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Essam Younis - PeerSpot reviewer
SOA & BP Technical Manager at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Feb 15, 2021
Resilient high availability, easy to use, easy to install, with the best security platform available
Pros and Cons
  • "It is easy to use, easy to install, and it's resilient for high availability."
  • "In the next release, I would like to see the product price reduced. It should be cheaper."

What is most valuable?

The appliance version is one of the top, most powerful products on the market.

The most valuable features of this solution are the appliance hardware, the software embedded within the hardware appliance machine.

This is one of the best security platforms in the market. 

It is easy to use, easy to install, and it's resilient for high availability.

What needs improvement?

In the next release, I would like to see the product price reduced. It should be cheaper.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been implementing IBM DataPower Gateway for more than 10 years.

We are using the latest version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable solution.

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IBM DataPower Gateway
December 2025
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable product.

This is a supported gateway. It does not have front end users. It has a number of transactions. You compare the number of transactions, for the development and product utilization.

We have plans to continue using it in the future.

How are customer service and support?

It depends on the level of contact between you and the customer, as well as the level of severity of the ticket. If you have a critical severity, you get an excellent response. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. It is easy to install.

If it is an appliance, just plug and play, and to configure the network connectivity it'll take a maximum of one day.

If it is the software it'll take a maximum of about one day.

You only need one person to maintain this solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's expensive when you compare it with others. If you are going with the software then you can get a good deal, but the appliance version is expensive.

Customers have to pay for licensing.

What other advice do I have?

Definitely, I would recommend this solution to others.

I would rate IBM DataPower Gateway a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Implementer
PeerSpot user
reviewer1145859 - PeerSpot reviewer
Independent Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Consultant
Apr 13, 2020
Deals with multiple protocols, but "WTX" components are problematic
Pros and Cons
  • "It's high-speed and it can be remotely administered via an API."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

It is used for simple integrations that require high speed, and you need to use it in a cluster if you want it to be highly available.

What is most valuable?

For me, its most valuable features include:

  • the fact that it's high-speed
  • its ability to be remotely administered via an API
  • the fact that it can deal with multiple protocols
  • it's very quick to make changes to the setup.

What needs improvement?

Care needs to be taken when applying firmware upgrades, as they often fail.

Also, 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. It's got some native capabilities and it's gotten some imported capabilities and you need to know the history of the product to understand the difference between the two. Most notable is the COBOL copybook handling, which is really straight out of WTX. It's poorly supported and often leads to failures.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with IBM WebSphere DataPower for about a decade.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Like all things, it does fail, but if it's in a cluster you can have continuous availability. If the cluster is set up properly, it has multiple network ports so you can have redundant network connections. If a component does fail — meaning one appliance can fail, and they have failed — it's unlikely that all of them will fail together. So a minimal configuration of two appliances in each of the two sites is a good idea. Or you could be using the virtual alternatives on a cloud in multiple zones or on multiple clouds.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's horizontally scalable.

When using it as a certain kind of pass-thru, I've measured it to 6,000 transactions per second. If you're using it in a request-reply pattern, that comes down to about 600. The 6,000 was the limit on the testing equipment. It wasn't the limit on the product.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is becoming rare because it's an old product.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've used Message Broker from IBM, Oracle Service Bus, and TIBCO.

DataPower has the advantage in that it's more limited in capabilities than the other products, so it's harder to accidentally write applications as part of your integration. If you follow strict patterns then your business logic will stay in the applications and your integration logic will only be on the DataPower. Like all devices, you can actually go to extra effort to put application logic into the DataPower, but that just ruins the device for its intended purpose.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is simple; it's an appliance.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

All the products I've used could be priced lower. Perhaps with the exception of something like SnapLogic, they are very expensive.

TIBCO is expensive. It is reliable but it takes longer to develop and deploy. I haven't had much experience with their new microgateways, which may, in fact, provide more value. Oracle is expensive and probably more fragile. Message Broker is quite expensive but quite reliable.

What other advice do I have?

If you've got it, you should use it. If you haven't got it, you probably should be looking at newer products such as SnapLogic.

It's a high-speed device. If you need an appliance on-premise, that would be the way to go. If you need to migrate something that's on-premise to the cloud, you could go to the virtual. If you're doing something new, you probably wouldn't touch it.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
IBM DataPower Gateway
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about IBM DataPower Gateway. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Minar Baddireddi - PeerSpot reviewer
Datapower Specialist at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Real User
May 29, 2023
An easy-to-use solution for security purposes that is stable
Pros and Cons
  • "The product is stable...The product is scalable."
  • "It is a costly product."

What is our primary use case?

We are using the solution for security purposes.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution's security feature is its most valuable feature.

What needs improvement?

It is a costly product. So, it is not an open-source solution, making it costly.

In the future, I would like to see an open-source version.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IBM DataPower Gateway since 2018. Also, I am using IBM DataPower Gateway Firmware V7.2. I am an end user of the solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. In m company, six people are using the solution. I don't know if my company is planning to increase usage in the future.

How are customer service and support?

I rate IBM's technical support an eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

I don't know. I think I'm not suitable to speak about deployment because I am using the solution that was already deployed in my company.

