To understand B2B Integrator for the first time, you should go through the IBM documentation. There aren't many videos available on YouTube. You can search on Google or other websites, but the IBM documentation is very helpful. However, you also need the tool itself. When you're learning how to create trading partners, for example, you need practical knowledge as well. It's helpful if someone shows you how to create a trading partner, and then you can try it yourself. It's easy to understand, but you need hands-on practice. Overall, there are only two things that are difficult to understand: mapping and business process creation. There are around 15 business processes. Suppose you create one trading partner, and another trading partner creates the setup using the routing channel. If you drop a file from one partner to the other, and you want to receive it in the consumer mailbox or consumer site, there's a business process that's invoked in the middle. It can be difficult to understand that business process and the mapping involved. Other than that, it's not that difficult to understand. Compared to other tools, I would rate it an eight out of ten.
In the initial stage, I used only business processes to build code. As I used the product more and more, I learned that we could monitor, perform support activities, and install and upgrade servers. We can learn how to manage the clients to get business. We must get into a call with customers and get their requirements. We must pass all the test cases, both positive and negative. We need to manage our team as well. We use various protocols for data security, like SFTP, FTP, and HTTP. We follow the security levels based on the customer’s requirements. We encrypt the file, and the customers decrypt it using the public and private keys we provide. Customers who need high security opt for HTTP certificates and AS2. I have also worked on AWS and Azure to pass files to the buckets. I also work on single sign-on authentication. External users can access our dashboard with a few details. For example, if our customers need to see whether a file is transferred from our end, they can easily log in to the details and monitor it. They can also perform health checks. I will recommend the tool to others. People who want to use the tool must not do anything blindly. They must analyze, learn the concept, and understand the purpose of the tool. There are other products in the market, like MuleSoft, that have the same functionality. We must understand why we are using IBM B2B Integrator. We must gather some information. I take some introductory classes for the new joiners in my organization. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Application Support Engineer (owner) at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 5
2023-07-12T03:01:39Z
Jul 12, 2023
I recommend IBM B2B Integrator only if they have an alternate API-based B2B solution. It is a very robust product but unsuitable for API integration. Overall, I rate it a seven out of ten.
I rate the solution a nine out of ten. They should add a good dashboard that can do one single review for all the transactions. Users can see how many transactions happen and the status. So, there is no single-view dashboard where businesses can access and view.
Integration Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
2022-01-05T16:57:12Z
Jan 5, 2022
I rate B2B Integrator nine out of 10. If you are implementing B2B Integrator, you should have good programmers and a solid system administration team. It's also better to outsource the system setup.
Senior Software Solution Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
MSP
2021-02-22T21:03:19Z
Feb 22, 2021
We don't use it for ourselves. I am part of the sales team. I used to sell this product to my customers. The customers use on-premises as well as cloud deployment models. The market has gone through a bit of a digital transformation. Customers need that integration layer that provides the capability to integrate with the various kinds of applications, and a solution should be able to integrate with the hybrid cloud. That is one of the major modern requirements. A customer today will often have devices on-premises and often have a multi-cloud. A product should have the capability to have that integration supported by the hybrid cloud, and at the same time have the data integration layer with the capability for IoT sensors. Whoever is trying to choose a tool needs to look for the integration to deploy to their enterprise. They have to look at all the aspects, and then they should select that tool that is going to be fit for their current requirements as well as their future needs. Overall, I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Sr. Application Developer at a non-tech company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2017-03-27T12:15:00Z
Mar 27, 2017
You should evaluate your business, as the statistics play an important role in deciding about this product. If you study the requirements in detail, then you will reduce the chances of failure quite a bit.
IBM B2B Integrator helps you securely integrate complex B2B processes with your partner communities. It provides a single, flexible B2B gateway that enables your organization to meet a wide range of B2B integration needs. The solution can improve business processes beyond enterprise boundaries and increase visibility into and across supply and demand chains.
Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten because it lacks modern advancements.
To understand B2B Integrator for the first time, you should go through the IBM documentation. There aren't many videos available on YouTube. You can search on Google or other websites, but the IBM documentation is very helpful. However, you also need the tool itself. When you're learning how to create trading partners, for example, you need practical knowledge as well. It's helpful if someone shows you how to create a trading partner, and then you can try it yourself. It's easy to understand, but you need hands-on practice. Overall, there are only two things that are difficult to understand: mapping and business process creation. There are around 15 business processes. Suppose you create one trading partner, and another trading partner creates the setup using the routing channel. If you drop a file from one partner to the other, and you want to receive it in the consumer mailbox or consumer site, there's a business process that's invoked in the middle. It can be difficult to understand that business process and the mapping involved. Other than that, it's not that difficult to understand. Compared to other tools, I would rate it an eight out of ten.
In the initial stage, I used only business processes to build code. As I used the product more and more, I learned that we could monitor, perform support activities, and install and upgrade servers. We can learn how to manage the clients to get business. We must get into a call with customers and get their requirements. We must pass all the test cases, both positive and negative. We need to manage our team as well. We use various protocols for data security, like SFTP, FTP, and HTTP. We follow the security levels based on the customer’s requirements. We encrypt the file, and the customers decrypt it using the public and private keys we provide. Customers who need high security opt for HTTP certificates and AS2. I have also worked on AWS and Azure to pass files to the buckets. I also work on single sign-on authentication. External users can access our dashboard with a few details. For example, if our customers need to see whether a file is transferred from our end, they can easily log in to the details and monitor it. They can also perform health checks. I will recommend the tool to others. People who want to use the tool must not do anything blindly. They must analyze, learn the concept, and understand the purpose of the tool. There are other products in the market, like MuleSoft, that have the same functionality. We must understand why we are using IBM B2B Integrator. We must gather some information. I take some introductory classes for the new joiners in my organization. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
I recommend IBM B2B Integrator only if they have an alternate API-based B2B solution. It is a very robust product but unsuitable for API integration. Overall, I rate it a seven out of ten.
I recommend the solution for mid to large-scale companies but not small-scale companies. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
I would rate this solution as seven out of ten, due to the lack of visibility and mapping.
I rate the solution a nine out of ten. They should add a good dashboard that can do one single review for all the transactions. Users can see how many transactions happen and the status. So, there is no single-view dashboard where businesses can access and view.
I would rate IBM B2B Integrator at six on a scale from one to ten.
I rate B2B Integrator nine out of 10. If you are implementing B2B Integrator, you should have good programmers and a solid system administration team. It's also better to outsource the system setup.
We're a reseller. I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten overall. In general, it's a very good solution.
We don't use it for ourselves. I am part of the sales team. I used to sell this product to my customers. The customers use on-premises as well as cloud deployment models. The market has gone through a bit of a digital transformation. Customers need that integration layer that provides the capability to integrate with the various kinds of applications, and a solution should be able to integrate with the hybrid cloud. That is one of the major modern requirements. A customer today will often have devices on-premises and often have a multi-cloud. A product should have the capability to have that integration supported by the hybrid cloud, and at the same time have the data integration layer with the capability for IoT sensors. Whoever is trying to choose a tool needs to look for the integration to deploy to their enterprise. They have to look at all the aspects, and then they should select that tool that is going to be fit for their current requirements as well as their future needs. Overall, I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
In summary, this is a good product but I would prefer one that requires less code. I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
You should evaluate your business, as the statistics play an important role in deciding about this product. If you study the requirements in detail, then you will reduce the chances of failure quite a bit.