Humans use reviews for pretty much everything – hiring a company, making a purchase, even applying for a job. Reviews give us insight into what someone – presumably someone like us, if they’re currently using the same thing we’re shopping for – thinks of a product: how they liked it, what their experience is, and what could have been better. Even feats of human ingenuity have reviews: the Great Wall of China comes in with an average rating of 4.2 these days, while the Colosseum in Italy has 4.7 stars.
Reviews for software are no different, and reviewers know it. They share what worked, what exceeded expectations, and what needs improvement. Reading reviews helps narrow down choices and make informed purchases. Plus, it’s nice to get to the heart of the matter and rely less on how the company chooses to present itself, or what its engineers are saying.
Using Software Reviews to Your Advantage
Experts including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission recommend several key tips when looking at user reviews. These include:
- Evaluating whether the reviewer’s needs are like your own. Perhaps a software solution built for a small team didn’t fit their enterprise-level needs, but it could work perfectly for yours.
- Being critical about very positive and very negative reviews. Most reviewers write reviews when they have extreme emotions, positive or negative, gushing about the product, or using particularly vile language.
- Reading the reviews rather than the stars. People have very different rating systems and standards, and written explanations can offer more insight into the why behind the stars. If you’ve ever seen a one-star review that says the item they’re rating was never delivered, you may have already learned this lesson.
You can use these examples of secure file sharing reviews of GoAnywhere MFT.
Related Reading: Why Are Reviews Important?
Enterprise File Sharing Reviews: As Seen on G2
"We have an enterprise level MFT service established and being provided to our businesses using GoAnywhere. Most helpful is that the product is all configurable and easy to use! That helps us to have a broader team that can maintain the tool/service instead of having SMEs."
Rated: 5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by: Inderpal D., a Program Manager at an organization with 1,000+ employees
How This Review Can Help You:
Do your SMEs – script writers, program managers, admins, and more – spend more time than you’d like solving transfer issues, writing new scripts, and making minor changes? Do you need a tool that can grow and shrink to fit your everyday needs? Is your organization a large enterprise? If you answered yes, you’re likely in the same boat as Inderpal prior to using GoAnywhere MFT.
Gartner Peer Insights: Quick MFT Implementation
"The software is robust, offering not only communication protocols but a robust workflow engine to manage all aspects of file processing. When we have any issue the Customer Service team works hard to find a solution fast. They also continue to improve the product adding additional functionality on a regular basis”
Rated: 4 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by: Solution Architect, eCommerce & EDI
Related Reading: 5 Projects You Can Tackle with an MFT Trial
How This Review Can Help You:
Do you need to get something up and running quickly, but also need to know that it will continue to grow and evolve with your business needs? That’s the experience this reviewer found with GoAnywhere MFT, as well as a robust product and quick responses from the support team.
More Gartner Peer Insights Reviews
PeerSpot: From Use-Case to Demo in 30 Minutes
"When we were doing the demo, we took one project from the old system and got it running in GoAnywhere in less than 30 minutes. That says a lot. I've written queries and understand code, so I'm not a novice. Still, I think that's pretty impressive for a software product to be able to deliver a functional use case in half an hour."
Rated: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by: Angie Finnell-French, Business Intelligence Developer
How This Review Can Help You
If there are concerns about downtime or weekend work while implementing a new solution, this review can assuage your fears. Angie’s review goes on for another 1,500 words, so you can get a complete view of what she thought of the early stages of considering and using GoAnywhere, as well as how her team is using it today.
Capterra: No Scripting Involved
“Overall, the experience has been great. Training was wonderful and detailed. Looking forward to getting deeper into it. Although there is no scripting involved, the flow of the projects still leans well into my logical thinking mind. The only ding I can give it is that options that don't pertain to certain tasks, are not "disabled" so you have to be sure to read the notes and help in order to know when to use/not use an option.”
Rated: 5 out of 5 stars overall (Capterra also includes subcategories)
Reviewed by: Jeff B., System Analyst, Hospital & Healthcare
How This Review Can Help You
If, like Jeff B., you’re concerned about moving away from the control of scripting, there’s no need to fear: GoAnywhere MFT’s project flow still suits your skill set. (Bonus: if you don’t currently script or no longer want to, you can start using GoAnywhere MFT easily). Plus, even with a five-star rating, this reviewer shared features that need some changes.
Reviews Can Help, but Take Them with a Grain of Salt
There are many reasons to think twice about trusting a review: while over 88 percent of consumers use and trust online reviews, only about 1.5 percent of consumers leave them. That’s a small percentage leading the crowd!
Your own bias comes into play, too. Studies have shown that, even when the proportion of negative reviews is very small, users pay more attention to those low-star reviews than the many mid- or high-star reviews. It’s important to understand that the scarcity makes these more critical reviews more psychologically interesting. That’s not to say they’re necessarily inaccurate! Negative reviews can still give you a more well-rounded view of a product. But ask yourself if the handful of negative reviews really warrants focusing on those rather than nuanced mid-tier reviews.
You can always try most products for free before committing, too.
See What Third Parties Say About GoAnywhere MFT
There’s no need to rely on our best-of review roundup when you can see what real end-users say about all the top MFT solutions in one convenient report.
