PactFlow for AWS

Recently, we were having a project where we were modernizing the mainframe, and we utilized SmartBear API Hub during that mainframe modernization project in Toyota Motor Europe. The main objective was to transition the core mainframe legacy business logic, which was on the mainframe system, into modern and service-oriented REST APIs. We were modernizing from a mainframe legacy system to an Oracle modern system. We had a team of almost 30 people, and we used the platform as our central hub to design, document, and standardize all our APIs on Swagger. It kept everyone on the same page, so developers were not guessing how the legacy data should map to their new database. It was easier for us to use that.

For us, the best features were the Swagger validation and the mocking engine. Developers could work simultaneously and generate mock APIs. Also, the tool automatically flagged syntax errors, which saved our time reviewing all of them manually.

It basically helped the developers develop. They did not have to go back and forth to other teams to see things. They could see everything at the same place. The API designing became easier. Documentation became easier. It was in a single place, so everybody could see that. They were not dependent; the teams were not dependent on other teams. They did not have to wait for other teams' reply or anything from other teams. They were doing all the work independently, so it was smoother.

As I mentioned, the syntax errors. The tool automatically could flag the syntax errors, which basically saved our time reviewing manually. And then the documentation process became much easier. Developers use that API to generate mock APIs and write code against the validated definition and test endpoints. It became easier for everybody. Architects also used it to set up the initial API design and manage the versioning, basically the version control. It was easier for everybody.

The main challenge we faced was that the native data transformation tools felt a bit limited for heavy work. Our project was very big, and we felt that the transformation was work with the legacy. When we were dealing with legacy flat file formats from the mainframe and trying to map them to modern JSON payloads, we still had to do a lot of manual work. It handles the modern web formats easily, but legacy enterprise data mappings could be more smooth.

What I can recall right now is more customization options for dashboards and reporting. That would be useful.

Integration was easier. We used Git integration and it was easier. Version control works as expected. Also, the centralized API documentation and design was good. As I mentioned, options for the dashboard, more customization options for the dashboard. For the legacy one, I would say that with the legacy system, it required a bit of manual work to verify. It is good with modern web formats, but dealing with legacy flat file formats required a bit of manual work, so that can be improved.

As I mentioned a few improvements which we faced during our project. Based on that experience, I'm telling you that for legacy systems, a few small improvements could be done, and the dashboard improvement, customization improvement can be done. Based on my working experience, for legacy, I felt it needed improvement. It might be useful for other new modern technologies and modern applications, but for legacy, it could be improved more.

I have been using SmartBear API Hub for almost one and a half years.

SmartBear API Hub is stable.

I do not have much idea about it, but it is quite scalable. However, detailed information I cannot provide right now.

Customer support was very good. Whenever we needed any support, it was always on time. It was very good.

We were using Postman there. Previously, we checked with Postman and we were thinking of using that, but then we realized that SmartBear API Hub has more rules and governance and also has a wide range of keeping everything all together, so we chose SmartBear API Hub over Postman and simple Swagger.

As I just mentioned, we had thought of using Postman and SwaggerHub, but then we found that SmartBear API Hub offered a better overall experience for managing APIs across different teams. It was a very big team, and we found SmartBear API Hub could help us in this. It fits our workflow better.

The governance and security, I found it good. It is highly secured. I have not used the governance feature as much as I have used other things, but I still felt that the security is what is required.

We used the cloud-hosted version for designing and tracking everything.

I have the idea that it saved our money from a developer's perspective and an architect's perspective. All those I can say, but it really helped us in a lot of things. We did not have to reach out to different teams for documentation or version controlling. Multiple developers, as it was a very big team, this project was very big. There were multiple developers and they could do all the work simultaneously without depending on each other's version. Version controlling was easier and it made our life easier. It reduced mapping bugs and kept the sprint moving. Basically, having a single source of truth made these things easier.

I would say if the team size is very big or if the project is very big and they want a platform where they have to combine API designing, documentation, and collaboration instead of using separate tools, they can use SmartBear API Hub. One more piece of advice I would give to others is they can take advantage of the trial period and test it with their existing API workflows and decide if it is good or not.

I have the thought that overall, it is a very good product. SmartBear API Hub is a very good product. Again, as I have mentioned multiple times, it has made API design, documentation, and collaboration much more easier and much more organized. It also saves a lot of time for the developers, for architects, for testers, for everybody who is using that. If the project is a very big project, then it is a very good product. Everything is at one place; everybody can find and see it. As part of security, I would mention it is very good that the person needs access, and those who have access can only access those documentation or the features. It is based on access control, so it is a very good product. I have rated this product an eight based on my overall experience.

