IBM API Connect Pros and Cons

The most valuable feature is the security we get from this solution. I know of a bank that uses it to ensure that everything is secure. The second feature I like is the retail environment, where we actually want to be able to provide as many suppliers and consumers with APIs as possible. If you are well-trained in the writing of RESTful API's, you can actually publish an API in a matter of minutes, test it, and publish it.

Our version supports containerized integration. I can write APIs, which can be moved into a testing environment without needing a forklift. It can check if APIs are compliant before moving them into production.

The developer portal has been the most useful feature.

It is quite stable. We've not had any problem. It has made for a good buy because we are finding that other companies that have similar set ups go down maybe once a month.

The solution is very scalable because it's on the cloud.

This product is well integrated with other products. Its ability to interact with IBM Secure Gateway and other integration products is the core feature. Also, the lead time to put it into production is relatively short .

API Connect is a very good platform for the development of APIs.

The solution is very stable.

The ability for all of our web applications to share standard functions and documents easily is valuable.

Easy to configure security and generate API keys.

Policy configurations are pretty easy.

The new version is very unstable.

There are issues with upgrading in the cloud version. The cloud version is extremely buggy. We prefer to use the on-premise version.

Like any typical IBM infrastructure setup, you need to learn to set it up yourself. It's not one of those simple zip files or an archive unzip and you're up and running in some few minutes. Knowledge to set it up is key.

I would like to see support for non-Java based services. We struggle a bit to be able to deploy and connect our .NET services because of things like data types. We had to map a couple of things. For one solution provider, we had to move them to .NET Core before we could use it properly. I would like to see more agnostic tool service platforms rather than moving it more towards Java or open source.

In the next version, I don't know if they've already been included it or not, but the designer and all the tools should be on the cloud. I don't want any external installation or local installation.

They seem to have left out a feature for microservices and also a certification module for OIDC.

The solution is not scalable.

Automation for our Domino applications could be improved.

Components, like caching, should be implemented as policies, not requiring dependency on an external solution.

Business applications could be exposed to users.