There were legacy APIs running on-premises, and we wanted a modernized layer without disturbing the existing legacy layer. Microsoft Azure API management helps with that. We can wrap the modernized API layer. The modernized API layer can perform rate-limiting, monitoring, throttling, aggregating, and other boilerplate functions without disturbing the backend business logic.
Architect at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
Performs boilerplate functions without disturbing the backend business logic
Pros and Cons
- "I like that security features can be integrated with API Management. I also like that you can perform rate-limiting and throttling functions."
- "Microsoft Azure API Management is lagging behind Apigee and should also have a better CICD process."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
I like that security features can be integrated with API Management. I also like that you can perform rate-limiting and throttling functions.
You can host multiple API gateways in different locations. If one goes down, then another will take over. Microsoft Azure API Management is good in terms of nonfunctional requirements.
The documentation is neat and organized, and as a result, we rarely have the need to contact technical support.
What needs improvement?
Microsoft Azure API Management is lagging behind Apigee and should also have a better CICD process.
For how long have I used the solution?
I used it for six months.
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Microsoft Azure API Management
January 2025
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Because it is on Microsoft Azure, we don't have to worry about scalability. I would give scalability a rating of ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is very poor and needs a lot of improvement. The process is not straightforward, and they are hard to reach.
How was the initial setup?
Because it is a cloud solution, the initial setup is straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is an expensive solution, but any API solution will be expensive.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate Microsoft Azure API Management at nine on a scale from one to ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Integration Engineer at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Has security and threshold features that monitor and control API access through a subscription-based model
Pros and Cons
- "It's a valuable tool for API lifecycle management"
- "Documentations for implementing certain product features are very difficult to find"
What is our primary use case?
Microsoft Azure API Management is used in our organization to support the API lifecycle.
What is most valuable?
It's a valuable tool for API lifecycle management. Another Azure offering is API gateway, which is used to enable the APIs, publish them for internal or external customers, API scaling and other typical use cases.
Microsoft Azure API Management also has security or threshold features that monitor and control API access through a subscription-based model.
What needs improvement?
Documentations for implementing certain product features are very difficult to find. Information regarding some features of Microsoft Azure API Management cannot be found through searching on the Internet; it can be understood, discovered, and learned hands-on while using the solution. Documentations for the product should include examples of implementation.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure API Management for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a highly stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft Azure API Management can be easily scaled.
How are customer service and support?
Users can contact customer support whenever there are any issues with the product's stability and features. But in our company, we never faced any issues with the product for which we had to seek help from the support team. The documentation from Microsoft helps our company to solve issues on our own.
How was the initial setup?
Microsoft Azure API Management can be easily deployed. But if you want the API pipelines to associate with the API codes, sometimes it can be challenging and the need to write custom code might arise before the solution's deployment. The Azure DevOps pipelines are not straightforward, just like some other Azure services.
The deployment time depends upon the service availed and the artifacts, including API, policy file, and other integrations. Each API deployment takes around five minutes with Microsoft Azure API Management. The deployment duration majorly depends upon the ideal pipeline building and its configuration. A team of professionals is required for the solution's deployment and maintenance. When a maintenance need arises with the product, a professional can spend half a day implementing it.
What was our ROI?
The ROI depends upon the purpose of adopting Microsoft Azure API Management in the first place. For basic usage like API and gateway management and publishing, in that case the product's ROI will be high.
Proper configuration of the solution, implementation strategy and correct scaling tier selection are other factors that influence the ROI. For instance, if you avail yourself of a higher tier of scalability than required and there are only a few users of your API, the ROI might not be satisfying.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product can seem very costly if the use case for Microsoft Azure API Management demands high usage and scalability. I would rate the pricing a six out of ten. It's an expensive solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
When Microsoft Azure API Management is compared with IBM's competitor product, I would always choose Microsoft Azure API Management because of its user-friendliness, easy integrations with other Azure tools and other extensive features.
What other advice do I have?
The availing of API protection features depends upon the customer requirements of our organization. If customers want the API to be secure and restrict accessibility then a subscription model is often integrated into the API where users will gain access to certain services upon payment.
If a customer will be dealing with sensitive data through their API, then only a few individuals will have access which is implemented through Microsoft Azure API Management. I would overall rate the product an eight out of ten.
I would advise others to check the documentation first as it allows you to test the product even before purchasing. Superior technical experts are not needed to operate Microsoft Azure API Management. It's an excellent learning product as one doesn't need to buy a license to start using Microsoft Azure API Management.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Last updated: Jun 11, 2024
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Microsoft Azure API Management
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure API Management. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
831,997 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Consultant at Fujitsu
Easy-to-deploy API management system with valuable automation capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "The solution has significantly improved our organization by providing a user-friendly and easy-to-deploy API management system."
- "The solution's deployment process could be slightly improved in terms of time. Additionally, they should enhance AI capabilities and more advanced integration features with other platforms."
What is our primary use case?
We use the platform to configure API connectors with authentication and generate reports. We utilize it within a private cloud environment as part of our system integration services, providing these services to other users.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has significantly improved our organization by providing a user-friendly and easy-to-deploy API management system.