My main use case for SmartBear API Hub is to check for the Swagger links and get the endpoints, check for the API design documentation, collaborate, and ensure governance, as well as API specification collaboration with the developer, maintain the API definitions, ensure API standards are followed, and keep the API documentation synchronized across the team. SmartBear API Hub serves as a centralized repository for API contracts.

A quick specific example of how I use SmartBear API Hub is when the development team introduces new API endpoints or modifies an existing one. I use SmartBear API Hub to review the open API specifications and verify the request-response schemas are correctly defined. I check for breaking changes and ensure the API documentation is up to date, which helps the QA and development team stay aligned, allowing us to generate accurate test cases and makes automation very helpful.

I generally give the documentation details to the cursor, and the cursor finds out what will be the best suitable thing we can do with that. I particularly value that SmartBear API Hub provides a centralized location for API specification and documentation which improves collaboration with QA engineers and product teams, along with the developers. This ensures that everything works from the same API contract, reducing misunderstandings and helping to identify issues earlier in the development life cycle. I make that API testing integration more efficient. As a SDET, having accurate version control API definitions helps streamline test planning and maintain consistency across releases.

The best features that SmartBear API Hub offers, which stand out most for me, are centralized API documentation, open API specification support, version control, and team collaboration. Having a single source of truth for API definition makes it much easier for developers, QA, and product teams to stay aligned throughout the development cycle. I appreciate the ability to review the API changes, track different versions, and maintain a consistent API standard across the project. These features improve collaboration, reduce the communication gap, and make API testing integration more efficient.

Out of those features, I find myself relying most on centralized API documentation and open API specification management. It serves as a single source of truth for our team, ensuring that everyone is working from the latest API contract. On a day-to-day basis, it helps developers implement API consistently, allows QA engineers to create accurate test cases before development is complete, and enables product teams to validate API behavior. This reduces miscommunication, prevents integration issues, and speeds up both development and testing.

One area for improvement in SmartBear API Hub could be the overall user experience and navigation, especially in larger organizations with many endpoints and projects. Finding specific APIs or related documentation could be more intuitive, and enhancing search, filtering, and organizing capabilities would be beneficial. I would appreciate a more customizable dashboard and reporting, along with deeper integration with popular DevOps project management tools. Improving performance while working with a large API collection and making collaboration features more streamlined would further enhance the overall user experience.

Another area that could be improved is collaboration during API review. Features such as granular commenting, better change tracking between API specification versions, and clear notifications for updates would make functional reviews more efficient.

I have been using SmartBear API Hub for almost two to three years, and it has proven to be a very good solution.

In our organization, I do not observe any outages at this time. There may be minor outages or disruptions, but they are straightforward. We have not experienced any major outages or disruptions.

Overall, SmartBear API Hub has scaled well for our organization's needs. As the number of APIs, projects, and team members has grown, it has continued to provide a centralized and organized way to manage API specifications and documentation. Collaboration maintains its effectiveness across teams, and version management helps keep API changes under control.

I have not directly reached out to customer care for any service since we have dedicated teams that handle contact with SmartBear API Hub customer care. Therefore, I do not have hands-on experience with customer care at SmartBear API Hub.

Before adapting to SmartBear API Hub, we primarily relied on a combination of Swagger and open API documentation, Postman collections, and Git repositories to manage API specifications and documentation. While these tools worked, managing API definitions and documentation across multiple locations made collaboration and version management more challenging.

Overall, my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been positive. While I am not directly involved in purchasing or licensing decisions, the pricing appears reasonable for an enterprise-grade API management and collaboration platform considering the features it provides.

While I do not have exact organization-wide metrics to share, we have observed noticeable operational improvements. API-related defects caused by documentation mismatches have decreased. Code reviews involving API changes have become smoother, and QA teams can begin preparing test cases earlier using the published API specifications. This has shortened our API testing efforts, reduced workflow during integration, and contributed to a more predictable release cycle. New team members are also able to understand our API more quickly because they have access to clear, centralized, and up-to-date documentation.

While I do not have access to formal ROI metrics, we have definitely seen productivity gains. Having centralized API specifications and documentation has reduced the time spent clarifying API behavior, minimized rework caused by outdated documentation, and enabled QA teams to start designing API tests earlier.

Since adopting SmartBear API Hub, the efficiency in collaboration across the development, QA, and product teams has really improved because everyone works from the same API specification. This has reduced confusion around API changes, improved the accuracy of API testing, and helped identify potential issues earlier in the development cycle. As a result, we experience smoother integrations, fewer defects caused by API mismatches, and more efficient release cycles. It has made onboarding new team members easier as they can quickly access up-to-date API documentation in one place.

