We are using it for some applications that are useful for banking.
DevOps Engineer at Integrity
A stable and scalable solution that is easy to use and easy to deploy
Pros and Cons
- "It is easy to use and stable."
- "It should be cheaper."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
It is easy to use and stable.
What needs improvement?
It should be cheaper.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for a couple of months.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable. We have around 1,000 users. We have a technical team of 10 to 20 people. They include managers and developers.
How was the initial setup?
It is easy to install. It takes one or two days for deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It should be cheaper. It has a yearly licensing.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate IBM API Connect a nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Senior Integration Consultant at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It gives us the ability to distribute work among our API developers. Possible improvement is mainly around having more of the cloud oriented architecture.
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature for me is the ability to distribute work among our API developers, so we don't have to do all the work as IBM API Connect administrators and IBM DataPower administrators."
- "Possible improvement is mainly around having more of the cloud oriented architecture bringing stability in adding new capabilities around security."
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature for me is the ability to distribute work among our API developers, so we don't have to do all the work as IBM API Connect administrators and IBM DataPower administrators. This simplifies the way our partners can access our API's.
Overall, it brings us closer to better API management in our organization. The next step for us would be to improve the whole solution by going to the cloud. That's what I'm looking at.
How has it helped my organization?
It simplifies development and allows us to do more for less money.
What needs improvement?
Based on my meetings at this conference, I'm satisfied with their roadmap, where they're going. Possible improvement is mainly around having more of the cloud oriented architecture bringing stability in adding new capabilities around security.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability has improved greatly with the latest releases. There were some struggles in the beginning. There were some components that were not stable. They weren't behaving consistently through environments when we moved stuff from development to demo to prime. I think core functionality is pretty stable but there are things on the outskirts that weren't so stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
IBM DataPower is at the core and we can easily add stuff as we need or as our licensing allows. So I think that it's pretty scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is good. We got some help from their experts.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using IBM DataPower without any additional layer. By adding this new obstruction layer with IBM API Connect, we're simplifying development and improving our interactions with our partners. It becomes more compatible to the industry standard having the API management system in place.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is complex but we didn't expect any simple things at such a large scale. It's just too many moving parts - IBM API Connect consists of three main components and they all have to be synced up. There's a lot of setup and networking and then you have to adapt it to your own environment.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Microsoft, IBM and CA Layer 7. IBM had the most capabilities that were based on IBM DataPower and could fulfill all of our requirements, even though the timescale was longer than we expected it to be.
When considering a vendor we just go for an industry leader, making sure that their technology stack aligns with our technology stack. We look at their reputation and how good the support is with the other products and what kind of relationship we have with account managers from that organization.
What other advice do I have?
You should consider how much value you can derive specifically from the solution with all the features that are available. For instance, the main value for us was in organizing the API's and splitting work among several development teams.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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January 2025
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Manager with 1,001-5,000 employees
We were trying to implement microservices and other features and functionality. We haven't achieved success with it yet.
What is most valuable?
We've yet to realize real value in the solution. The goals that we were trying to achieve from it were to implement microservices and a lot of the features and functionality that were part of the documentation, but we haven't achieved success with it yet.
How has it helped my organization?
The benefits would be that we'd have a great platform for our microservices and API management. But since we haven't had a lot of success with it yet, it's been frustrating.
What needs improvement?
I would like greater stability and greater ability to actually administer the product without needing to go to technical support. It's very proprietary and support has secret passwords that they use to get into certain functions.
IBM has limited the capability for executing typical admin commands and only provide a small list of proprietary commands. Without a secret command line password, clients are limited to what they can view and administer – even in a read-only mode.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability is not good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is good.
How are customer service and technical support?
I would rate technical support fair, at best.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We weren't using a different solution. This is a new approach. We do have alternatives that we are using, including other IBM products. But we did this one more from a sales relationship, technical sales team pitch.
When selecting a vendor, reliability and experience are most important; the fact that we had experience with them. We have a lot of IBM products and we had a lot of good relationships.
How was the initial setup?
I was involved in the initial setup and it was somewhat complex; medium complexity.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We didn’t look at other vendors.
What other advice do I have?
Certainly look at other options that are out there and absolutely go with the latest and greatest version of the product, because there have been a lot of issues and it's going through growing pains. It's not completely mature.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Integration Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
It offers GUI-based accelerated API development that addresses advanced use cases in a collaborative environment.
What is most valuable?
