Microsoft Azure API Management Reviews

I use API Management for all of our AKS clusters.

API Management's price could be lower.

I've been using API Management for a year.

API Management is stable.

API Management is scalable based on the load.

API Management does not take long to deploy.

We used an in-house team.

I would rate API Management nine out of ten.

It's more of a subscription driven consumption based model, where the APIs are developed to connect backend ERP systems such as SAP and deployed into a library for consumption by both internal and external consumers. The APIs are exposed to the consumers that get onto the API gateway and identify the needed API from the library, use the instructions to subscribe, quickly test and connect to the backend SAP to get the expected information/transaction processed.  Prior to this solution there was an age old EDI interface solution.  This is enabling the customers to be more flexible with their integration architecture and be more agile as it reduces the IT integration dependency and provides a better user experience.

This is part of Techwave application modernization strategy to bring solutions that can bring agility and flexibility to customers and be able to decouple business with huge IT dependent solutions.  This is helping us to help our customers migrate away from the age old EDI technology to the latest API and microservices based architectures.

It is enabling two things. First it is helping our customers get on the path of application modernization and be on the digital journey.  Secondly, it is enabling them to provide a better customer experience and adoption with their end consumers. 

The consumers have easy access to information than before (when it was EDI based processing).  Consumers had to reach to their IT for any new changes and integrate and/or had to download/email/phone to access/process the transaction with their customers.  Now it can be well integrated into their portal applications and/or integrated directly into their applications through API management, which makes them more digitally connected and better user experience.

The most valuable features are the ease of use and the self-enablement through subscriptions for our consumers. Consumers can get into the API gateway library and register to an API from the catalog directly. 

Once the API is developed and added to the library with the registration documentation, it becomes pretty easy for consumers to access and understand the benefits and use of the API.  

The library acts as the central repository of all our APIs and use and access is pretty intuitive.

It's very easy to learn for a person not familiar with API.

Nothing in specific but there is always some improvements that can be made to user interface to enhance and improve the UX experience. 

As Microsoft adds more an more services to the stack will help and enable to ease the API platform integration with other ERPs and various platforms for us. There are more APIs coming out with lot more enhanced services that include IOT connected device integrations. Any help in understanding available API protocols and edge protocols easier will help us building our solutions faster.  We do see different services are being added day by day.

We are not using all of services at this point, but we are leveraging few at a time and building our solutions.  This is part of the evolutionary and exploratory based journey to transform the ecosystem of the customer to a digitally connected growth organization.

I have been using this solution on a particular engagement for close to a year now.  However, we at Techwave have been using API manager in other areas as well for some time.

As it is a SaaS model, we always end up having the latest version in use.

The stability is great, as mentioned earlier it is backed by Microsoft Azure platform and that brings good stability as it is and being the cloud solution we do not have to worry about scaling either.

Monitoring of the usage and understanding the throughput is much easier with these API platforms than with the older EDI transaction based backend operational monitoring. The visualization reports on consumption is very easy and the analytics driven from these visualization can be used in your ROI discussions and management decision process, if needed.

This is a scalable solution and my impression is positive. Consumption is increasing. The scalability doesn't seem to be a challenge because it's a cloud-based solution. Scaling the bandwidth or the capacity is not going to be a challenge.

Our customers are using this solution and I can't disclose the number of users, but we have good usage.

We provide technical support and haven't gotten to a point where we couldn't solve an issue.

We have not contacted the Microsoft technical support yet. I am sure that they would be good but we can't comment in that area as we have not been in that situation.

In this particular customer, they were using EDI-based transaction processing. We have been able to transform them into the API journey.

EDI technology is of the past and API is the modern technology that has been leading in the digital transformation, enabling them to have consumption across various platforms. Whether it's a cloud, on-premises, or an applied solution.

Because we are trying to move away from the EDI, the initial setup wasn't that complex. The interfaces were already there in the EDI. This engagement is more to transform existing EDI-based approach to an API-based one. The business logic, more or less, is there. This initiative is more to help us decouple technical stack from the business process.

The API manager is managing the business interactions, whether it is the consumer onboarding or the customer decoupling them from the IT based EDI processing. 

The EDI would require that the customer technology team and the company technology team communicate and work together to integrate the interface. Whereas here you don't need to worry about it. It's simple as a business consumer signing up for an API, and all they need is a link to click and get the URL into their space and then they are done.

It's an easier way to integrate their API. If you want to make it into a more robust application, that's a different process, but consumption-wise it's easier. 