I do not directly involve myself in the decision-making process regarding which tools to select, so I am not certain what options were evaluated before choosing SmartBear API Hub. When I joined the organization, it was already using SmartBear API Hub.

My advice to others looking into using SmartBear API Hub is to clearly define API governance standards and collaboration workflows before adopting it. SmartBear API Hub delivers the most value when it becomes a single source of truth for API specifications and documentation across development, QA, and product teams. Investing time in keeping your open API definitions accurate and up to date, establishing versioning and review processes early, and integrating the platform into your existing development and testing workflows helps improve collaboration, reduce API-related defects, and make API documentation more efficient. I would rate this solution a 9 out of 10.

The main use case for SmartBear API Hub was API testing and validation. I was working on some internal projects where I integrated APIs needed for a product, enabling an end-to-end integration of APIs in SmartBear API Hub. I created that framework, and it was well-received by the client and the stakeholders.

There was a use case involving data transition from one drive to another using APIs, which presented some challenges we had to overcome.

During the data transition project, one challenge was the need for manual intervention, and another challenge was creating a report, a dashboard report. Through research and development and our efforts, we created a good dashboard report, removing the manual data interaction. We also used Groovy scripts and some HTML codes for a presentable dashboard, all done using SmartBear API Hub, which was well-received by stakeholders.

I worked on a product that involved around 250 APIs to perform actions required to complete an order and achieve business goals. I created a reusable framework for the 250 APIs in one project to perform the same actions as the product itself.

In my experience, the best feature that SmartBear API Hub offers is its user-friendliness and ease of use, making it very handy for my tasks.

When I say user-friendly and handy, I specifically mean that the interface was very user-friendly. Just loading the WSDL allows you to see raw requests and responses in the interface. This streamlined process, including using Groovy scripts, made it easy compared to many other tools, which can be quite complex.

I suggested using SmartBear API Hub for an internal requirement due to its flexibility and user-friendly interface. The features available for a free account allowed us to achieve many tasks effectively.

The user-friendly interface of the internal project helped our team work more quickly, allowing us easy access to everything in one place, without any complex interfaces, thereby helping us deliver faster.

I cannot provide feedback on areas for improvement since my last use was back in 2015 or 2016. However, I believe dropdown features in some tools should be in place, even though I do not have specific suggestions at this time.

I used SmartBear API Hub from around 2008 to 2015, which amounts to about 10 years of experience with SmartBear API Hub.

SmartBear API Hub proved to be stable in my experience.

I cannot comment on scalability, as the real projects I was involved with were strictly internal, where we validated our efforts without external scaling needs.

I evaluated options such as HP Service Test and UFT, which were available back then and provided QA and Quality Center integration before prioritizing SmartBear API Hub.

The free version provided a significant return on investment, especially compared to the cost of other tools, and I would say the user-friendly interface contributed to faster delivery.

The free version of the product was very useful, and we did not need to get a license due to project limitations, making it very effective for completing our tasks.

There were other tools available which were client-recommended, so we had to work on those. When comparing those tools with SmartBear API Hub, I found SmartBear API Hub to be the best choice in my perspective.

I cannot provide a proper explanation regarding SmartBear API Hub's governance and security, as the project I worked on SmartBear API Hub did not involve use cases that required that.

Regarding the accuracy and reliability of SmartBear API Hub, I would rate it eight out of ten, leaving two points for areas of improvement. I appreciated the responses it provided, and it was my first choice for tools, though we occasionally worked with other tools due to client recommendations.

In our organization, we used SmartBear API Hub for internal projects, and it was not deployed in any public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud; it was strictly for internal validation.

No specific cloud provider was involved; everything was handled internally without a cloud service.

I suggest anyone considering using SmartBear API Hub to leverage its impressive capabilities, including the user-friendly interface, Groovy scripting, data file integration, database interactions, and reporting features.

I have been using SmartBear API Hub for five years.

My main use case for SmartBear API Hub is using SoapUI for validating my underwriting rules. I pass the request and it provides me the response with the expected results. I work as part of an insurance company, and to take insurance, we need to provide certain information. There is a set of questions that should come under underwriting. For example, if the age is 50, then the insurance taken should be 50. If it should be more than that, then that underwriting rule should be triggered, and it should be taken by the review. The insurance company has to review that insurer to provide the policy accordingly. For the validation, in that request XML, I provide all the policy details and policy number, along with the rules validation. For one rule, there is a specific condition for each set of rules, so I need to satisfy all conditions in the request XML. When I hit the run button, it provides a response indicating that a specific rule got triggered, and that will have a specific response with some kind of messages. I need to get the correct rule and correct messages as part of the rules. I have done those kinds of validation as part of using SoapUI.