- GUI-based accelerated API development
- Segregation of ownership and control for different stakeholders
- Self-service Developer Portal: a highly customizable portal based on Drupal CMS
- Security support for oAuth, basic authentication and keys
- Analytics
- High-performance solution when used with DataPower IDG. DataPower IDG can support 8K TPS per appliance
- Easy-to-implement, configurable API security and analytics
- LoopBack projects allow API creation using a datasource
This product has been designed very well and addresses many advanced use cases of API development in a collaborative environment, which are not yet available in other existing products, for example, Layer 7.
How has it helped my organization?
- Self-servicing portal allows users to explore APIs, create and manage keys. and manage subscriptions.
- Advance infrastructure load balancer/cluster management features
- GUI-based accelerated API development and deployments
What needs improvement?
- Production traffic monitoring features can be better.
- A few advanced API managementfeatures such as monetization and portal syndication are not yet available in the product, but are included in the product road map for the near future.
- API hosting needs a separate product (for example, DataPower) or Micro Gateway (a node js component). However, in a few cases, this can be seen as a better overall solution.
- Frequent product design changes were observed during the early stages of this product evolution; however, currently this product is very stable.
- A few minor quality issues were observed during the early stages of this product evolution; however, currently this product is very stable.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used it for 1+ years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Current versions are stable. However, a few minor issues were observed during the early stages of product evolution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No scalability issues were found.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is 9/10:
- Highly responsive
- Quarterly enhancement/bug fix releases
- Detailed product documentation
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Apigee. We switched due to version upgrade cost issues and a need for performance improvement.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup is very well documented and straightforward. However, please refer to API Management experts for the most-optimized solutions.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's available in SaaS and on-premise versions. This product comes in three offerings: Essentials, Professional & Enterprise.
As per the required API Management components, pricing and licensing might vary on a case-by-case basis.
Enables a cost-effective solution when implemented properly.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing this product, we also evaluated CA Layer 7, Akana, and Mashery.
What other advice do I have?
API Connect is an easy-to-learn, very advanced, reliable, business-to-business API management product. However, understand your requirements clearly and use expert help for the most optimized yet secure solution.
The API Connect product comes with API management, developer portal, offline API development toolkit and a node js component called Micro Gateway. Licensing can differ for these components.
From an API development features perspective, API Connect and API Management might appear significantly different. However, inherently both products exhibit a very easy, refined and mature API implementation process. I would personally recommend to everyone to use API Connect over API management.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
CTO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Feature-rich and stable, but it's expensive, and the automation and simplicity could be improved
Pros and Cons
- "It has all of the tools that are needed for the specific mission."
- "The automation and the simplicity could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for external API spotters and API.
How has it helped my organization?
It helped us mainly with the corporation, ownerships with other partners.
It makes it possible to create close companies with processes to develop mutually, and digital solutions.
This is our main benefit.
What is most valuable?
The suite itself is what I find valuable. It has all of the tools that are needed for the specific mission. I have the portal, I have the run time and the security.
The solution itself is valuable.
What needs improvement?
The automation and the simplicity could be improved.
They could also have more frequent additions.
I would like to see the simplicity improved to make it very easy to deploy and to make it very easy for the regular developer, not an API special developer.
I would like the developers to be able to develop APIs and to make them more accessible.
I would also like to have a DevOps built-in process that is very fast and easy.
The monitoring suite should be ready-made and not have to tailor-make my home.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with IBM API Connect for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a very stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Our work is very basic. We have not dealt with scaling.
How are customer service and technical support?
It's IBM, and they take time. I am from Isreal and the support is always from abroad. It's a heaving process.
At times when we have issues and have decided not to turn to support since we know it will take time, and the effort is not as understandable, but we will have a solution at the end of it.
Technical support is an area that needs improvement.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is pretty complex.
We must also take into consideration that I am referring to the on-premises installation, which by definition is much harder, and relatively speaking it is a bit complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is quite an expensive product.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate IBM API Connect a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
SOA & BP Technical Manager at EJADA
An stable and scalable API platform with excellent technical support
Pros and Cons
- "IBM API Connect is a good product, and their technical support is excellent."
- "The initial setup and installation could be easier."
What is our primary use case?
We use IBM API Connect before API publishing for enterprises. If we have a big enterprise and they want to publish their data for the public, we use API connect.
What is most valuable?
IBM API Connect is a good product, and their technical support is excellent.
What needs improvement?
