#1 most frequent
United States of America
47.8%2,119 installations of 4,435
What is Azure API Management?
Microsoft's Azure API Management supports creation of API.
Categories & Use Cases
Product Demos
Top Performing Features
API monitoring and logging
Regular test cycles to check that APIs are operating as expected and log analysis providing deeper analysis on system usage
Category average: 8
API user onboarding
Systems to allow users to sign up, receive access credentials and be assigned usage rights
Category average: 8.3
API access control
Authentication and authorization systems to ensure that users of the API have permission
Category average: 8.2
Areas for Improvement
API versioning
There are mechanisms to roll out new versions of the API and the ability to migrate applications to new versions.
Category average: 8.1
Rate limits and usage policies
Usage quotas to restrict traffic volumes to keep traffic loads manageable
Category average: 7.7
Usage billing and payments
Support for payment mechanisms such as monthly fees, or other payment patterns
Category average: 7.8
Who Buys & Uses Azure API Management
#2 most frequent
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
7.2%321 installations of 4,435
#3 most frequent
India
6.2%275 installations of 4,435
Solid APIM Offering
Pros
- Developer portal - while a little rough around the edges, it works well and provides a tidy UI for externalizing your APIs. Developers can register themselves and request and manage subscriptions to products/APIs. The site is customizable too - though that process is a little cumbersome. The sign-up process even has customizable email templates for verification.
- Flexible - there are a lot of customizations that are possible through the use of API policies. This could be transforming XML to JSON or vice versa, modifying headers, restricting parameters, redirecting to different end-points depending on the message body... the sky is the limit as to what you can do.
- Management - the structure of how APIs are managed is well thought-out. It makes it quick to start standing up new APIs and versioning them. Additionally, the analytics provided are also very helpful in diagnosing possible bottlenecks or unusual usage.
Cons
- 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.
Return on Investment
- + APIM has made management of various APIs across multiple LOBs easier and provides a common front-end for our 3rd party developers.
- + APIM as a gateway for our APIs has made things more secure and provided more insight into API usage patterns.
- - The cost of APIM is high, however with each additional API we add, we get more value.
Alternatives Considered
Amazon API Gateway
Other Software Used
Visual Studio IDE, Azure SQL Database, Presto
Azure API Management, perfect tool for API Management and Security
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Actually most of the work in Projects these days are managed via the use of APIs. However the security and management of APIs is a key aspect which is being done through Azure API Management or shortly APIM. Mostly it is used across the organizational levels. Through Azure API Management, we have mostly integrated different kinds of APIs right from Agricultural based APIs to Banking and Finance data APIs.
Pros
- Management of APIs
- Security of the API through Azure AD, AD B2C etc.
- Providing an outer layer through APIs
Cons
- The rate-limit-by-key policy need to be properly adjusted to maximize the benefits
Return on Investment
- We can always think of positive ROI impact on business
- It helps to easily facilitate the design, deployment, and maintenance of our APIs
Other Software Used
Microsoft Azure Active Directory, Azure App Service, Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Data Factory, Azure Data Lake Analytics, Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Databases, Azure Application Gateway, Microsoft SQL Server, Azure Blob Storage, Azure Bot Service (Microsoft Bot Framework), Azure Backup, Azure Computer Vision, Azure Artifacts
Easy APIM
Pros
- Easy commissioning of APIs.
- Great policies to control access.
- Easy mock services for testing.
Cons
- We cannot automate the network infrastructure easily. At least we had issues with creating end to end APIM using Terraform.
Return on Investment
- We have one-stop access to all services.
- We can stop DDoS, Man in the middle attack, etc.
Alternatives Considered
Apigee Edge
Other Software Used
Microsoft Teams, Zoom
The color of money is Azure (API Management)
Pros
- The policy management process is very good. Without solid policies, you run the risk of poor performance or miscommunications. We’ve been very successful with our API catalog as long as we maintain solid policies.
- Along with the policies, the security is very easy to manage, and you can control things from a simple Azure dashboard, including groups and levels.
- The seamless connection to Azure App Service and Service Fabric is a great bonus, as everything is kept within an easy to manage portal with a common look and feel.
Cons
- Lack of robustness is a bit of an issue. Several other providers offer more options and capabilities, but then, they are lacking in interface ease.
- As with anything Azure, pricing is really hard to stay on top of. I always find that you really don’t know what you’re paying for until you get the bill. Having an excellent Azure Administrator can help resolve that.
- Integrating with app services outside of Azure can be a challenge, or at least much more challenging than just using Azure App Services.
Return on Investment
- 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.
Alternatives Considered
Talend Enterprise Service Bus, Mule ESB, Amazon API Gateway and Dell Boomi API Management
Other Software Used
Amazon API Gateway, Dell Boomi API Management, Mule ESB