revolves around its enterprise system
management strategy, resulting in CA not being considered for non-CA environment
application-to-application, B2B and ad hoc MFT deployments.
Cyber-Ark Software
Strengths
- Cyber-Ark uses vaulting technologies, enabling collaborative activities, such as file
check-in, check-out and management.
- Workflow and process can be administered centrally to multiple vaults, and vaults can
be assigned to people, applications and external entities.
Cautions
- Strong security messaging and marketing overshadow management messaging.
- Although a viable option, vaulting is an uncommon approach to MFT.
GlobalSCAPE
Strengths
- GlobalSCAPE offers quick deployment options and an easy-to-use graphical user
interface, AS2 and Web service-based interface.
- The client software installed base is more than one million users.
Cautions
- No Unix support quickly eliminates GlobalSCAPE from some RFPs and RFIs.
- GlobalSCAPE has limited, but growing deployments using common application
integration technologies and methodologies (that is, BPM, workflow and transformation).
iWay Software
Strengths
- iWay's integration middleware (mostly adapters) is embedded in many enterprises,
giving users a platform for expansion.
- iWay has partnerships, resellers and OEM agreements with integration platform
providers that typically lack MFT functionality.
Cautions
- iWay's MFT technologies require an established or new installation of iWay's Service
Manager.
- Its MFT suite offering is new and mostly unknown.
Inovis
Strengths
- A combination of an MFT suite, a B2B gateway and a service offering enables users to
extend MFT functionality to business partners, regardless of size or maturity.
- The recent acquisition of BetweenMarkets enables preprocessing validation of
messages and files.
Cautions
- Inovis' MFT suite offering is brand new and mostly unknown.
- Although the technology for MFT was built into past versions of BizManager, Inovis
failed to recognize the need and opportunity for MFT functionality, even from its
established customers.
Ipswitch
Strengths
- Ipswitch's 18-year history as a pioneer in client file transfer software, coupled with its
recent acquisition of Standard Networks, results in a global-class suite of MFT server
and client solutions.
- Core server and workflow automation products support all security communications
protocols that are simple to deploy and maintain.
Cautions
- Ipswitch is sometimes recognized as being a supplier of client technology only (more
than 40 million client customers). However, this is rapidly changing as enterprises
become aware of the MOVEit solution.
- The Windows-only platform may limit exposure and consideration for enterprise projects.
LeapFILE
Strengths
- LeapFILE offers fully hosted MFT suite functionality, with centralized monitoring and
management in a software-as-a-service model (MFTaaS).
- LeapFILE's focus on ad hoc file transfer (the most common type of file transfer) reduces
the burden on e-mail systems and other collaborative infrastructures.
Cautions
- LeapFILE is part of a growing set of vendors that uses the cloud as a platform and
delivery mechanism, so they don't completely map to Gartner's MFT taxonomy. Most
companies cannot and will not embrace MFTaaS because of a lack of understanding.
- Even in an MFTaaS scenario, there will be the need to provide the means for integration
(that is, prepackaged adapters and interfaces) with established infrastructure and
middleware. LeapFILE will need to provide this.
MessageWay Solutions
Strengths
- MessageWay Solutions has an interoperable, service-centric MFT suite, with support for
large bulk transformation and the most-common B2B security and communication
protocols.
- Its MFT suite can be extended into MQSeries, secure shell environments and
Connect:Direct.
Cautions
- MessageWay has a limited market presence due to limited resources (the result of a
completed divestiture from Bell Canada).
- It's a smaller company than its competitors, with fewer than 100 clients and fewer than
30 employees, which raises concerns of viability from some prospects.
nuBridges
Strengths
- The company's integrated B2B gateway and MFT suite enable nuBridges to offer
common security and communications protocols, trading partner management and
packaged integrated processes, such as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
compliance and CSOS.
- nuBridges has a strong management team, with executives from Descartes Systems
Group, iSoft, Sterling Commerce, Trailblazer Systems and Harbinger Commerce (now
Inovis).
Cautions
- Although nuBridges has made impressive acquisitions of technologies that work well
interenterprise (Trailblazer Systems and iSoft), nuBridges hasn't leveraged the
opportunities within the enterprise (new marketing that targets B2B and MFT debuted in
June 2008).