What is most valuable?
The platform's most valuable features are its rule-based permissions and comprehensive API lifecycle management capabilities.
What needs improvement?
The solution's deployment process could be slightly improved in terms of time. Additionally, they should enhance AI capabilities and more advanced integration features with other platforms.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure API Management for six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable. We haven't encountered any stability-related issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have used different solutions in the past.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward and user-friendly.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented the product with the help of our in-house team.
What was our ROI?
We have seen significant financial benefits after using the product. Moving to the cloud offers many advantages.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product pricing is reasonable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated other options, including solutions from AWS and Google Cloud. However, Microsoft Azure API Management stood out for its feature set and easy integration with our existing infrastructure.
What other advice do I have?
We use the platform for all acquisitions and system management, automating various processes. Our API server is integrated into our cloud system ensuring everything is documented in a single query.
I rate it a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
Last updated: Aug 7, 2024
Flag as inappropriateTechnical Project Manager at MindTree
A hybrid, multicloud management platform for Epics and Functions with a useful DevOps integration
Pros and Cons
- "Microsoft Azure API Management is better because it has a DevOps integration by default."
- "It would be better if it were easier to transition to Azure from JIRA. For example, different nomenclature must be performed when you shift to Azure from JIRA. JIRA's storage, tasks, and ethics are treated differently from Azure. Here they might become functions, which is not an option in JIRA because that nomenclature difference is there. If someone has to get into the nomenclature, then there can be different tasks from clients, and here, they may be treated as functions. JIRA has sub-tasks, but sub-tasks don't exist in Azure. The nomenclature and the linking between ethics and a function and a story are different, and people may have to learn to adapt to the new nomenclature."
What is our primary use case?
We use this product for Epics, Story and Function Management for Products and Accelerator Development, Deployment and Operations Management.
How has it helped my organization?
This is a One Place solution for the majority of needs in an IT and Software development environment.
What is most valuable?
Microsoft Azure API Management is better because it has a DevOps integration by default.
What needs improvement?
It would be better if it were easier to transition to Azure from JIRA. For example, there are different nomenclature that must be addressed when you shift to Azure from JIRA. JIRA's storage, tasks, and epics are treated differently from Azure.
Here they might become functions, which is not an option in JIRA because that nomenclature difference is there.
JIRA has sub-tasks, but sub-tasks don't exist in Azure. The nomenclature and the linking between Epics and a function and a story are different, and people may have to learn to adapt to the new nomenclature.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure Project Management for about Two and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft Azure API Management is pretty stable. We are Microsoft gold partners, so we have not faced any issues until now.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft Azure API Management is scalable. The Microsoft platform supports my organization, which is 35,000 employees strong.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is pretty good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using JIRA which can be enhanced by using third-party tools, this is a costly business so we shifted to the Microsoft platform, which was integrated for development as well as management. So that's a better way of doing things.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. It was an organization-wide integration, so we have never faced any issues.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's free for less than ten users. If you want to go beyond that, its paid. But when you use all features of Azure its a very cost effective solution.
Costs depend on the size, complexity, usage, and what facility you want to integrate. So, we use Microsoft Azure and have the entire DevOps and Visual Studio on the cloud. We get all enterprise flavor with very optimum cost, when compared to multivendor environment.
What other advice do I have?
I would tell potential users to go for it. It's a good platform. Even though the ecosystem may not be that strong, it's a better option for a software development company. You can explore other options to save some bucks if you are not into software development. However, for an IT company, Microsoft Azure is the better option.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Microsoft Azure API Management an eight.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Solutions Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to use for simple passthrough APIs, but data mapping and orchestration are very code-intensive
Pros and Cons
- "It's really easy to use for simple passthrough APIs."
- "The solution's data mapping and orchestration are very code-intensive or require callouts to external systems."
What is our primary use case?
We have several layers in our infrastructure. Some of our layers are more connector-based and interfacing with our systems of record and outsource service providers. Right now, we use Microsoft Azure API Management for that. We're now deciding what to use for the process layer, which is more orchestration and data-mapping-based.
What is most valuable?
If you were truly a .NET shop and truly Microsoft cloud-centric, this is the most cloud-native offering, and there are some benefits to that. It's really easy to use for simple passthrough APIs. It feels more modern and compatible with people with .NET skill sets, and that's a strong selling point.
What needs improvement?
The solution's data mapping and orchestration are very code-intensive or require callouts to external systems. They seem suboptimal for the more complex use cases.
How was the initial setup?
A simple installation is very easy, and I rate it ten out of ten. However, it goes to the other extreme when you try to do complex use cases, like orchestration, aggregation, and data mapping. For such scenarios, I rate the installation a five out of ten because of the code intensity and maintenance you would incur.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution appears cheaper because it's a cloud SaaS model. Its benefit is that you can use a small amount, and it'll appear very cheap. However, once you scale up to your full volume, it'll be more expensive because it'll incorporate a bunch of different services that are holistically more expensive than the alternative.
What other advice do I have?
