We use the product mainly for the integration of enterprise applications.
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Development Experience
What do you like best about the product?
The best about IBM app connect is to distributed our workload in multiple message flows, when the message needs to go through multiple hops and multiple downstream systems, the visual feel of the message flows improves readibility and understading the hops the message is taking in the system. The logging framework based of Pub/Sub event monitoring is also really easy to use and implement. The developer doesn't have to do extra efforts to do the logging in the code itself.
The support team team are also really helpful, also depending on the priority of the issue and the activity done on the client end, I have observed that they do join the issue calls rather quickly, and try to resolve the issue. Also the TAM (Technical Account manager) before any big activity do ask us to open a ticket as a place holder so that we can engage the support team quickly, and shared the scripts that need to be run in case things go south. This level of support is always appreciated.
The support team team are also really helpful, also depending on the priority of the issue and the activity done on the client end, I have observed that they do join the issue calls rather quickly, and try to resolve the issue. Also the TAM (Technical Account manager) before any big activity do ask us to open a ticket as a place holder so that we can engage the support team quickly, and shared the scripts that need to be run in case things go south. This level of support is always appreciated.
What do you dislike about the product?
I feel there's a lack of out of the box connectors although you can use the the Rest api, http nodes to connect to service with http api available, the other is that the lack of builtin security features such as encrypting/signing the payloads, although this can be achieved using java but it has it's own cost to the jvm heap.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
The problem that it is solving is when we have to send heterogenous messages to multiple downstream systems, and it also acts a touch point for all the traffic entering our eco system.
Integrate your applications in minutes.
What do you like best about the product?
IBM App connect offers multiple prebuild connector that helps to connect anny of your application, it makes it quite easy to transfer data seamlessly in a secure and quick manner. Connection set-up time is quite less for cloud based application.
What do you dislike about the product?
Overall application experience is quite good and makes Integra of application smooth but I think they can improve of user interface.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It's helping our community to connect to our various cloud based application and setup a secure and reliability connectivity between our servers that not only helps in keeping data secure but also improves agility of data transfer.
Very robust application
What do you like best about the product?
IBM app Connect is user friendly, no code interface and a very powerful application.
What do you dislike about the product?
There was nothing i felt which I should dislike
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Easy connection of data lead to effortless mapping and helped us in empowering business solutions
Integration of application made simpler.
What do you like best about the product?
With the help of API app connectivity it's very easy to connect your application and enjoy seamless transfer of data, it's supports cloud as well as local data connectivity, easy to use and offers good support.
What do you dislike about the product?
I don't think I can think of anything bad about Ibm app connect it solves the problem of connectivity across application very easily.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It's an iPaaS software while helps in seamless connectivity within minutes and offers data transformation features to refine data which offers efficiency.
IBM Integration Architect
What do you like best about the product?
IBM app connect is very easy for new or little development experience and also very easy to implement and having best customer support we are frequently using its number of features with easy integration mechanisms.
What do you dislike about the product?
Some security features are hard to understand without IBM support
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Day to day API's integrations and security of messages between internal and external hosts
Low Code User friendly Integration Platform
What do you like best about the product?
I have worked on multiple integration platforms since I started working on IBM ACE. I am really surprised that ACE provides low code and provides much community support on multiple problems. As ACE provides connectors to integrate any integration business solution using a variety of nodes which are very easy to use and implement with the help of supported documentation.
What do you dislike about the product?
As per my experience, IBM App Connect lacks while tracing any server since there are some memory leakage issues that limit customer support and require a workaround by the developers. The frequent use of a debugger also highlighted some issues regarding threads deadlocking in different Operating Systems.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
IBM ACE is solving the microservices architecture and benefitting me in implementing customer's change requests after the delivery as well without any big hassle of packaging the developed solution again. Since the product helps us build asynchronous flows for avoiding delays by third parties.
Easy-to-use product with efficient integration features
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The platform's most valuable feature is ease of use. It has an efficient design flow. We can receive or use the resources and integrate them with other software as gateway integrations.
What needs improvement?
More connectors could be available for the product as some of the third-party software doesn't have default connectors.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using IBM App Connect for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product's stability itself has been quite reliable. However, we encounter a few issues while shifting to a recognized environment. It wasn't a product issue but a platform issue. Now, a lot of issues have been resolved.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product's scalability in a containerized environment is notably advantageous. Scaling up or down is straightforward and highly flexible, responding directly to your company's requirements and the continuous environment it operates within. We can easily add up more machines or scale down when needed. In contrast, deploying it as a VM is a slow process.
A team of five developers works on integration within the Android and Firewall systems. Tracking the number of integrations created is not straightforward, but from initial checks, around 20 integration servers are established, handling various integration points or tasks.
How are customer service and support?
Most of my interactions with customer service and support were related to infrastructure queries rather than platform-specific issues. Initially, when we began using the containerization approach, some hidden issues were inherent to this new method, which required support. While I would classify the support as something other than the best, they eventually resolve issues. Quick responses were typical for simpler queries, but resolution could take anywhere from a week to two weeks for more complex or bug-related issues. For these instances, they often needed to escalate the matter to their development team for a comprehensive solution.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The cloud platform integration's complexity depends on the prior experience working with it. For a beginner, the process would take a lot of work. It is straightforward once one gets familiar with it.
