What is our primary use case?
We use it for integration with backend applications. We use it to connect to applications like SAP databases, or Infomatica Collibra or MongoDB, and some other backend applications.
What is most valuable?
One good thing about MuleSoft, is that they have a lot of connectors to those backend applications. We don't really need to write code to be able to connect to a database or to connect with SAP. You just need credentials and the connectivity details. Most of the development of what we do is just drag and drop. They're able to connect with applications using standard connectors that are provided by ESB, by MuleSoft.
The initial setup is very straightforward.
The solution has been very stable.
Technical support has been great.
What needs improvement?
If you want to see the full-fledged functionality of their analytics engine, you have to pay separately for that. It's not the case with, for example, Apigee. That is out of the box. For MuleSoft, then you need to specifically pay an additional licensing fee be able to get the benefits of the analytics.
It would be ideal if they had full-fledged features out of the box versus having to pay for them separately.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have five years of experience using this product.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product offers a very stable platform. We've had a couple of issues, however, it's a stable platform overall. Due to the API, there may be some buggy codes. We have not had any major issues, and, if we do, the technical support is very responsive to our queries.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support has been excellent. Whenever we've had to contend with a bug, they have been very helpful at assisting us. We're very satisfied with their level of service. They are extremely responsive and very knowledgeable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very straightforward. It's much more straightforward, that, for example, Apigee, which is more difficult to execute.
What was our ROI?
The product added a lot of value to the organization. Usually, all integrations are point to point. For example, if Informatica needs the information from SAP or SAP from PeopleSoft, they have point to point connection. Due to the fact that we are able to handle connectivity using MuleSoft, it's actually reusable for applications. Therefore, once we connect to SAP, we don't need to deal with that connectivity again. Any other application that needs to connect to SAP reuses the same API that we have developed on this platform. They don't really need to develop a new set of API.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution makes users pay integration fees.
You need to pay extra to get proper analytics. It's a separate fee.
What other advice do I have?
MuleSoft has both ESB as well as the API management platform.
We are implementors.
We are one major version behind. We are not using the latest version of the solution.
We deploy on-prem and we also have deployment on our own AWS OSSIE code infrastructure.
It might be cheaper for someone to implement MuleSoft on-prem rather than on the cloud. With the on-prem version, we can deploy as many applications as we want on the on-prem version, provided the infrastructure is able to support it. However, for cloud-based deployments, they end up charging more.
I'd rate the solution at a nine 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.