There are around ten key security characteristics I look for in a solution. On the surface, my analysis so far seems to indicate that Microsoft Azure API Management has the ability to deliver on those parameters. Given the close relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI, we hope the solution will evolve more quickly and incorporate AI more fully, but we don't know for sure.
Our goal is to create a composable financial institution. We are trying to get developers not to be the bottleneck anymore but to be more agile, to grow market share, and to grow national reach. To do all those things, you need very agile, world-class APIs. There are ways to make both work for that. We'll have to evaluate which one is the shorter path.
I would recommend the solution for cloud-native Microsoft .NET shops with simple API requirements. However, I would not recommend it for multi-cloud, larger shops with more diverse or complicated use cases.
Overall, I rate the solution a six out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Aug 11, 2024
Flag as inappropriateSolution Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
UI management is easy to use and technical support is very good
Pros and Cons
- "The UI management is very easy to use."
- "The API gateway can be very complex."
What is our primary use case?
Our company uses the solution for API orchestration and UI management. We currently have 50,000 users.
What is most valuable?
The UI management is very easy to use.
The solution provides good management of API orchestrations.
Technical support is very good and moves very fast.
What needs improvement?
The API gateway can be very complex. We had difficulty managing end users for a very, very complex project.
I am not sure that another API gateway would have better handled this difficult project.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for four 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 scalable.
How are customer service and support?
We have a partnership with Microsoft. Their support is very good and moves very fast. They are available to us in a maximum of ten to twenty minutes.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is very easy and doesn't take long.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented the solution in-house.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I also use WSO2 and Kong. Of all the options, Kong is my preference because it is easier to use.
What other advice do I have?
The solution's support is very good.
I rate the solution 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.
Sr. Manager- Cloud & Virtualization at IIFL
Straightforward and basic deployment, initial preparations are minimized, with good stability
Pros and Cons
- "Everything is already available and ready to operate without a lot of preparation work."
- "I would like to see more security features become available."
What is our primary use case?
We use Microsoft Azure API Management with our coding.
What is most valuable?
All we need to do is run our specific code because the dependencies are already there.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see more security features become available. For example, the integration on premises could be better. Things could be more user-friendly. Currently, the integration we work with is more complex than it needs to be.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure API Management for the past thirteen months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I am finding Microsoft Azure API Management stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Day by day we are increasing the usage of Microsoft Azure API Management.
How are customer service and support?
My current experience with technical support has been good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using DIS. We needed to install the run times, libraries, and install operating systems. We had to make a lot of initial preparations to get the process ready to operate. Now it is already available and ready to operate with Microsoft Azure API Management.
How was the initial setup?
I would rate the initial setup process a four out of five. The setup was basic and good.
What about the implementation team?
We do our implementation through one of our partners. The configuration was around fifteen to twenty minutes long.
What was our ROI?
There is no investment funding or upfront cost needed.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There are no licensing fees we pay on a monthly basis.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We compared it with DIS because most of the time we were using DIS, for such kind of deployment.
What other advice do I have?
Many people are using the API, and it is a prominent feature currently being used. I would rate Microsoft Azure API Management an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Operations Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Good for API management, with a decent basic tier and works well for companies with a Microsoft stack
Pros and Cons
- "The price is pretty reasonable for us."
- "The licensing tiers can be misleading."
What is most valuable?
The basic tier is pretty good.
It's publicly available API Management.
The price is pretty reasonable for us.
What needs improvement?
We need better integration with VNet.
It would be nice to not only configure it through the interface but also with an ARM template or something like that. Maybe it's possible, but it's not that easy to find.
It took us time to get used to the interface. Now that we run it, it's a little bit hard to have a testing environment and the production environment and keep it synced. If you can do that through a script, that would be far easier. However, there was a time thing on our side. We couldn't get it done, and in the end, we just set it up manually.
The licensing tiers can be misleading.
It would be ideal if there was a way to add monetization into the mix so that we could more easily sell our APIs.
For how long have I used the solution?
I started using the solution about three years ago, and I use it now and again on a few projects.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We didn't have a previous solution.
How was the initial setup?
I wasn't directly involved with the implementation, and I'm not sure how long it took to deploy the product.
What about the implementation team?
Some of my colleagues implemented the solution. We did it ourselves using the documentation provided by Microsoft.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are using a basic tier.
For the things we do, it's reasonable in terms of cost. You can implement it in the developer solutions. That's basically more or less free. But if you implement VNET in it there, you can only upgrade it if you use premium, and premium is so expensive. That's just no fun. That was a little bit annoying since you think you have a good solution in your development environment, and then you are in production and need a premium tier to have the same configuration. We had to reconfigure some stuff.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We also looked at Apigee, and Apigee has some integrated features, however, Apigee was very complex to get started with. Apart from that, we are a Microsoft company, and we're on the Microsoft stack. It was more logical to keep everything in Azure. That's why we chose Azure API Management.
What other advice do I have?
We use Azure and it suits our case pretty well. It could be better, but we might also have to learn more. Currently, I would rate it at an eight out of ten for our use case. We might also want to use it in the future to sell subscriptions, which is not possible out of the box. You can configure subscriptions, yet you still have to do the whole selling and measuring and things like that. That's not fully integrated.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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