Essam Younis - PeerSpot reviewer
SOA & BP Technical Manager at EJADA
Real User
Top 20Leaderboard
Good support, choice of deployment infrastructure, scalable, and stable
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support is good."
  • "The installation of containers could be simplified, as it currently requires a senior-level installer."

What is our primary use case?

This solution is used as the integration hub between the internal application of any enterprise.

What needs improvement?

The installation of containers could be simplified, as it currently requires a senior-level installer.

In the next release, I would like it to be integrated with lifecycle management.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IBM App Connect for 15 years.

We started working with version 2, but now we are using version 11, which is the newest version. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable solution, we have not had any issues.

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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a scalable product. We have more than 20 users who are using this solution.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is good.

How was the initial setup?

You can install both on the cloud and on-premises.

If you go with a container-based installation, it's more complex than a traditional installation.

We need only one person to deploy this solution.

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

The pricing could be better.

Licensing is on a yearly basis.

What other advice do I have?

This is a cloud-based and Microsoft-based solution. It was called Message Broker previously.

We plan to continue implementing this product and I would recommend it to others.

I would rate IBM App Connect a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
PeerSpot user
CEO at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Can integrate using different interfaces
Pros and Cons
  • "It has different type of interfaces that can integrate with companies."
  • "It is not easy to deploy. It requires someone with a high level of knowledge in the solution to deploy it, not just anyone can do it."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for the integration of applications in different scenarios.

What is most valuable?

  • Comfortable integration
  • Different type of interfaces that can integrate with companies.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable.

It takes two people to deploy and maintain the solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very expensive if we want to scale. Four nodes are using App Connect.

There are two people currently using the solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is very good.

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

We used IBM Integration Bus a very long time ago. We need the App Connect solution for its integration platform.

How was the initial setup?

It is not easy to deploy. It requires someone with a high level of knowledge in the solution to deploy it, not just anyone can do it. 

It was very fast to deploy. It took one day.

Our implementation strategy was focused on CI/CD.

What about the implementation team?

We did the deployment ourselves. We used an integration toolkit from IBM.

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

The solution is really good, but expensive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also looked at open source solutions.

We tried to start using other solutions in our projects, but found they were not simple to use. We are using App Connect because it's a more comprehensive solution that can handle many projects.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate the solution as a nine (out of 10).

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
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System Engineer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
It has a graphical developer interface. I wish it could reach out to the network folders.

What is most valuable?

We originally purchased Cast Iron because of its connections to Salesforce.

How has it helped my organization?

Because it has a graphical developer interface, we can quickly develop solutions that are connecting to anything on the cloud, without having to build those connectors ourselves.

What needs improvement?

I'm happy to see that Swagger is introduced because we're going to combine it with IBM API Connect. I wish it could reach out to the network folders, because that's the one thing we haven't been able to do well with it and that is to get network file systems.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's been stable. We haven't had any problems with its stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Because we have the Hypervisor Edition, we have run into scalability issues. Since it transforms everything in to XML, the payloads get pretty big and slow. We have to keep that in mind when we determine when to use it versus when to use something else for batch instances. But, we've found for real-time, the quick connections across it works fine.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have used the tech support, at the very beginning when we had it. We didn't really know how to use it and they were very helpful.

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

We weren't using any other solution. We wanted to be able to connect to Salesforce. We have IBM InfoSphere DataStage and the connector for DataStage was a lot more expensive at the time.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was a little big complicated because I hadn't done it before. But, now we've had Cast Iron for quite a while and we've just purchased IBM App Connect, a new version. We'll be standing that up and I think it'll be simple for us.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We went with IBM for Cast Iron because we had already been using IBM products. This solution fits with what we needed it to do and with the rest of our landscape, i.e., the other IBM products.

A vendor that we trust and that's been around, is the most important criteria while selecting a vendor.

What other advice do I have?

It's been very good. There were issues only because of it's scalability, since we have the Hypervisor Edition, that we've run in to some of the sizing that has impacts on the performance.

Give this one a try, especially the new IBM App Connect because it fits so well with the new design and the way it fits in with the new APIs. You can build out new APIs with it. I would say to use it.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Technical Presales at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
MSP
With the availability of adapters, my customer doesn't spend a lot of time getting into production. Our customers are asking for a few adapters and for support.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature for me is the availability of the adapters, which are already made out of the box. My customer then doesn't need to really spend a lot of time getting into production. You name it, SalesForce, or Ariba, whatever be the supporting products that we need to integrate to. It's just a matter of days to get it in production. That's the great part of it.

How has it helped my organization?

Whether it be a CRM, ERP or whatever you want to integrate with, customers get the integration projects done at least 40% ahead of time. That's a great benefit for them and for us.

What needs improvement?

There are a few adapters which our customers have been asking for. That's something that's very critical, but I think most critically our customers are asking for support. If I call within the next two hours, someone should be there at least on a call to support me. Support is the major thing.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The cloud version had me a little bit worried because we don't really know how stable it is or how it's scaling. There have been a few instances when customers have come with complaints but all around, they're still happy.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is fine. I mean, in the licensing it's not very clear but still, as a product, it scales.

How is customer service and technical support?

Technical support has been good all around. If you look over a longer period of time, there have been certain cases where, for certain issues, we have gone back and we haven't received a response in a matter of days. That's not ideal because we are in production.

How was the initial setup?

I was not involved in the initial setup.

What other advice do I have?

Maybe start with a PoC. Do a proof of concept and only after that, maybe take the decision whether it meets your requirements.

With regard to my customers, when they are selecting a vendor, I guess what they're looking for is somebody who will support them. I'm looking for people who can go end-to-end. They can't just sell me the product, but they can also implement it and then they can be there whenever I need them. It's the complete sales cycle.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user539460 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Integration Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
The tool provides integration with zero or minimal coding effort required.

What is most valuable?

The product is a very simple integration tool with zero or minimal coding effort required.

How has it helped my organization?

Our organization deals with multiple systems and we want the data to be available 24/7 across all the systems. IBM App Connect has a robust mechanism to handle such scenarios.

What needs improvement?

The audit logging, transaction logging and other such similar features, such as the IBM App Connect cloud instance, need to be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used this solution for nine months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I did not encounter any stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I did not encounter any scalability issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

I would give the technical support a 8/10 rating.

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

We were not using any other solution previously.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward in regards to the installation of the product, configuration of endpoints, the documentation and available tips.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at other products such as MuleSoft.

What other advice do I have?

IBM App Connect provides a very easy way to integrate many systems with zero manual code. The deployment and maintenance is very simple. You can version your deployments as well. The documentation covers all the aspects of integration.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We're partners.
PeerSpot user
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Updated: March 2024
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