Mostly, as I work under insurance, I use SmartBear API Hub primarily for validating the rules only. It helps me validate at a very fast speed based on my experience. When I give the request, it automatically provides me the response in a very quick time. If there are any errors in the XML I'm passing in the request, it automatically gives me an error message stating that this error has occurred, and I need to correct it. SmartBear API Hub is very useful for validating those kinds of scenarios using the API.

SmartBear API Hub offers the best features including the ability to easily export the existing project. In my project, I have existing projects that I use to validate other rules, and I can easily export as many projects as I can handle. I can add multiple kinds of validation projects into one SoapUI, which allows me to validate multiple kinds of tasks effectively. This is very useful as part of the API.

The validation I have done involves rules, specifically mentioning underwriting rules and edit rules, which are different. One rule can block the policy while another will show a banner message. To validate, I have different projects to trigger the rules, and I can add both kinds of rule projects together. Additionally, I have coverages to validate; for example, if there is coverage added to the policy, I can confirm by passing the request. In the response, I check if the new coverage is added to the policy. I can manage underwriting rules, edit rules, and new coverages all in the same SoapUI and validate it effectively through execution.

Regarding usability, integration means that SoapUI can be used both manually and for automation. For automation, I have one kind of API automation I can utilize, which includes using Excel export. I can have one shared path where I put the Excel file, and in SoapUI, I mention that Excel file in the API. When I run that specific SoapUI project, it will fetch data from that shared path and provide the response based on my conditions. I can store both request responses and request XML in the shared path, and while I run, it fetches the XML and CSV file, executing behind the scenes to yield the response. This process facilitates both manual and bulk operations through the CSV and Excel sheet validation.

SmartBear API Hub has positively impacted my organization by significantly improving productivity. I validate rules in the insurance domain, and for one rule, I typically have 20 or 25 conditions, and validating through the UI is time-consuming. When I use SoapUI, I can compile those 25 conditions in Notepad++ or an Excel sheet by giving the path and running it at once. It provides a response in a very short time, reducing the manual validation efforts significantly. This functionality proves very helpful in speeding up the validation process through the API.

SmartBear API Hub could be improved, particularly in terms of features or usability aspects. While SoapUI integrates seamlessly with Excel sheets and CSV files, it currently supports only XML for API validation. Future support for different kinds of data formats, such as JSON, could be beneficial. JSON format is typically more concise than XML, which could allow for simpler and more structured handling of data, making it easier to satisfy conditions. This improvement would be very useful.

The area I wish to see improvement in is the XML format. If the XML format could be shortened, it would be even more helpful. Having used SoapUI for five years, it has greatly aided me in validating my functionality. That improvement in the XML part alone would enhance my experience significantly.

I have been working in my current field for 10.9 years.

SmartBear API Hub is very stable and does not hang or present any issues. I can perform my work seamlessly without any interruptions, making it easy to work with.

I have seen a return on investment through SmartBear API Hub in terms of saved time. The time savings enable me to start working on different projects, which also reduces project costs. As I save time, I can focus on different work aspects and improve overall efficiency.

For others looking into using SmartBear API Hub, I advise that it is very useful for performing any kind of validation in either organizational or personal use. It allows for the execution of multiple validations at once using SoapUI. I can confidently recommend that anyone can use SoapUI for its time-saving benefits.

SmartBear API Hub is very useful and I have had a wonderful experience using it over the last five years. I will continue to make use of SoapUI API and am very happy with my experiences thus far.

Regarding SmartBear API Hub's governance and security, I can say that we have username and password protection for the API. Each user, including developers and QA, has a unique password. Anyone wanting to access it must authorize themselves, ensuring that only specific individuals can use the API. This setup establishes a necessary security layer, as no one can modify projects without proper credentials.

I rate SmartBear API Hub an eight out of ten.

My main use case for SmartBear API Hub is for API automation.

A quick specific example of how I use it for API automation is that we usually run regression testing, where we are using API URLs and we are using property transfer steps and we are also using database testing as well using JDBC connection. We are validating the responses for status code and some validations that give us confirmation that our API is currently working. We are working on an insurance company, so we are validating the insurance details, the claim management system, and the claims that the particular person is raising. We are validating it from the UI as well as from API. For API automation, we are using ReadyAPI and for UI, we are using some other tool. We are also integrating the UI automation plus API automation in a single test case using Chrome DevTools protocol with ReadyAPI as well. We are creating a regression suite, validating the quick responses, and the smoke testing as well where we are validating the status code of particular APIs.