The initial setup and installation could be easier. The price could also be better. I would like to see monetization of support, a monetization billing engine, and monetization within the product in the next release.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using IBM API Connect for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
IBM API Connect is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
IBM API Connect is scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is excellent.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup and installation aren't easy. It's complex.
What about the implementation team?
One member of our team implements this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
IBM API Connect could be cheaper. We pay for the license yearly.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale from one to ten, I would give IBM API Connect a ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
Engineering Technology Services Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The developer portal is a useful feature
Pros and Cons
- "The developer portal has been the most useful feature."
- "Like any typical IBM infrastructure setup, you need to learn to set it up yourself. It's not one of those simple zip files or an archive unzip and you're up and running in some few minutes. Knowledge to set it up is key."
What is our primary use case?
We currently use it as our single point of the security catalog for the APIs that the bank has.
What is most valuable?
The developer portal has been the most useful feature.
What needs improvement?
Like any typical IBM infrastructure setup, you need to learn to set it up yourself. It's not one of those simple zip files or an archive unzip and you're up and running in some few minutes. Knowledge to set it up is key.
A more user-friendly portal could be helpful. Something you won't really get lost in. For example, other APIs make it so easy to do a couple of things from the portal, not at the management portal itself. Maybe if IBM can improve on that, it would be most helpful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The system has not been put through real stress. We use it for our third-party APIs and the connection and so that's not too much stress. I can't give a metrics on its stability. And then at the point of setup, we were already getting a bit of redundancy.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have knowledge of how to add additional APIs to it. With that, if I were to measure on a scale of one to five, I'll put that at four out of five in terms of scalability. Four meaning it's pretty easy. Once you have the knowledge it's pretty easy to add new APIs to your catalog, create a new catalog, etc. As to if the infrastructure itself is it scalable, I'd put at a two because I remember while we were trying to set up a redundancy we wanted to add an additional protecting node and it took us a day or two to get our head around that.
How are customer service and technical support?
In our country, there are regulations that don't allow us to really engage and that requires us to go through a proxy to IBM. I can't evaluate their technical support since I have never used them.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is complex. Deployment takes about two weeks for different portals. The knowledge takes up time and then there are some other internal processes, but if I were to take out the internal process I would put implementation at about a week.
The way our organization is set up, we have a team that is responsible for infrastructure setup. We also have a team that is responsible for activation setup. So, a three-man team should be able to do the setup.
What about the implementation team?
During the setup, we had to get some professional help from IBM itself. We have people that got trained on the solution, and in terms of integration, they got trained on it. And so they will have knowledge on how to create new integrations and new APIs on it and how to expose APIs on it going forward.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing IBM API Connect, we looked at 3scale API and API G-Box.
What other advice do I have?
Infrastructure setup was a bit painful. Knowledge up-take was not too painful if you are not doing anything complex. But when you start getting into complex APIs then maybe you need some bit of patience if you decide to use this solution.
At the end of the day, it's a great product, I can't fault it for now. We haven't extensively used it, so I really can't say how it would perform over time, or what kind of issues it would have if it was enterprise-wide. I can't find fault with it, for now, it's doing good.
I would rate the solution of seven and a half out of ten.
My point of view is a bit stiff because I'm a developer. I don't mind going through some tech rigors. But looking at it from a more general standpoint, I don't think anybody wants to go through the process of some technical learnings. In terms of the knowledge base, it's not too fun for developers. In terms of setup, it's almost definitely not fun. Usage is working well and based on the architectural principles we are already facing some bit of redundancy on that.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Core Banking Business Analyst Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Reliable, with good security, it is easy to install, and the technical support is good
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are stability and security."
- "The developmental process is not quite user-friendly."
What is our primary use case?
We are using this solution to handle our open API Connection.
Our company mainly has cooperation with institutions, and we are hoping that with this product, in the future we can create easy connections to other institutions who also implement open API.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are stability and security.
What needs improvement?
The developmental process is not quite user-friendly.
IBM should improve the customization of the API Connect.
The price could be reduced, it's expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using IBM API Connect since August. It is not in production, we are still in the developmental stages.
We have just finished the procurement process.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
IBM API Connect is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's a scalable solution.
The number of users is not relevant. It is based on the number of transactions, not users.
We plan to continue using this product in the future.
How are customer service and technical support?
IBM technical support is good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we didn't use another solution. This is the first API management product that we have used.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward, and the installation is easy.
We have a team of ten technicians to deploy and maintain this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's an expensive product.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate IBM API Connect an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: January 2025
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What were the reasons you chose this solution over the other products you evaluated?