Its simplicity; and it's user friendly. Advanced Authentication and Security features. Ability of Gateway to create API on the go with compatibility to integrate with all Blackened Systems (MQ native, JMS, SFTP, HTTPS, SCP, Windows/Oracle, LDAP, etc.).
Senior Consultant
You Can Expose APIs With An Advanced Authentication Mechanism
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
Improvement in developer portal customization.
For how long have I used the solution?
Eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Not yet.
Buyer's Guide
Layer7 API Management
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Layer7 API Management. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No.
How are customer service and support?
8 out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
The only solution I use is CA APIM and it’s the best. I haven't even thought
of switching into another one.
How was the initial setup?
Very easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Depends on the client's requirements.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes, IBM and Apigee.
What other advice do I have?
CA APIM is the best product in the market. With API Gateway, you can expose
APIs with an advanced authentication mechanism and security, within days.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
Prof IT System at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Maintains the security of our APIs and our business transactions
Pros and Cons
- "We are looking for improvements related to integration. We want to see them add integration tools to the CA bundle. That would be helpful."
What is our primary use case?
We have a full, classic, API gateway currently. We want to leverage it to use the microservices, with the help of micro API gateway, to support our business or e-commerce platform, the API traffic. That's our main our goal, to move further toward a microservice with a Docker container.
We implemented it in a non-prod and it is good. But we want to move into production going forward. Performance-wise it’s good, and we are not seeing any issues.
How has it helped my organization?
The benefit is maintaining the security of the APIs and securing the transfer volume of the enterprise for any business transactions.
What is most valuable?
The main feature is the security, and then the performance of the APIs is good. The monitoring part is also helpful.
What needs improvement?
We are looking for improvements related to integration. We want to see them add integration tools to the CA bundle. That would be helpful.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise it's good. We are not really seeing any issues. We have had CA products for almost four years, and until now we haven't see any outage or any impact of the gateway.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is good. With the new/future version of the gateway, we can easily scale up or scale down the gateway instance in the Docker container.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support, the CS support, is good. They respond promptly. They give guidance and they give recommendations to improve the platform performance.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were previously using a different API gateway. We had some issues with those servers. We did some evaluation in the market. I evaluated server software and IBM DataPower and Intel products. Finally, based on all the features, like security, we decided that the CA product is the best suited to the needs of Motorola's business.
How was the initial setup?
I was involved in the initial setup. We brought in CA Professional Services to help start the infrastructure in our installation.
It was not complex, documentation-wise it is good. CA maintains the documentation very nicely, so based in the documentation we were able to set up the environment. It is all straightforward.
What other advice do I have?
The main thing we look at when selecting a vendor is what partners are using them and how successful they are in that business with the product. Then we'll look at industry ratings. Based on that we will consider if we need to go with that product or not.
I rate it a nine out of 10 because the product is not only one product, API Gateway. If I want to monitor the gateways, I need to go with other CA products. It's not like a package, it is multiple products. So if it was a complete bundle, then I would rate it better.
I would recommend going with it.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Layer7 API Management
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Layer7 API Management. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Application Integration Developer I at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The built-in routing platform is the most valuable feature.
What is most valuable?
The built-in routing platform is the most valuable feature. It is easy to use.
What needs improvement?
There is a need to automate the process of retrieving the SSL certificate when it has expired. Currently, the product doesn't have this feature automated. It is only manual.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There were no stability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There were no scalability issues.
How is customer service and technical support?
I am very satisfied with the level of technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was straightforward. I started using the product after it was already built-in.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Leads System Engineer at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
The logs help us troubleshoot. Easy to manage policies.
What is most valuable?
This product is easy to use. We are able to troubleshoot with the logs that it creates and it's easy to get people up to speed on it.
How has it helped my organization?
We use it for managing policies and that process is simple and easy to perform.
What needs improvement?
We'd like to see an updated migration tool. Right now, the migration process works but it is a little clunky because there's not a good tool for migrating it. It's an older version tool so the services need to be restarted every once in a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's pretty stable. Once in a while we'll have an issue or we have to restart it but the product itself is very stable for us.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think it scales well. We've got a cluster going and we can increase the size if we have to so it works out well.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have only used technical support to consult about upgrades. They are very good. They always have answers when we have questions so it has worked out really well.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used Layer 7 before CA acquired it.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this product because of how successful we've been with it.