For those who do not want to integrate it into their applications, we have been giving them an application that they could just install from an App Store on their portal. This application will then expose the APIs available for use.  All they need to do is subscribe and get going.

Implementation was pretty simple in this particular engagement. We had a vision of how the API is going to be consumed and how many were needed. We paced ourselves in an agile model with a simplified storyboard and a proper velocity mapping of the activity.

It took anywhere from three to four weeks for each API to get them ready and we took it at our pace. We had released approximately ten API's in less than six months.

We had a six-member team for deployment, including the BA and project management. In the post-deployment, we only need three people to maintain.

We implemented this solution for our customer as an implementation partner.

We have not yet measured the ROI on this engagement yet.

It's being paid monthly.  It is comparable and falls in the mid range in the competitive landscape.

We have evaluated WSO2, APIGEE, MuleSoft with API Manager

API and microservices based architectures is the modern architecture to enable organizations for digital growth.  With that said Microsoft Azure is definitely is in the top quadrant in this space and are investing to grow this service portfolio by leaps and bounds every day.

Based on our customer ecosystem and the predominant technology stack in use, the decision with Microsoft platform aligns well with their transformation roadmap. There is going to be some level of Microsoft cloud solutions in play. 

Each customer has to conduct an assessment on the need for a platform based on the technical debt they are carrying along with people and process.  They need to take a look at the existing ecosystem, software technology stack, current ERP, and the applications that need to be integrated into API based platforms. 

I would suggest Azure API Manager should be in your selection process.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

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.

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. 

Microsoft Azure API Management is lagging behind Apigee and should also have a better CICD process.

I used it for six months.

It's a stable 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.

Technical support is very poor and needs a lot of improvement. The process is not straightforward, and they are hard to reach.

Because it is a cloud solution, the initial setup is straightforward.

It is an expensive solution, but any API solution will be expensive.

Overall, I would rate Microsoft Azure API Management at nine on a scale from one to ten.

I am a software architect. The organization upgraded to API premium in order for us to be able to use virtual networks and security growth. We migrate things from Google Cloud. We use the solution to have an API that is calling internal resources to expose data on the internet. Furthermore, we also use API Management for partners and mobile apps.

Other than the cost, it is difficult to customize. The external policies are impossible to look at and configure.

The deployment time is too long. It is difficult to have multiple authentication mechanisms and authorization mechanisms at the same time.

Microsoft Azure API Management has not improved since I last used it in 2017.

By using Azure you are forced to use their technologies. For example, I wanted to use PostgreSQL, but I could only use SQL server. I also wanted to use Java or TypeScript, but the only option is .NET, which we do not use. They are very difficult to collaborate with as the solution does not integrate with other products. 

They do not offer extensions, if you want to use a Swagger extension you have to use XMLs, which are very complicated.

Another concern is that Microsoft Azure often does not have enough Linux machines in the region. If you want to deploy on Linux, and there are not enough, they will tell you to deploy in another region, or it has to be on the Windows server instead.

I have been using Microsoft Azure API Management for two years.

The solution is a bit more stable than it was in 2017. It is reliable.

Azure API is scalable. We have 20 people working with this product as a gateway to the outside world.

Technical support with Microsoft is poorer than AWS, but better than the one from Google Cloud. They reply too late. We had premium technical support at one point, however, they did not reply with anything we needed at the time. There is a concern with the knowledge base as well as the procedure in how they are instructed to reply.

I would rate technical support a three out of five.

Neutral

We switched to Microsoft Azure API Management because two years ago, someone in the organization decided to use this solution. I would never have made that decision.

I have had prior experience with API Gateway and Apigee.

The solution takes one hour to deploy. Like everything on Azure, it is difficult to create the deployment scripts because the ARM and Bicep that they use are awful. Deployment is very complex.

I would rate the experience of the setup of Azure API Management a two out of five.

The solution doesn't require maintenance as it is cloud-based. However, it does require monitoring.

The upgrade to Azure API costs 2000 euros per month, per instance, per unit. Our finance department asked us to find cost reductions. After conducting an analysis, I came to the conclusion that it was impossible unless we sacrificed security.

Azure API Management is the most expensive solution on the market. AWS is at least four times less expensive. Any price comparison needs to include the additional cost of the security you will need to purchase from Microsoft, which comes from their premium plan. The only way to reduce the cost is to sacrifice security when using Microsoft data.

I rate the pricing a one out of five.

The other option is API Apigee. It is the best in class and less expensive. Its deployment to API Gateway from AWS is easy and fast. 

