Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager Review

It's provided a complete and architecturally sound solution for building publicly facing API's that can be consumed and invoked by client-side devices.

What is our primary use case?

Functional:  Integrate Supply Chain automation; Financial System integrations

Technical: Expose API's to Trading Partners

How has it helped my organization?

It's provided a complete and architecturally sound solution for building publicly facing API's that can be consumed and invoked by client-side devices, such as mobile. Calling APIs from JavaScript sounds easy, but it must be secure and performance driven. Mulesoft allows for that.

Integrating cloud to cloud or SaaS to on premise has its considerations, and Mulesoft improves the development, design, and implementation of integrating federated systems and datastores across clouds, networks, and domains.

What is most valuable?

  • Ability to create and test API "microservices" using RAML
  • Develop policies that can be applied and re-used across API's and trading partners
  • Strong security and integration to identity providers to protect public facing APIs
  • Intuitive development tools based on fundamental computer science concepts, drag/drop
  • Simple cloud and hybrid cloud deployment models. Good security by putting each application onto a separate VM in the cloud.
  • Large set of connectors
  • Innovative concept with "Connector Marketplace" which is similar to Salesforce.
  • Solid integration with DevOps and continuous integration tools.
  • Good build for its transformation, translation, and orchestration features. For example, visual mapping, an IDE for building visual flows, drag and drop connectors and templates.

What needs improvement?

  • Mulesoft doesn't provide a complete stack. For example, it doesn't have BPM/Workflow, BAM, or Identity Management products.
  • The User Interfaces on the Mulesoft tools aren't as nice as some of it's competitors.
  • Improved business level analytics is currently on the roadmap.
  • We created a framework for transaction management since one is not provided out of the box.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There have been no stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Good scalability in AWS/EC2.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

10/10 - They have a very strong customer success and professional services team.

Technical Support:

9/10 - They're very quick to help with tickets and deploy fixes.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used Software AG webMethods and Oracle SOA Suite at other customers, but none have switched.

What about the implementation team?

I've implemented it both ways. Their vendor team is 10/10 for their RapidStart program to help customer with their initial use cases.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Consider cloud vs. on-premise. Have a good vision of your medium term needs so you can plan for growth. Develop an API/integration roadmap

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

For API we looked at Apigee, Axway, Mashery, and CA Layer 7.

For ESB/SOA we looked at SAG webMethods, and IBM.

What other advice do I have?

Our approach is to know your use cases (through workshops), and map them back to vendor capabilities to scorecard the platforms.

Which version of this solution are you currently using?

3.8
**Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are independent API advisors; however, we have partnered and delivered on implementation work. We provide an independent evaluation and selection scorecard of API, ESB, and SOA vendors.
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2 Comments
author avatarOrlee Gillis
Consultant

What are some of the changes would you hope to see in the UI?

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author avatarreviewer830295 (User at a tech services company with 11-50 employees)
Consultant

Hi Jordan,
Great write up - thanks! Just an important heads up

An API for API’s is also a tricky sales problem, especially if it’s for an often used / well documented API. The implementation of your client / SDK has to work better than integrating with the SDKs of the original API themselves, and business logic needs to be predictable or manageable. Recently, I’ve been impressed with Segment, which provides an API of tracking user interactions to MixPanel, CustomerIO, and others. The trick here is that these are all similar – based off of events with data -that feed into the other systems. But even in this use case, there are tricks or annoyances, such as update/delete capabilities.
So, what is the difference between zapier and MuleSoft.
Do you publish any video tutorial series on YouTube about Technology, it would definitely make it easier to understand and get started with it like
https://asha24.com/blog/mulesoft-esb-tutorial this blog.

If you mind I can connect you via LinkedIn or Twitter to stay updated about your new posts.
Appreciate your effort for making such useful blogs and helping the community.

Muchas Gracias,
Jochen

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Highlights
The ESB, the enterprise service bus is what we primarily use. In addition to that, the API management. These are the two tools which we have been using extensively. The enterprise platform.
The most valuable feature is the ability to investigate APIs.
Whenever there was an issue, the support was excellent.
The most valuable features are API development and API management.
One of the more valuable features is the stability of the platform.
The documentation is great; it is always up to date and well-presented.
The most important features are the API management and API development.
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