The most important criteria for me when selecting a vendor is the quality of their support and technical staff. If they are able to help us, it makes it a lot easier.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Development Manager API Management - Digital Technology Services at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Provides key, up to date information to our customer-facing engineers but ease of use needs improvement
What is most valuable?
It's a secure product that allows us to expose API and lock down to only those devices and individuals which have the verified rights to access.
How has it helped my organization?
- Secure access to customer records – secured device, only access when in correct postal code area.
- Provide key, up to date information to engineers when engaging with customers.
What needs improvement?
- Ease of use
- Ability of development and ops teams to expose and manage their own API
For how long have I used the solution?
30 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No issues with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cost and licencing model restrictive for auto scaling.
How are customer service and technical support?
Seven out of 10. Not as focused on ensuring that the issues are fully resolved as I would like.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
No. Selected after extensive "beauty contest."
How was the initial setup?
Complex to set up and operate. Requires deep understanding of networks, security, as well as API management.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Consider if you need this advanced tool to undertake simple API management. Costly solution which is designed for heavy duty and complex work.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Apigee.
What other advice do I have?
Consider if the product is needed – there are cheaper, less complex solutions out there.
Consultancy costs for CA should be considered – worth the money as it saves time (and therefore cost) with configuration.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Solution Architect at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Standardizes our API deployment, improves security
Pros and Cons
- "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."
- "The portal is not the most intuitive and the way things are displayed makes it difficult to find the information we need."
What is our primary use case?
Managing all of our APIs and the security around them.
How has it helped my organization?
- Standardization of our API deployment
- Improve security
What is most valuable?
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.
What needs improvement?
The portal is not the most intuitive and the way things are displayed makes it difficult to find the information we need. We never completely read the info. The way it's written does not make me want to read it.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Lately, we have had a replication problem, but it's possible the problem is on our side. We are still unsure.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues with scalability.
How is customer service and technical support?
The technical support is fast and efficient.
How was the initial setup?
It was a complicated setup but we had help.
What other advice do I have?
You need a team to manage it.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Chief Engineer (R&D for VoIP, Networking and P2P) at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I used to use a proxy to publish APIs, and now we want to use the CA API gateway, as it's more advantageous. They need to fix a bug so that we can publish new APIs with a socket.
What is most valuable?
The published API is easy. We don’t have any idea how to create or add value to the API to aggregate security, and we want to add the CA API gateway.
How has it helped my organization?
The API gateway is a great solution.
What needs improvement?
In two months, we want a new API publishing system to be opened. We need them to have fixed the issues of the API gateway by then.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
We had no issues with deployment, but it's not a stable solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's not stable. I want to publish new APIs with a socket, but it’s not stable enough for this. They need to fix this bug in order for it to be stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We introduced it on triad, but we haven’t tested the scalability of it yet. We'll know more in the coming weeks as we test the system.
How are customer service and technical support?
We always consult with technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used to use a proxy to publish APIs, and now we want to use the CA API gateway, as it's more advantageous.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy, but I had some issues with the software. I want them to simplify the upgrade method.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Layer7 API Management Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2025
Product Categories
API ManagementPopular Comparisons
Microsoft Azure API Management
Amazon API Gateway
webMethods.io
MuleSoft API Manager
Kong Gateway Enterprise
IBM API Connect
IBM DataPower Gateway
WSO2 API Manager
3scale API Management
Axway AMPLIFY API Management
TIBCO Cloud API Management
Akana API Management
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Layer7 API Management Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- When evaluating API Management, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
- What is the difference between an API Gateway and ESB?
- In a Digital Banking Environment how do we see the role of ESB/ API Managers?
- What is an API Gateway?
- How do you protect your API from security threats?
- What should one take into consideration when choosing an API management solution to manage Microservices?
- Which API Management tools have the best developer portal?
- Which API management tool is the best?
- What is your favorite API Management tool?
- What are the key parts of an API strategy at an enterprise?