In AWS API Management you can build everything from open API specification files. AWS has Swagger extensions that are built in that can define everything in Swagger.

I would switch solutions if I could. 

Any organization looking to implement Microsoft Azure API Management should look at other alternatives. Be cautious of the marketing behind Azure products. Once you decide on your solution, it is difficult to change.

I would rate this product a four out of 10 overall.

I have been using Microsoft Azure API Management as a consultant, primarily recommending it for enterprises.

The solution helps in securing AI projects by providing governance and control through API management.

The most valuable feature is its role as a linchpin in AI Hub architecture, enhancing data handling.

The pricing model needs improvement, as some enterprise features are expensive.

I have been dealing with Microsoft Azure API Management for a few years.

Generally, I am satisfied with the performance, scalability, and technical support.

The performance and scalability of the solution are good.

The technical support quality could be better, although the issue is not significant.

Positive

I did not work with anything similar before Microsoft API Management.

I did not face any issues during the initial setup.

I did not face any challenges with the implementation.

Some of the enterprise features are quite expensive. A better pricing model is needed.

I recommend considering Kong if Microsoft API Management does not fit the budget.

I would recommend Microsoft Azure API Management to those on the Microsoft platform. If not on Azure, consider looking into Kong.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

The main use case is if you want to be exposed to an external endpoint. We use it for access. It can only be used by Azure API.

If I want to expose API endpoints to clients, we use this solution. 

The API management is great. It comes out of the box ready to go and comes with policies. 

It is stable.

Technical support is good.

We have witnessed an ROI.

We have to put the logs in Datadog. We need to use some other product to do all of the things we want. That costs extra. However, there are other solutions, like Dynatrace, that offer more features and have more functionalities. Right now, we have to use logic apps. You need more third-party apps to fill in the gaps. 

If I want to connect to other apps to Saleforce or Snowflake, et cetera, I need a quicker way to do mapping and to integrate everything together. 

I need to have microservice access. 

I'd like to have better flexibility and more capabilities. 

I've been using the solution for three to four years. 

I'd rate the stability seven or eight out of ten. It's reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. 

We do not scale the solution. We don't need multi-tenancy or anything like that. Our understanding is that if we did need to scale it would cost more. 

Technical support is very good and is available around the clock. 

Positive

I'm familiar with a variety of other solutions, including Mulesoft.

I have witnessed an ROI while using the solution. 

The pricing is expensive, however, it does offer great value. I'd rate the solution seven or eight out of ten in terms of value for money.

I'm not sure which version of the solution I'm using. 

The product covers all of the basic needs you will need. If you need more robust options, Mulesoft might be a good option. However, this is a pretty good tool

I'd rate the solution an eight out of ten.

My primary use case is for Logic Apps events as well as for API Management functions provided by Azure. We are implementation partners and I'm a business architect.

I like the API management functions.

In terms of the flexibility of API Management, it's quite a complex solution when compared with Apigee. If they could come up with an easy way of enhancing, that would be a great help, particularly for those consulting.

I've been using this solution for two years. 

The solution is stable. 

We deployed a Kubernetes instance so that we can scale.

The technical support is great, they help us out whenever we need it.

Positive

From previous experience, I know that Apigee is more flexible than Azure API.

The initial setup is not so straightforward and really depends on the landscape. If a customer has different business streams such as credit cards, debit cards, payment accounts and credit accounts it can be more complicated. Things have improved recently. Previously, a deployment could have taken up to 18 months.  We can now do a similar implementation in around six to eight months. 

There are a lot of competitors in the market that provide the same kind of services but I think cost-wise and resource-wise, Microsoft is ahead and I recommend this product to our customers. That said, there are some functions we don't currently have. It's okay for a mid-size organization but for larger-scale deployments, it's lacking in some areas. As a result, I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

I'm in the telecom domain and I have used Microsoft Azure API Management in cost and order management in the order process.

Microsoft Azure API Management's most valuable features are the microservices we used to use. They were API callers to receive communication with the network and building system, to complete the request. The response would be through the processing system.

I have been using Microsoft Azure API Management for approximately one year.

Microsoft Azure API Management is stable.

Microsoft Azure API Management is 90 to 99 percent scalable. We have three instances running in parallel.

We have approximately 500 to 800 internal users using this solution with three applications in operation.

We do not have plans to increase usage.

We have not contacted technical support. We have our own team.

The cloud deployment of Microsoft Azure API Management could be better.

Our team of 14 to 15 members implements and supports the solution.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Microsoft Azure API Management a seven out of ten.