Box vs. Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT

I think Box is great for research teams or anyone that has a large number of files that need to be securely stored. Particularly in the case of social science research, where it is important to protect identifying data, Box is a great option. In cases where teams need a more reliable means for real-time collaboration, I would probably consider a different alternative

Go Anywhere is perfect for moving data between systems. It is great for pulling data and emailing it or sending it to another server. However, Go Anywhere is limited as an ETL tool. It is not good for large datasets. When we had to move millions of rows from one server to another, it totally choked.

Incentivized

• The main feature that I like the most in Box is that it makes collaboration seamless, workers can easily check the documents any time and make changes according to the needs.
• Box manages and backs up all of your files on its cloud servers, and provides a very nice interface for creating, viewing, editing, and collaborating on the most commonly used file types (PDF, XLS, DOC, etc.).
• Over the past few years, Box has built on top of its basic cloud storage management with a host of other tools, such as workflows, AI, monitoring, and analytics.
• It is helping us to make good connections with clients and our workers themselves as to its syncing and viewing feature to all is very much helpful and easy to go.

Incentivized

• For an FTP server it is robust but very easy to use and configure.
• For a project manager for file transfers, it allows you to do nearly anything, from simple file move to file rename, move, zip, and create a new folder location to drop the file in.
• GoAnywhere has a gateway device that allows for securing the traffic coming from outside your network in without exposing too much of your network.

• The graphic design of the dashboard should be simpler and more tangible that can be changed to the liking of the Admin.
• Sometimes there are some syncing issues in the background.
• The product has very limited functionality in some areas which could be a bit frustrating at times.

Incentivized

• In the beginning, when implementing, it can take a while to understand how it works thoroughly.
• Due to the added abilities learning to configure the software can take some time.
• Training for this product will cost extra. The training is also not excellent.
• The software seems glitchy at times, sometimes being slow or corrupting jobs.

Incentivized

I like the security features and I like the website. It's easy to use and create and move things around as needed. The main reason for a lower rating is because the Box Sync app is just not a good program. It's a memory hog, it's slow, transfer speeds are slow, and it's not the most efficient route. If you have a large Box account and you need to get a computer up to speed on a large amount of data within Box, you are in for the long haul. Last time I had to do this, it took 3 days to sync all of the files and we are talking around 100 GB worth of data

Everything with Box is seamless. It can be integrated into virtually any other software or application. You can even get the app for your phone or tablet to work on the go. File syncing is so quick. The only reason I gave it a 9 is the issue I discussed earlier about the local file application rebooting and not continuing to sync files. Other than that, it's great!

Incentivized

Since using it and having time to work with it, its process and actions are growing on me and once a project is created one can implement across numerous location or platforms

Yeah, it's always worked, I've never had any kind of connection issues, the only issues I've had it I've been on our end when the Internet hasn't worked.

Incentivized

The general operation and management of Box is very efficient, both when accessing the account, and when adding files, downloading or modifying any document directly. The web platform, mobile and desktop versions work really well and quickly, making all the work and process flow smoothly and without setbacks. So far I have not been able to observe any inconvenience

Incentivized

I found their support community lacking in clarity when I experienced a login issue. The error messaging was poor on my Box Sync application. I did not reach out to support staff for help, instead, I reasoned that I should try downloading the Box Sync application again and reinstall it. That fixed my issue, thankfully. I think a less computer-savvy user would've been much more frustrated.

Incentivized

They would help us to identify the problem and provide a solution every time. Support also will answer questions about what the application can do and how, and it would allow you to submit enhancements requests for consideration to be included in future versions.

The in person training was done in house and I helped with the training, people seem to respond well.

Incentivized

The documentation is good. Since Box is a popular service, there were also a number of YouTube videos and other sources that were helpful as we were considering the product and planning for deployment. Also, the ability to try the free version helped to prepare us.

Be careful with settings. It is easy to get overwhelmed with updates. For example, you don’t want to be updated when doing historical data uploads. I recommend taking off notifications initially and then turn on post you have done your historical data upload.

Implementation was straight forward. We paid for 50 hours of professional service in case, we need help. We end using only 10 hours. I have only 1 month to convert over 120 scripts from FTP voyager to goanywhere. Old script was had written using bat files. Some of the batch file were written by some other person, who passed away. Documents for old script was not in details. With the professional service, I was able to convert all script within windows

They are kind of the same. And both of them do their job as promised. But for company and project wise I think that Box slightly wins for some points. Which [makes him] win over Google Drive (don't forget that Google Drive is very easy to use and has a lot [of] nice features too).

At the time we were evaluating a managed file transfer system, we initially looked at Ipswitch. It did not have a web based interface and the overall price was extremely higher than GA MFT. The solutions offered by GA MFT were significantly more attractive for our needs as an organization.

Incentivized

It's great, as we put more files on there it's done very well.

Incentivized

• Box has been an only positive experience. It provides a seamless way for me and my team to collaborate on documents in such a way where we're not sending the document back/forth via email. It's a huge timesaver.
• Box reduces the risk of sharing a sensitive document to the wrong person via email.
• Box has provided a platform where my team can share notes in meetings - this has helped streamline and organize our meetings. Our meetings are more productive and actionable.

Incentivized

• GA has made life easier for our employees. Many processes that used to take a lot of time are now automated or semi-automated using GA.
• GA has helped our IT team be far more productive. It would take weeks to put together code that we can do in GA in a day or less.

Incentivized