The installation is easy, especially on VMware.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I didn't pay for the product. I worked in a company where we were using the tool.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?


What other advice do I have?

The product is easy to use.

I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Cameo Mbowane - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Executive Officer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Reseller
Top 10Leaderboard
May 2, 2023
Stable solution with good technical support service.
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a scalable solution."
  • "They should add features to manage API integrations."

What is most valuable?

The solution's most valuable features are security and consistent availability.

What needs improvement?

It is challenging to understand the solution's design and support skills. We have to keep importing skills all the time. It requires a technical person to understand multiple operating systems environments. They should make it more accessible for entry-level developers. Also, they should add features to manage API integrations.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the solution for over 15 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is very scalable.

How are customer service and support?

The solution's technical support is excellent. They have created data centers where we can raise queries. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The solution's initial setup process is easy. It takes two weeks to build custom-specific prototypes.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution has a return on investment but is a little expensive. One of its licenses costs $10,000. The additional costs depend on the pricing models for technology support.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend the solution to enterprise companies. It is an excellent product if you have to set it up on the cloud. Although, hosting it on the existing cloud is complicated. I rate it as an eight.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer2153469 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solutions Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Apr 22, 2023
Efficient error handling features, but scalability needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "Its initial setup was straightforward."
  • "They should improve the solution's clustering features."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution specifically for its token validation and error-handling features.

What needs improvement?

They should improve the solution's clustering features. Also, they should include algorithms for correct load balancing. In addition, they should provide integration with MQ logs. We require proper documentation to understand the solution's parameters as well.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for two years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution's scalability needs improvement.

How was the initial setup?

The solution's initial setup was straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is an expensive solution.

What other advice do I have?

I rate the solution as an eight. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Ismail El-Dahshan - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Apr 19, 2022
A perfect product that provides excellent security
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the security appliance, it's very secure."
  • "The initial setup isn't so easy, you need who has experience working with the solution to help."

What is our primary use case?

I mainly use DataPower Gateway for security and integration of web services.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the security appliance, it's very secure.

What needs improvement?

The admin and user interfaces could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with this solution since 2014.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is good, though I haven't needed to scale up much. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup isn't so easy, you need who has experience working with the solution to help.

What about the implementation team?

We use a professional service to implement this solution.

What other advice do I have?

DataPower Gateway is a perfect product, and I would recommend using it because it provides a lot of benefits. I'd rate this solution as nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

IBM
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1221837 - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Development Manager at a insurance company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Jan 25, 2022
Provides the ability to handle multiple request at an enterprise level but is an expensive solution that is not scalable for our business
Pros and Cons
  • "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 IBM community does not have much engagement from the IT community in Saudi Arabia and developers for this solution are difficult to find."

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features for our business include the ability to monitor and log data transactions and handle multiple request at an enterprise level. We also receive good support from IBM.

What needs improvement?

The IBM community does not have much engagement from the IT community in Saudi Arabia and developers for this solution are difficult to find. 

They have to enable the location subscribe using Message Queue which could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a very stable solution. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is not scalable for our environment.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support from IBM is good. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

IBM have their own model and professional services. If we pay for IBM DataPower, we have to pay additional fees for the professional services from the IBM team.

What other advice do I have?

We are planning to move away from IBM to use a different system for a number of reasons including security concerns, authorization, authentication and to save costs for the organization.

I would recommend those considering using this solution to get a partnership with IBM rather than being a regular customer. It is also important to build the required skill sets for employees within an organization.

I would rate this solution a six out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1127196 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Solution Architect at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Dec 7, 2021
Good performance and easy to integrate but could be more user-friendly
Pros and Cons
  • "The performance is good. It's been very stable."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

DataPower is normally used as an ESB. It's mainly used to act as a mediator or act as a middleware for developing systems to send messages for ESB. We are just using DataPower as an ESB. 

What is most valuable?

I like the fact that it remains on a USB.

The performance is good. It's been very stable. 

The product is easy to integrate.

What needs improvement?

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.

We use it from a maintenance point of view and therefore do not necessarily need extra features. 

The solution could be more user-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

While it's been used in our organization for somewhere around ten years, I've personally used it here for three or four years or so. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable. The company has used it for a number of years now without any issue. It's quite reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I'm not sure if the solution is scalable. I've never tried to scale the solution.

I'm not aware of any plans at this time that would include increasing usage. 

How are customer service and support?

I haven't heard of any issues with technical support. They are okay. We are largely satisfied with their level of service. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, we were using the webMethods server.

How was the initial setup?

I wasn't a part of the installation process. I can't speak to how easy or difficult the process was. 

We do have one or two members on the team who actually work in both DevOps and development. If needed, they can do the deployment as well. They are engineers. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is a licensed product. We pay for it on a yearly basis.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We'd like a solution that can integrate better with the could. However, right now we don't want to invest in that effort to evaluate certain products.

What other advice do I have?

While I don't have the specific version number on hand, I know that we are using one of the latest releases. 

We hardly work with the DataPower part. It's only whenever we use it as an ESB; it supports the design features of an ESB. 

I'm pretty neutral on the product. I would not discourage or encourage others from using it. I don't use it too much myself. 

I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IBM DataPower Gateway Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: December 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IBM DataPower Gateway Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.