Alternative for what purpose? If your files are destined for SFTP (or coming from there), I think that's your protocol. If it's not Secure FTP, then you could use the simpler FILENAME FTP -- no certificates to manage.
If your files are available via web service, there's PROC HTTP as a way to fetch them.
Use SAS/CONNECT and PROC UPLOAD/DOWNLOAD to transfer files between two SAS servers.