In implementing IBM App Connect, multiple options are available, each with its complexity and steps. You can set it up on a single virtual machine, which is comparatively simpler. Next, deploying it within a Kubernetes environment or as a Docker container requires additional steps for configuration but provides more flexibility. The recommended approach is deploying in OpenShift, which offers advantages but might involve a more comprehensive setup process.
Utilizing pre-existing operators created by IBM significantly simplifies the setup, reducing complexity for implementation. Once set up, developers gain convenient access, enabling them to swiftly create the instances, possibly automating the process with minimal effort. This advantage makes the Kubernetes or OpenShift environment particularly favorable, offering scalability and ease of use for App Connect instances.
Various roles handle different aspects of IBM App Connect deployment and management in organizational settings. For instance, an integration specialist or administrator may focus on IBM App Connect's configuration and management, while developers require access to the environment for development. Additionally, some organizations might have specific roles dedicated to supporting production environments, restricting access accordingly. While in certain scenarios, one person might fulfill multiple roles; larger organizations tend to separate these responsibilities among different individuals or teams to maintain control, security, and proper governance over the deployment and usage of the product.
It is easy to maintain. When IBM releases a new version or features, upgrading to these updates via the new operator is relatively straightforward. It typically involves just a few clicks to upgrade to the latest version. While there are considerations and guidelines to follow during these updates, adhering to these steps makes the process simple and manageable. Overall, with proper adherence to guidelines and instructions, the maintenance, updates, and upgrades within Kubernetes environments are simple and can be handled efficiently.
What was our ROI?
The ROI for the platform at my current customer's site predominantly revolves around long-term usage and centralizing integrations. It proves beneficial in managing critical operations like banking. By avoiding issues from scattered integration points, the time taken to resolve problems has notably decreased, contributing to operational efficiency. However, quantifying the exact financial savings, particularly regarding reduced downtime or post-implementation updates, would require detailed analysis by someone well-versed in the financial aspects.
What other advice do I have?
IBM App Connect is a part of Cloud Pak. Thus, it benefits us with the ease of integration of multiple components. We can overview the integration capabilities as well.
Those using IBM App Connect should opt for a containerized solution rather than a VPN-based one. Containerization offers greater flexibility and can resolve several issues compared to a more traditional VPN setup.
I rate it an eight out of ten.
Quick builder for simple applications with XML structure.
What do you like best about the product?
I've been using this line of products for 3 years now, starting with IBM IIB 9. It's very quick in developing simple applications that manipulate XML or CSV files. It's more cumbersome when the message structure is non standard, but supports Java for these cases.
What do you dislike about the product?
I have used it only on-premises, and sometimes, while developing, the broker can be unreliable, causing crashes and/or freezes when deploying repeatedly from the toolkit (valid for pre-12 versions). The documentation can be more transparent and exemplified as some areas are very superficially described.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Easy integration of external databases and easy understanding of the design flow both help with speed, of development and understanding of new flows and discovering issues. The new versions of App Connect are headed in the right direction with the new design, cloud adapters and implementations.
App Connect ESB
What do you like best about the product?
Orchestration of message flows both synchronous and asynchronous calls have made easy to use. New UI of v12 is quite impressive.
What do you dislike about the product?
Debugging through through the flow when multiple threads appear and sometimes becomes complex to track the details.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Orchestration, schema validations
A mature solution that can be used for the integration between the applications
What is most valuable?
IBM App Connect is a mature product because it's been there since the mainframe time, and it's evolving.
We use IBM App Connect for the integration between the applications. You can unify the integration layer into one layer, where you manage the whole integration process. You can simplify the management, operation, and maintenance of the integration layer.
If you want to fix any of your APIs or integration connections, you don't need to do it on all tenants. You need to do it only once in one place, and it will reflect on only one channel. It works with multiple languages and protocols. So, you need to create it once and use it on any different applications that you have.
What needs improvement?
IBM needs to enhance and have a stronger offering for the event streaming part because this is the future needed for the containerization and the new integration requirement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using IBM App Connect since 2012.
How are customer service and support?
The overall competence of the solution's first-tier support should be improved since the second and third-tiers are good. The solution also needs to enhance remote support, including opening remote sessions with customers and not depending only on collecting logs. They need to go to layers two and three to connect with you on your system. Having it in earlier stages can speed up solving the problems quickly.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used IBM Integration Bus.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution's pricing isn't cheap, but you can get good discounts based on your competitive deal.
What other advice do I have?
IBM has a complete bundle offering, which is very good because it gives the customer agility and flexibility in using the software. Earlier, if I bought one license, I needed to trade it or remove it to buy new software. Now, I have one license that I can exchange as per my usage, which is good.
As a new offering, they have the Red Hat OpenShift as a containerization platform. They have it embedded with the license; you get it for free. If you want to go into containerization with other products, like MuleSoft or TIBCO, you need to pay for the Red Hat OpenShift, which is an expensive platform.
IBM bundled all the integration software into one bundle, called the cloud platform integration, where with one license, you can have multiple products and pay as per your consumption. You have Cloud Platform Integration, and you can use it for multiple products like App Connect, API Connect, and MQ.
Overall, I rate IBM App Connect a nine out of ten.
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