Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

IBM DataPower Gateway vs Layer7 API Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM DataPower Gateway
Ranking in API Management
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (6th), Application Infrastructure (6th), SOA Application Gateways (3rd)
Layer7 API Management
Ranking in API Management
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
110
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the API Management category, the mindshare of IBM DataPower Gateway is 3.8%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Layer7 API Management is 3.2%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management
 

Featured Reviews

Mehdi El Filahi - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 17, 2024
Security features meets compliance needs and offers MPGW (Multi-Protocol Gateway) that simplifies integration efforts
While I like IBM products, I'm not an evangelist. I work with Java, Microsoft ASP.NET, and various technologies. I'm not tied to any specific vendor. However, I do find IBM to be a bit greedy. It's a large, profit-driven company. The support team is mostly based in India, and they follow a very structured process and protocol. Sometimes, it feels like playing ping pong with them – lots of back and forth before the problem gets escalated. You might even have to get your sales rep involved to push things along. For me, the support it could be better. Indian support teams aren't inherently bad, but with IBM, it feels impersonal. They respond, sure. But if it's a complex technical issue, they might ask you a lot of questions that just seem designed to waste your time. Sometimes it feels like they hope you'll get frustrated and solve the problem yourself.
Ronald D'Souza - PeerSpot reviewer
May 15, 2023
Has great drag-and-drop features and it requires minimal coding
I have mainly implemented using Layer 7 API Management. Some of the major challenges we were able to meet with a quick release to market methodology. Some of the tasks which we achieved for our customers were: 1. Translation service from SOAP to REST and vice versa. 2. API service to DB (Oracle, MySQL, MSSQL, Snowflake, SAP HANA) -- Created Swagger APIs that were able to perform CRUD operation to the backend API mentioned above and provided routes to query and get data. 3. Integration with Payment gateway service providers to perform (transaction on behalf of the customer with third-party payment gateway service providers white labeled with our APIs ) -- Followed TMF standards for payment gateway integration with the Telcom world. 4. Orchestration of the API. Build multiple microservers and provided orchestration based on route, path, and data in the request and perform actions that would be communicated with multiple APIs and provide a single consolidated response. 5. Provided API-driven security (Oauth 2.0, JWT, SAML, Basic, and a variety of means) to access the API giving the developer the freedom to concentrate only on application/service/microservice and let the gateway handle the threat. 6. Seamless Mutual Authentication allowed good segregation between APIs in the DMZ and internal network.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It is very easy to set up and configure, even for users with no prior experience."
"The most valuable features for our business include the ability to monitor and log data transactions and handle multiple request at an enterprise level."
"The solution is scalable, our customers are mostly South African banks and they handle mostly transactions with this solution."
"The most valuable feature is the security appliance, it's very secure."
"The solution is straightforward and for large organizations, it functions well."
"It can look for the various security threats, productions, payload scanning, and perform routing based on the content type."
"Its initial setup was straightforward."
"You don't have to have a separate DMC proxy because DataPower Gateway is an appliance and will take care of a lot of security features. These include data validations, encryption, as well as XML or any type of scripting or security threats that are present."
"It impresses me as a product because it never goes down. It always does what it is supposed to do."
"The solution fills our two most important concerns in seeking an API solution by providing a reliable gateway and security options."
"I work for an information security company. CA API Management is capable of using tokens for authorization to manage access control for the APIs."
"The solution's technical support is good."
"The Portal API helps us with deployments. It also helps to have a catalog of everything. The replication is also a critical feature for us. It helps to have a more robust architecture and makes our systems are highly available."
"Mobile app capabilities is good for building mobile apps to consume developed APIs. Also, the API Portal capabilities are very nice, up to and including the ability to do monetization. Security features are exhaustive, with several adapters to all leading identity suites."
"The speed and versatility in the implementation of APIs without writing a line of code in any programming language."
"Easy to use, nice UI, and good search functionality."
 