We are using ReadyAPI for API automation and database testing as well, where we are validating our certain documents are in the database or not or our transaction key is in the database or not that is being triggered by API and we are validating it from the database using the JDBC connection.

The best features that SmartBear API Hub offers in my experience are that it is really easy to create a regression suite, it is very easy to connect with a database, and it is very useful in data-driven testing as well where we are using property transfer. You can create variables at the test folder level or the test case level and you can use it in your API. This is helpful for data-driven testing and connection with the database. You can also integrate Chrome DevTools protocols there so that you can also validate dynamic values from UI as well as from API. This allows you to create a whole regression suite.

I find myself using database testing and data-driven testing more because we are an insurance company, so we have a regression suite that is primarily on the data.

SmartBear API Hub has positively impacted my organization as it helps to create our regression suite as well as connection with Jenkins to run smoke testing and regression settings. It saves a lot of time and it is one tool for every testing. It helps us to create a regression that covers most of the scenarios for our company, and that is why we are using it.

I have noticed some errors regarding the connection with Bitbucket or Git. It generally takes some time in SmartBear and ReadyAPI. From the testing perspective, it saves a lot of time because it covered a whole regression suite with database and data-driven testing. It generally saves us time from fetching the values manually from UI. Instead, you can run your regression suite on a daily or weekly basis. This helps us to identify some errors as well as saves us time.

There is a delay in connection with SmartBear API Hub; sometimes the connection is lost between the Bitbucket and ReadyAPI. When we try to reconnect those from the properties level, from the setting level, it generally takes a lot of time. This perspective can be improved with the Bitbucket and Git connection. We can also integrate a particular framework in ReadyAPI itself so that we can also run our Selenium code from the UI automation perspective. Right now, we are currently using that feature, but it requires framework-level changes. We can provide it to every user so that users can easily run their Selenium scripts, fetch the APIs, and validate the database. This helps us to create one-to-one end-to-end flow for the purpose of testing. We can enhance that feature and we can also enhance the Git functionality because we are using Sourcetree as well for connecting Bitbucket and ReadyAPI in order to push and pull our changes. That particular functionality takes a lot of time. Sometimes the changes that we have made in our regression suite are not reflecting on the recent changes in ReadyAPI. This is sometimes difficult to track and takes a lot of time to refresh that. I would say we should enhance the UI automation feature and we can also enhance the Git connection feature as well.

I have been using SmartBear API Hub for one year.

SmartBear API Hub is stable.

In terms of scalability, I think we can increase some more features. As I mentioned, the UI automation part can be enhanced. We can also increase capabilities to connect with different kinds of databases including MongoDB. We can improve by integrating more advanced SQL features in our JDBC connection so that we can also run our queries and manage the database there. The feature is still present, but we can improve in that way by connecting to MongoDB and connecting to different databases at a very easy level. We can also increase the validation aspect. For example, if I want to create a dynamic value or generate a dynamic variable, we could have that feature in ReadyAPI.

Customer support is good; I have not connected to any of the customer support teams, but from the past experiences with our colleagues, it is good.

Before choosing SmartBear API Hub, we were previously using Tosca for API automation, but we are relying on ReadyAPI because of its features that I mentioned, including easily Git connection capabilities and database connection capabilities, as well as data-driven testing. That is why we switched from Tosca to SmartBear API Hub.

I have seen a return on investment; previously we were using five resources for automation testing, but right now, using SmartBear API Hub, we can easily create a regression suite, and that is reduced to two resources.

Regarding my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing, when a person is in training, we usually get a free license for some days. After the person is trained, we get a valid license for that amount of time. Overall, I think my experience with cost and pricing is good.

My advice for others looking into using SmartBear API Hub is that it is very easy to use and easy to create a workflow for end-to-end testing. It is good for that. It is also available for contract testing as well. We can increase the contract testing feature in ReadyAPI so that people can start working on the contract testing feature. Generally, we are validating the schema level, YAML files, and we are also validating. We can improve in that area if something changes in the YAML files. We can also enhance the validation and contract testing feature in SmartBear API Hub. Currently, we are just validating the responses against the particular YAML, but we can also improve that.

Regarding SmartBear API Hub's AI capabilities, I think its governance and security are pretty much good, and we are also relying on SmartBear API Hub for AI capabilities, which also serve as a good add-on feature. It helps to improve our efficiency.

Regarding SmartBear API Hub's AI capabilities, I find its reliability and accuracy to be really good. It has a lot of AI capabilities that can enhance our efficiency. In terms of accuracy and reliability, it would be a 10 out of 10. I do not think any changes are needed in that area.

I would rate this review an 8 out of 10.