Our company is working with a client to create standardization or uniformity across departments and domains.
Every domain operated on a pilot approach with its own set of standards and technology. There were multiple point form connections and API discoverability for assets.
We analyzed the environment and found there were issues with transferring master data from SAP to downstream systems. There was an iDOC on the SAP level which contained a batch master for new material and served as a point-to-point connector for downstream systems such as SAP to Salesforce, Informatica, or other systems.
We recommended that material master data should be implemented in an observable or pub/sub approach. Upgrades or changes to the material master should be generated from the CP side and sent to the solution for dissemination to downstream systems. This eliminates bad jobs and is a real-time approach to point-to-point connections.
There were also many APIs built in different technologies throughout the organization, with no standard API management capabilities or governance to enforce policies, security, or best practices. We recommended Universal API Management for API registrations because it allows any type of technology or platform and serves as a single point for discoverability, enforced policies, governance, and traffic.
The exchange and API management features are the best in the market.
The solution handles EDI-based integrations very well.
The platform's data integration tools need improvement on the processing side. We move large amounts of data from databases to other source systems and the solution does not handle this well.
It is difficult to become a partner with the solution because their standards are very high.
I have been using the solution for four years.
The solution is scalable and depends on your deployment model. With Cloud Orbit, it is very easy to scale or configure auto scaling. On-premises or private clouds require a bit of extra care but are still easy to do.
Technical support for partners and customers is good and the community forum for developers is strong.
I rate support an eight out of ten.
The setup is very simple.
The solution is the priciest in the market which is an issue for some clients. It is intended for use with enterprise or mid-level companies who have available resources.
When comparing products, the solution wins every time for integration capabilities and API management but falls short for pricing. Demographics play an important role because clients in Asia cannot afford the solution but price is not an issue for clients in the US, Australia, Canada and Europe. The size of a company is also important as the solution is intended for the enterprise or mid-level range.
The solution is more focused on EDI-based integrations and has a partner that offers an onboarding management tool because many legacy companies are migrating from Sterling Integrator. Perhaps the solution should be marketed more for EDI integrations.
There are more valid tools for data integration such as Informatica, SSI, and Talend.
The solution is great for new developers who want to learn about integrations because it includes free or self-payer courses.
I rate the solution a nine out of ten.