Leapfile Managed File Transfer vs. SolarWinds Serv-U

We replaced ShareFile, that we had used for 7 years, due to a cost increase. LeapFile appeared to provide the exact same solution for a better price. However, the headaches we are experiencing with the product are costing us valuable time, money and frustration, both among our staff and between our clients.

For anyone who needs to receive/send files between themselves and others, in an organized fashion, I would strongly recommend Serv-U as a great tool at a sensible cost. In our line of work, we can get several customers signed in at once, each sending in hundreds of Megabytes of data simultaneously. Serv-U has never struggled with this. We don't use the Quota set up for sending/receiving data but I can see it is useful where an exchange of information is the point.

• There are 3 ways to use LeapFile: the desktop app, the web app, the Outlook plugin

• The Wizard allows us to create new user accounts very easily and quickly. We do not have a formal IT department so those of us "mere mortals" can use this easily.
• Using the Web Client has made it very simple to set up and instruct our customers on getting to the server from any device with a minimum of fuss. We have many customers with ESL, and school students including middle and high school. Most of them are not computer experts, just regular users so the simplicity allows to do the whole setup over the phone in minutes.
• The newer version of Serv-U does not appear to be very resource-hungry so our computer runs nice and fast, without having to be a top of the range powerbox. We concentrated on large storage to cope with the file sizes we receive daily.

• The interface is almost all text-based with minimal graphics. Because of that it can be difficult for our employees and our clients to quickly decide what action to take to complete their downloads.
• We have found the admin controls to not work consistently, causing lots of headaches.
• Some emails sent via the Outlook plugin will cause formatted text to look extremely confusing on the download page that a client must view in order to take an action to retrieve their files. The text shows all the HTML code wrapped around it.
• Uploads web page will tend to hold a cookie that "remembers" an expired link, causing our clients to receive an error.

• The user interface on large screens becomes tiny and nearly unreadable without the aid of Windows Magnifier.
• Active Directory integration is either absent or not straightforward.
• Settings and configuration aren't always intuitive.

Support was the biggest hurdle for us. It definitely needs improvement, but not to the point of being a deal breaker.

Incentivized

Similar functionality but LeapFile has a lower cost and a more basic interface. ShareFile was infinitely easier to use for both our employees and clients

Previously we have used FileZilla and Microsoft FTP services, but neither out-performed Serv-U. although it was easy to use, FileZilla required constant attention from IT staff and did not live up to security protocol in place. The Windows Server FTP was difficult to configure for clients due to the tight integration with Active Directory. This also limited who could help administer the server.

• Too much time spent on addressing individual client issues while attempting to send or retrieve files.
• Too much time spent on testing and troubleshooting our employees' issues while attempting to send or retrieve files.

• I have been using it for over 10 years so the ROI was there for sure.
• It is not a constant attention needing program.
• Set up and it does its job.