Several months ago, I started this blog series to give an overview of the products that are in the IBM® B2B Integration track and explain how they work together and what they do.
The series is based on the image below, which is my simplified version of the layers of B2B and data integration.
So far I've gone through mapping, transform/translate, and a portion of communicate. This post will be the second part of communicate, which focuses on IBM's Managed File Transfer products. These products can be stand-alone products or integrate with some of IBM's integration products.
The ones I will focus on in this post are…- File integration - IBM Sterling Connect:Direct
- File gateways - IBM Sterling File Gateway (SFG)
- File governance and security - IBM Control Center, IBM Sterling Secure Proxy (SSP)
Let's start with the file integration category. When IBM bought Sterling Commerce in 2010, they acquired Connect:Direct, Sterling File Gateway, Sterling Control Center, and Secure Proxy.
Connect:Direct is by far the most "experienced" of these products. It was acquired by Sterling Software (later to become Sterling Commerce) in 1993. Connect:Direct focuses on application-to-application data transfers that eliminates the unreliability of FTP. Capabilities include communications scheduling, start/restart/recover processes, user authentication and file encryption, user alerts, and increased transfer speed for large files. Connect:Direct is platform independent and supports a wide range of network protocols.
IBM Sterling File Gateway (SFG) is IBM's B2B gateway product and it is built on IBM B2B Integrator. SFG is the central guard that facilitates data transfers over the Internet. Capabilities include file and trading partner management through setup templates, monitoring and metrics, self-service portal, automated event-driven and rules based processing, and security through encryption, user authentication, and an audit trail of activities.
IBM Sterling Secure Proxy (SSP) and IBM Control Center fall into the file governance and security category. IBM Sterling Secure Proxy resides in the DMZ and prevents direct connectivity between external partners and internal servers, enabling secure data movement over the internet. Connections are intercepted at the edge and following authorization are transparently redirected to trusted connections within your enterprise. Capabilities include forced compliance of internal and external security policies, authentication services, configurable error handling, and dynamic routing.
IBM Control Center does not provide communications, but monitors communications. Control Center provides visibility for line of business contacts into file transfers and B2B processes, schedules, file names and other data with a simplified graphical interface. Other capabilities include continuous monitoring, management of IBM Sterling Connect:Direct and IBM Control Center configurations, and process failure alerts.
Each of these products play a specific role in managed file transfer from basic file movement from one system to another to a gateway that manages and secures all data incoming from any source or outgoing to any destination.