- Better known for its B2B capabilities, nuBridges is seldom seen in MFT-specific RFPs
and RFIs.
Primeur
Strengths
- Primeur's MFT suite is based on an interoperable SOA that can be deployed in
conjunction with integration brokers, enterprise service buses (ESBs) and application
servers.
- Integrated BPM functionality enables MFT suite users model, simulate and execute MFT
processes across heterogeneous environments.
Cautions
- Although Primeur has enjoyed a successful partnership with IBM's WebSphere, it is
often seen as an IBM-only solution.
- Primeur's visibility outside Europe, the Middle East and Africa is limited, even with the
visibility that the IBM partnership gives it.
Proginet
Strengths
- Proginet supports numerous platforms and operating systems, and its MFT suite offers
B2B gateway-like functionality that includes transformation, multiple adapters and
partnerships with business intelligence vendors, which enables deep analysis of event
logs for auditing and reporting.
- Proginet is expanding its partner, reseller and OEM ecosystem to include ESB vendors,
to provide end users with MFT functionality that can be centrally managed and
monitored from the ESB.
Cautions
- Despite having an innovative MFT suite, Proginet has historically not invested in its
marketing and messaging. This continues to be a challenge to promote its technologies
.
- Size and viability remain concerns for many prospects.
Radiance Technologies
Strengths
- Radiance Technologies offers appliance-based solutions for MFT that can be quickly
deployed and upgraded as needs become more strategic.
- The company has a strong media and print focus, with multiple digital rights
management partners for value-added services.
Cautions
- As appliance solutions grow in the market, Radiance needs to expand its reach by
marketing and messaging its extended functionality (that is, BPM and workflow),
enabling Radiance to expand into other industries and market segments.
- Radiance continues to be seen as a niche vendor that only supports the media industry.
RepliWeb
Strengths
- RepliWeb offers support for ad hoc person-to-person file transfer that's fully managed
and auditable.
- A Web service API enables interoperability with third-party applications and middleware.
It also enables integration with portal technologies.
Cautions
- The B-Hub product set was known, and when it was rebranded as RepliWeb, many
customers and prospects did not make the "connection" between the two.
- RepliWeb has a limited partner ecosystem, limiting its sales and marketing reach.
Sterling Commerce
Strengths
- Sterling Commerce has an extensive history with MFT, with deployments in most
Fortune 500, financial and manufacturing institutions.
- Combined MFT, B2B gateway and integration suite technologies enable customers to
extend their MFTs across the enterprise to external partners.
Cautions
- There are continued issues with customers regarding perceived excessive licensing and
maintenance fees for Connect:Direct.
- Migration from legacy technologies into the more-modern Gentran Integration Suite with
Advanced File Transfer lacks clarity.
Stonebranch
Strengths
- Stonebranch offers a variety of products that can be used separately or as a suite to
address many aspects of MFT.
- Stonebranch's expertise in job scheduling gives it the opportunity to sell and upsell
deeper inside an organization to system administrators and architects.
Cautions
- Lack of marketing and messaging to security and integration specialists leaves
Stonebranch out of many MFT opportunities.
- Stonebranch's focus on internal file and data movement may be seen as a weakness in
multienterprise collaborative scenarios.
Tumbleweed Communications
Strengths
- Extensive security, content filtering and e-mail expertise are included in Tumbleweed
Communications' MFT suite.
- Deployment options include software or hardware appliance, appealing to multiple
constituents, including integration experts and security analysts.
Cautions
- Tumbleweed suffers from its continued perception as just an e-mail gateway and
security-only vendor.
- Although being addressed in its next-generation platform, the lack of interoperable,
service-centric technologies makes it complex to integrate with middleware and
systems.
YouSendIt
Strengths
- A growing list of enterprise subscribers supports YouSendIt's business model of
providing ad hoc solutions to MFT.
- The user base of 7 million subscribers gives YouSendIt an enormous opportunity to
convert enterprise subscribers.
Cautions
- YouSendIt is part of a growing set of vendors that uses the cloud as a platform and
delivery mechanism, so it doesn't completely map to Gartner's MFT taxonomy. Most
companies cannot and will not embrace MFTaaS because of a lack of understanding.
