The Value of 3rd-Party Reviews

Third-party review sites can be a valuable source of insight for IT teams tasked with selecting the best software solution for their organisation.

Reputable and long-established sites such as PeerSpot, SoftwareReviews, G2, and Capterra can help identify which solutions are most widely used and highest rated within your industry.

This can in turn help you proceed quickly to a decision on which solution(s) to trial.

Reliable Reviewers

Whether you’re looking for Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions or other software, it’s best to prioritise reviews on sites which have established themselves as trustworthy over the test of time and thousands of peer reviews. These sites capture the opinions of real product users sharing their real-life experiences – positive and negative. 

In fact, Gartner’s 2024 annual study of 2,499 software decision makers found that customer reviews and ratings were the most used information source by buyers, above personalised product demos, user guides, and case studies.   More than a third of software buyers described reviews as “extremely important” to their purchase. 

Are Reviews Trustworthy?

It’s illegal in Australia and New Zealand for businesses to create fake or misleading reviews or arrange for others do so. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission suggests the following red flags may indicate that a review is fake:

·         a spike in highly positive or negative reviews over a short period of time;

·         many reviews written from the same email or IP address;

·         similar reviewers’ names;

·         generic reviews without specific detail about the business or product; and

·         reviews written in similar language as other reviews for the same business or product.

Thankfully, the trusted third-party sites I listed above have processes in place to weed out dubious software reviews.  They also publish the measures they take to assure the validity of the reviews they receive.

Other Sources of Insight

Beyond peer reviews, here are some other useful resources to consult when selecting the right software solution for your business.

·         Case studies: Demonstrate how businesses are using the solution;

·         Product videos: Illustrate solutions’ features and benefits;

·         Webinars: Subject matter experts demonstrate the configuration and use of the solutions; and

·         Written Resources: Provide a variety of reader-friendly explanations and examples

Local Advice and Guidance

At Generic Systems Australia, we have decades of experience installing and supporting the world’s premier MFT, GoAnywhere, across Australia and New Zealand.

Founded in 1993, we’re proud to count among our clients some of the region’s most iconic brands. Leveraging our unique skills and readily available local support, they rely on us to make their IT systems more secure and efficient, in turn, making their teams more productive.

A long-term partner of Fortra (formerly Help Systems, and Linoma Software, the original authors of GoAnywhere MFT), our in depth understanding of GoAnywhere’s capabilities - including Advanced Workflows, data translation, auditing and compliance, automation and security - enables us to devise optimal deployment solutions, provide rapid Proofs of Concept, and move ahead quickly with implementation.

In fact, we have exclusively managed GoAnywhere deployments for some of the region’s largest multinational corporations and Government departments, as well as small- to medium-sized businesses.

Our Australia-based technical experts provide clients with the reassurance that local help will always be on-hand.

If you’re exploring how to boost your efficiency and bottom line by leveraging Secure Managed File Transfer technology, please feel welcome to contact me for an obligation-free discussion.

Or, if you’d prefer to read more, you can check out the many resources on our Generic Systems Australia website, including our exclusive Local MFT Buyer’s Guide.

At Generic Systems Australia, we’re your local experts in MFT.