Cons

"The components that they include in the product that are, in fact, a WTX, really need to be removed from the product because they tend to fail."
"The initial setup isn't so easy, you need who has experience working with the solution to help."
"We are always looking for more features wherein it could be easily integrated with cloud applications. We are looking for either a cloud solution or a cloud integration option."
"IBM DataPower Gateway is quite big for smaller organizations, looking at different types of clients who are virtually assisted in this, I would say it's not really a good product for smaller firms."
"Additional documentation needs to be provided for complex automations."
"In the next release, I would like to see the product price reduced. It should be cheaper."
"The solution requires a lot of training manuals in order to get to know it better and to be able to use it effectively."
"For the workloads that are not too high, appliance is a little bit expensive."
"As the number of instances increases, its complexity of installation increases if you do not use the OVA."
"They need a multifactor authentication solution for the API layer and the other layers, as well."
"Layer7 API Management should give a clear roadmap of the product and where it is going, and they should not change the underlying layers."
"On the monitoring side, we need a better way to monitor it. CA has not given a clear understanding of what external tools we can use to do this."
"It needs better mobile features and HA configuration."
"The overall cost of Layer7 API Management is high, they can improve it by making it less expensive."
"They need a workflow for the API Developer Portal, where the process only allows requests to go to the correct person."
"There is room for improvement in terms of innovation and investment, especially when compared to other leading products in the market."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive in comparison to other products."
"The tool's initial costing is expensive for small banks and financial institutions."
"This product is a bit expensive as IBM products are costly assets. However, for enterprise customers it is a worthwhile investment."
"The product is expensive."
"The appliance is a bit on the expensive side for the workloads that are not too high."
"The cost is very high and requires all five components in the API management solution."
"The cost of this product varies from customer to customer and the relationship with IBM, including how many offerings from IBM are already being used."
"IBM DataPower Gateway is quite expensive to get resources to work on this product. If the price could be cheaper, I think that will make it a little bit better and easily accessible to smaller clients. Then it could compete with other solutions that are available in the market. There's a whole lot of other solutions available that work well and are cheaper than IBM's products."
"The product is moderately priced."
"This solution is a bit more expensive than competitors."
"We weren't comfortable with the pricing of licensing. It was slightly more expensive than its competitors."
"There are various licensing models for Layer7 API Management. We have to buy additional licenses to get new versions."
"I do not have experience with the pricing or licensing of the product."
"The price of Layer7 API Management is reasonable compared to Apigee."
"APIs can be developed to provide security. We can show them in one single pane of glass, such as the CA API Management API Developer Portal. It is there that we can provide the monetization for their APIs and what is happening on third-party applications, like Paytm or BookMyShow."
"CA API Management has a licensing path. If you want more features, it requires more licenses and more installation time."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which API Management solutions are best for your needs.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Insurance Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM DataPower Gateway?
The MPGW (Multi-Protocol Gateway) is great because it allows you to easily expose services using various protocols – web services, REST (JSON), and others. This flexibility simplifies things.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM DataPower Gateway?
I would rate the pricing a two out of ten, with one being high price, and ten being low price. It's high-priced for smaller companies. But it is okay for enterprises. So, the price could be more fl...
What needs improvement with IBM DataPower Gateway?
The price could be more flexible for different clients.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Layer7 API Management?
Licenses are required to operate the product, but I don't know much about the validity periods attached to it.
What needs improvement with Layer7 API Management?
Layer7 API Management should have more stability towards the operating system. I think we were planning to go to version 11, and then Layer7 API Management said you need to move from CentOS to some...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere DataPower, IBM DataPower, IBM WebSphere DataPower
CA API Management, CA Live API Creator, Espresso Logic, CA API Gateway
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

RBL Bank, Availity
1. IBM  2. Microsoft  3. Oracle  4. Salesforce  5. SAP  6. Cisco  7. Dell  8. HP  9. Adobe  10. VMware  11. Accenture  12. Capgemini  13. Deloitte  14. PwC  15. Ernst & Young  16. Infosys  17. TCS (Tata Consultancy Services)  18. Wipro  19. Cognizant  20. HCL Technologies  21. Tech Mahindra  22. Fujitsu  23. Hitachi  24. NEC  25. NTT Data  26. Ericsson  27. Nokia  28. Siemens  29. AT&T  30. Verizon  31. Vodafone  32. Orange
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Layer7 API Management and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.