Supports secure API governance and enables automated CI/CD integration with strong policy enforcement
How has it helped my organization?
IBM API Connect has a designer and CLI features which can be used to completely automate the API. The way we use it is different. We really do not need an app dev team in order to create, design, and deploy an API. If a business analyst has a basic understanding of what the input and output payload is, they can directly create the API. We have automated the process. A business analyst fills out an entire Excel sheet with input and output payloads. That payload is fed to IBM API Connect commands and generates the YAML out of it, which is compliant with Open Standards 3.0.
IBM API Connect by default has all the features that are specific to CI/CD processes. IBM API Connect has a rich set of policy management features. We can achieve centralized control over API policies for governance and compliance. If a security team requests compliance features, we can fit IBM API Connect to address or secure whatever needs come out of the security team. All the enforcements can be done using IBM API Connect.
What is most valuable?
IBM API Connect is an API Gateway. It is purely for securing enterprise-wide APIs from the outside world. It best fits as an API Gateway in DMZ zones. It has a lot of features. It supports OAuth, third-party identity providers, and MFA as well. With the introduction of IBM API Connect V10, it also supports integration with multifactor authentication.
IBM API Connect has a designer and CLI features which can be used to completely automate the API. The implementation approach is different from typical processes. We do not need an app dev team in order to create, design, and deploy an API. If a business analyst has a basic understanding of what the input and output payload is, they can directly create the API. We have automated the process. A business analyst fills out an entire Excel sheet with input and output payloads. That payload is fed to IBM API Connect commands and generates the YAML out of it, which is compliant with Open Standards 3.0.
IBM API Connect by default has all the features that are specific to CI/CD processes. IBM API Connect provides policy management features. We can achieve centralized control over API policies for governance and compliance. Whatever a security team requests in terms of compliance features can be addressed through IBM API Connect to secure the necessary components. All the enforcements can be done using IBM API Connect.
What needs improvement?
When comparing IBM API Connect with DataPower Gateway, there are many features in DataPower Gateway that are not available in IBM API Connect. Some examples would be connectivity to MQ is not available in IBM API Connect. Custom code needs to be written in order to connect to MQ and exchange messages. This can be achieved, but it is a tedious task. Custom extensions need to be built in order to connect to MQ and exchange data. Additionally, there are enhancements needed when it comes to segregating APIs based on domain.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We did not go with the model of scaling based on licensing. We have a centralized pool for the entire middleware IBM middleware stack, which is quite close to 400 plus licenses. It is distributed among IBM MQ, IBM Ace, IBM DataPower, and IBM API Connect. As far as licensing is concerned, it is pretty flexible. It is not tied to a single product.
How are customer service and support?
Support is extremely good, especially with Sev 1 issues. The research team is brought into calls whenever needed. The support team is strict on their SLAs.
How would you rate customer service and support?
What other advice do I have?
The overall review rating for this product is 9 out of 10.
User-Friendly with Great Integrations, but Debugging APIs Can Be Tricky
What do you like best about the product?
It is very user-friendly. The product natively provides integrations with GraphQL and AsyncAPI, which enables a full service discoverability within the Dev Portal. This capability provides a self-service service consumption.
What do you dislike about the product?
Debugging API's might get somewhat difficult
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
securing API's (often proxies) to the public world
A solid API management platform that works well for basic to moderately complex solutions
What do you like best about the product?
- It offers a good balance of features, security, and usability.
- It has a User-Friendly Interface.
- Solid for Mid-Level Use Cases
What do you dislike about the product?
Learning Curve for New Users is a little high. While the interface is well-structured, beginners or those without prior exposure to IBM’s ecosystem may find the initial learning curve steep.
Occasional Bugs:
The platform does occasionally exhibit bugs or inconsistencies, which can impact the developer experience. Most issues are manageable, but they can be frustrating during critical development phases.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Mainly centralized API management, Security and Access control.
Development efficiency increases with API gateway's security and integration features
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use
IBM API Connect as an API Gateway to expose enterprise APIs to the outside world. Most applications I have worked with consume APIs deployed as part of the API Gateway for internal use.
What is most valuable?
Some of the best features of
IBM API Connect are the Two-Way SSL and features similar to those in
IBM DataPower Gateway. The key difference is how APIs are interacted with and bundled as a product. The API Gateway eases the development of REST APIs but retains the security features of
IBM DataPower Gateway. It offers significant development efficiency, reducing man-hours from eighty to four when creating APIs.
What needs improvement?
When comparing API Gateway with DataPower Gateway, several features in DataPower Gateway are absent in the APIC layer. Examples include the lack of connectivity to
MQ. Custom code is required to connect to
MQ and exchange messages. Enhancements for segregating APIs based on domain are needed. Auto-approval of APIs for non-prod environments has been requested. These were not developed in version 10.5.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
The initial setup of IBM API Connect is straightforward. Although version five was tedious, version ten doesn't take much time for infrastructure setup, whether on-premises or in the cloud. Production-ready deployment in multiple sites can take about a week with high availability.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability up to nine, almost ten. The runtime engine for the APIC Gateway is still a DataPower component, which has been stable in the industry for about fifteen years. Stability is evident in the transaction execution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
With container versions, scaling up or down the gateways deployed into pods is a two to three-minute task for the operations team. It is not complex. The introduction of container versions has simplified scaling.
How are customer service and support?
