Azure API Management vs. IBM API Connect

The range of policies that enable the APIs to loosely couple it with security, rate limit, retry, etc. are good. We can easily tie authentication mechanisms to external and other internal services without having to modify the backend.

Incentivized

Overall, it can be stated that IBM API Connect has many benefits and can easily manage complicated integrations. The platform performs best in large environments, especially where microservices and processing of multiple API dependencies are required. On average, we have processed thousands of API calls within a second with good response time.

Incentivized

• Management of APIs
• Security of the API through Azure AD, AD B2C etc.
• Providing an outer layer through APIs

• API discovery feature is very helpful to allow us to scope the work required before diving into things.
• The ability to set permissions and rulesets at a user level is essential to restrict access to specific datasets.
• Ability for external users (those from outside our organisation) to leverage the API in more restrictive manner.

Incentivized

• Cost - the upfront cost is a bit restrictive. I've been told it is because there are a few underlying VMs that are running this service. So if you're just starting out with API management, it can be an expensive proposition. Value increases as you add additional APIs. If you're using Azure B2C for the developer portal, you'll require Standard or Premium since they support AAD integration.
• Security granularity - at time of writing, APIM doesn't support breaking out operations to products. For example, if you have an API that has a GET and a POST operation, and you want the POST operation to require a different subscription. There is a work around, but it makes management a bit messy.
• Developer and Publisher portal - it's a little weird. Microsoft hasn't migrated all the publisher portal functionality into the "native" Azure portal. So some of it feels a little weird - especially when working with the content management side of things for the developer portal.
• Scaling - while it's easy to scale up, the cost of APIM ramps up very quickly. Standard -> Premium is a 4x jump.

Incentivized

• That being stated, every thing you own will have both positive and negative aspects to its use. It can be perplexing at times, particularly when navigating between different functions.
• However, based on my usage of this application up until this point, I've discovered that the only time it lags is when it's downloading updates. Otherwise, it's excellent to utilise for all other customs.

Incentivized

IBM API Connect may be less appropriate for small-scale projects with minimal API management requirements, where simpler and more cost-effective solutions suffice. Organizations lacking the necessary technical expertise or resources to harness its full potential may face implementation challenges. In static environments with infrequent API changes or limited developer engagement, the platform's comprehensive features may be excessive for the task at hand.

Incentivized

Azure APIM vs Amazon API Gateway:

1) Azure APIM was a complete package that included a developer portal.

2) We are very Microsoft centric - so the Microsoft product suite aligned very well with our business needs.

3) It was faster and easier to stand up Azure APIM for testing than it was for the Amazon API Gateway.

Incentivized

Our decision to adopt IBM API Connect was driven by its comprehensive end-to-end API lifecycle management, which proved to be exceptionally well-suited to our B2B, Open Banking, and multi-fintech integration requirements. When compared with other solutions, API Connect stood out for its ability to externalize and govern APIs at scale, while offering enterprise-grade capabilities critical for our regulated environment. IBM App Connect serves as our internal integration middleware, focused on backend orchestration and data transformation. IBM watsonx acts as a complementary AI and data platform for exposing intelligent services especially with the code assistant functionality, it is API Connect that provides the crucial layer for external API exposure, management, and monetization. IBM DataPower is an incredibly secure and performant runtime, and lacks key enterprise features such as developer engagement, full API governance, and analytics. API Connect fills that gap seamlessly, offering a unified, secure, and scalable API management experience.

• It’s really pay as you go, so it's not that costly to get in and try it out. There’s no expensive client to buy and manage, but you do need to stay on top of the rapidly changing Azure environment to be sure you upgrade or adjust when needed.
• It’s not great having more than one API tool, but it’s ok to spread out your work, as you always want the right tool for the right job. For example, if you are a Salesforce-heavy organization, I’d go with Mule over Azure.
• It was easy getting an external consultant access to the tool to build their own API for a project they were working on for us.

Incentivized

• It has decreased the average development time of an API by 15%.
• It has simplified the monitoring and tracking of development, keeping it simple and in one place.
• It has reduced the time wasted looking for information; it has reduced the mail loop sharing status and questions.

Incentivized