- Even in an MFTaaS scenario, there will be the need to provide the means for integration
(that is, prepackaged adapters and interfaces) with established infrastructure and
middleware. YouSendIt will need to provide this.
RECOMMENDED READING
"Magic Quadrants and MarketScopes: How Gartner Evaluates Vendors Within a Market"
"Taxonomy and Definitions for the Multienterprise/B2B Infrastructure Market"
"Market Trends: Multienterprise/B2B Infrastructure Market, Worldwide, 2008"
Vendors Added or Dropped
We review and adjust our inclusion criteria for Magic Quadrants and MarketScopes as markets
change. As a result of these adjustments, the mix of vendors in any Magic Quadrant or
MarketScope may change over time. A vendor appearing in a Magic Quadrant or MarketScope
one year and not the next does not necessarily indicate that we have changed our opinion of that
vendor. This may be a reflection of a change in the market and, therefore, changed evaluation
criteria, or a change of focus by a vendor.
Evaluation Criteria Definitions
Ability to Execute
Product/Service: Core goods and services offered by the vendor that compete in/serve the
defined market. This includes current product/service capabilities, quality, feature sets and skills,
whether offered natively or through OEM agreements/partnerships as defined in the market
definition and detailed in the subcriteria.
Overall Viability (Business Unit, Financial, Strategy, Organization): Viability includes an
assessment of the overall organization's financial health, the financial and practical success of
the business unit, and the likelihood that the individual business unit will continue investing in the
product, will continue offering the product and will advance the state of the art within the
organization's portfolio of products.
Sales Execution/Pricing: The vendor's capabilities in all presales activities and the structure that
supports them. This includes deal management, pricing and negotiation, presales support and the
overall effectiveness of the sales channel.
Market Responsiveness and Track Record: Ability to respond, change direction, be flexible
and achieve competitive success as opportunities develop, competitors act, customer needs
evolve and market dynamics change. This criterion also considers the vendor's history of
responsiveness.
Marketing Execution: The clarity, quality, creativity and efficacy of programs designed to deliver
the organization's message to influence the market, promote the brand and business, increase
awareness of the products, and establish a positive identification with the product/brand and
organization in the minds of buyers. This "mind share" can be driven by a combination of
publicity, promotional initiatives, thought leadership, word-of-mouth and sales activities.
Customer Experience: Relationships, products and services/programs that enable clients to be
successful with the products evaluated. Specifically, this includes the ways customers receive
technical support or account support. This can also include ancillary tools, customer support
programs (and the quality thereof), availability of user groups, service-level agreements and so
on.
Operations: The ability of the organization to meet its goals and commitments. Factors include
the quality of the organizational structure, including skills, experiences, programs, systems and
other vehicles that enable the organization to operate effectively and efficiently on an ongoing
basis.
Completeness of Vision
Market Understanding: Ability of the vendor to understand buyers' wants and needs and to
translate those into products and services. Vendors that show the highest degree of vision listen
to and understand buyers' wants and needs, and can shape or enhance those with their added
vision.
Marketing Strategy: A clear, differentiated set of messages consistently communicated
throughout the organization and externalized through the Web site, advertising, customer
programs and positioning statements.
Sales Strategy: The strategy for selling products that uses the appropriate network of direct and
indirect sales, marketing, service and communication affiliates that extend the scope and depth of
market reach, skills, expertise, technologies, services and the customer base.
Offering (Product) Strategy: The vendor's approach to product development and delivery that
emphasizes differentiation, functionality, methodology and feature sets as they map to current
and future requirements.
Business Model: The soundness and logic of the vendor's underlying business proposition.
Vertical/Industry Strategy: The vendor's strategy to direct resources, skills and offerings to
meet the specific needs of individual market segments, including vertical markets.
Innovation: Direct, related, complementary and synergistic layouts of resources, expertise or
capital for investment, consolidation, defensive or pre-emptive purposes.
Geographic Strategy: The vendor's strategy to direct resources, skills and offerings to meet the
specific needs of geographies outside the "home" or native geography, either directly or through
partners, channels and subsidiaries as appropriate for that geography and market.
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