Support is excellent when it comes to APIC. However, the performance issues with containerized versions of DataPower, observed during migration from legacy VMware to OpenShift Container Platform, have affected the extent of support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
The company where I work did not have an
API Management solution before choosing IBM. We evaluated MuleSoft and
Apigee but opted for IBM API Connect due to pre-existing IBM
Middleware infrastructure.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is not complex. While version five was somewhat tedious, version ten requires less time to build infrastructure, both on-prem and in the cloud. Production-level deployment would take about a week to achieve.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment shouldn't take more than one resource with approximately a week's effort.
What was our ROI?
Development efforts minimized significantly. Reducing development hours from eighty to four for an API was possible due to reusing existing scripts from DataPower.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing depends on how many instances run across environments. I don't deal with licensing, but compared to other IBM products, the licensing is not significantly higher.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing IBM API Gateway, we evaluated MuleSoft and
Apigee.
What other advice do I have?
IBM API Connect was chosen mainly for its compatibility with existing scripts and frameworks, minimizing development effort, especially in aspects like authentication, logging, and auditing. I would definitely recommend it. Overall, I rate it nine out of ten.
I am a senior software developer. I have worked as full stack developer and DevOps Engineer
What do you like best about the product?
I love security features and features like rate limiting and throttling
What do you dislike about the product?
UI can be improved and pricing is a bit higher comparatively
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Overall API creation and management. It helps us in security and scalability of our APIs.
API gateway for managing large amount of API's for multiple product
What do you like best about the product?
UI of IBM API developer and Admin portal is good for managing and viewing the available products. The configuration related to product subscription, API's endpoints and secrets is very easy through Adming portal. The best thing i like about this product is that it's very easy to configure and manage the access for specific product at individual and group level. It provides variety of security protocols and plans to expose your products.
What do you dislike about the product?
Product needs improvement on the latency of API call.As, with this layer of APIC configuration it adds a bit more delay. Also, the platform is very slow if we import the API and try to view/edit in API editor.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We have very large numbers of API which we are exposing the multiple vendors. With IBM API connect portal we are able to manage all the API's very easily. Also we are able to monitor the access and limit the usage of the API calls. Also, we are able to automate the cofiguration process of all the new API's.
It was very fast and what i likes is built-in security protocol (OAuth)
What do you like best about the product?
Very simple UI and best thing i liked is built-in Security protocol (OAUTH).
Also Best thing is that i can analyze API usage, Errors rates.
What do you dislike about the product?
It is little bit costly for small businesses because sometimes they can't pay that much.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Sometimes it's hard to manage API manually likeAPI Usage, Error rates, API Response time etc. but IBM Provides simplete UI for API management and analysis.
IBM API Connect
What do you like best about the product?
it helped me to creating and managing Api's the best thing is it is easy to create and have different deploying options
What do you dislike about the product?
some of the features are hard to understand
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
provide better user experience and give security
Easy to use and manage API's. Doesn't require much expertise.
What do you like best about the product?
It is user-friendly and doesn't require much expertise
What do you dislike about the product?
You may encounter slow integration sometimes, maybe due to bugs.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Easy to use and implement API designs.
Offers API lifecycle management capabilities that can enhance a company's operations
What is our primary use case?
I use the solution in my company as an API Gateway and API Manager. We use a few of our products for technical documentation and API Specification, as well as as an API Manager. The rate limiting comes with the tool. It has been a very good product that we have been using for the last few years.
What is most valuable?
The most significant feature that we have been using in the tool in our company is the API Manager because it works like a gateway for APIs, and I think that is the best part that we have been utilizing.
What needs improvement?
The only downside where improvements are needed is probably on the licensing side.
Scalability is an issue with IBM API Connect, making it an area where improvements are required.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using IBM API Connect for two years. I am a customer of the tool.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
My company didn't face any sort of major problems running the tool till now. There were some issues in the tool for which we were getting support from IBM, but other than that, the product is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool doesn't scale horizontally. I don't think there is a Kubernetes engine implemented in it. You have to include more resources, specifically vertical resources, for it to scale, and that is a hard part to handle.
The tool is basically configured for API, so it receives millions of hits per day. It has thousands of users.
With IBM API Connect, a few people in my company manage it, and a few are its developers. The company itself has around 3,000 to 4,000 people.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support team is good. As I am in Pakistan, we usually get local support here. Engaging someone from IBM takes some time, but otherwise, the support is pretty good as well. I rate the technical support a seven and a half out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
I am unaware of the initial configuration since my infrastructure team was involved in it, and a person from IBM was also helping us.
The solution is deployed on an on-premises model. My company doesn't work with the cloud for security reasons and because of some confidential information.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is a pretty expensive tool.
The tool is expensive if I consider how products like WSO2 are available in the market. You have pretty much many options in the open-source community, considering how IBM's pricing can be an issue. If you want to scale for more hits per month, although it's an SQL license, you need to buy it from IBM, and it becomes pretty expensive for me. The pricing is pretty high.
What other advice do I have?
API lifecycle management capabilities have enhanced our company's operations, and they weren't hard to manage. When we procured the tool, we received some training from IBM. One was for administrators, and the other was for programmers. It was pretty easy to configure it. The only downside is that it requires a lot of physical resources, so we had to get a few servers to work with it.
The product is not only used in the government sector but also in the telco and banking sectors. It is one of the biggest products that is being used as an API Manager. The other products would be from Oracle or some other renowned vendors. I would obviously recommend IBM if you are going it for a large scale with APIs and if the number of hits is pretty much huge. I would definitely recommend the product to others if the pricing is not an issue.
In my company, we are not using AI with the tool, but it is probably one of the things that is being planned. Until now, AI has not been utilized in the tool.
In my company, we have not explored the tool for any other integrations. We just wanted to use it purely as an API Gateway-based product.
Considering the price factor, support, and stability, I rate the tool an eight out of ten.
