IBM API Connect vs. Salt Security API Protection Platform

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

Salt is highly recommended for anyone who wants to discover, monitor and protect their APIs against various types of attacks. Salt should not be used as a SIEM.

• 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

• PII identification in API traffic.
• Divergence between API traffic and documentation (swagger files).
• Potential attacks with information to take counter measures.

• 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

• The platform could have more options for exporting detailed data from attackers' dashboards.
• The Attackers dashboard could also have more options of filters in order to support the investigations of the attack.
• The OAS analysis could present a more detailed view of the found issues.

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

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.

We tried controls offered by the IaaS providers but these were hard to manage and did not provide the visibility we wanted. We also protected APIs with a normal WAF but this was only helpful for assets we knew about and API attacks were not caught by the WAF.

• 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

• Salt Security API Protection Platform has provided detailed information that is helping us to identify and investigate attacks in our environment