“As IT modernisation initiatives continue to grow, and applications and infrastructures are upgraded or replaced, the underlying communication foundation should also be modernised,” said L. Frank Kenney, research director at Gartner.  “New solutions should have streamlined capabilities to change settings and have better security and auditing capabilities as these solutions improve internal operational efficiency and offer better overall manageability.”

Sterling Control Center – Configuration Manager is providing capabilities to enable companies to keep up with today’s fast-paced, constantly changing business environment. Most companies’ file transfer environments are decentralised with many point-to-point connections, making centralised management more difficult.  Complicating the matter are the increasingly strict compliance and security requirements that companies must adhere to, leading to policy changes, audits and hardware replacement.    

“Managed file transfer is quickly becoming one of the most important corporate IT initiatives because organisations are facing increasingly complex data security and compliance requirements.  They require advanced tools and solutions to provide effective visibility and efficient management of the movement of critical data,” said Geoff Baird, vice president, Managed File Transfer for Sterling Commerce.  “Sterling Control Center – Configuration Manager sets the standard in helping organisations meet those requirements by delivering a new level of centralised, efficient server administration of critical managed file transfer servers.”

Sterling Control Center – Configuration Manager applies to Connect:Direct servers. Connect:Direct is the leading point-to-point file transfer software optimised for high-volume, secure, assured delivery of files within and among enterprises. Sterling Control Center – Configuration Manager offers central configuration for creating, updating and deleting change requests, and cross-platform search and mass upgrade functions.  Other management capabilities for reducing complexity for distributed file transfer platforms include:

- Change controls to better audit and meet compliance reporting and tracking requirements, which can be retained or restored when needed.

- Policy management templates to proactively identify non-compliance related to file transfer configuration.