Alternative Text Steve Pownall | 29 March 2021 |

App Connect Enterprise and API Connect: A love story

In today’s world, it’s essential to connect all your data and applications whilst also minimising any exposure to business and security risks. Consider your key objectives and goals, whether it is to:

  • Increase business value via new revenue streams and cost savings
  • Drive IT efficiency through optimisation
  • Unlock the power of data and integrate across environments
  • Leverage new technologies to create a competitive advantage
  • Ensure secure, resilient, compliant computer environments

 

But, in many cases this doesn’t happen. What we’ve seen is that unfortunately many of these types of projects fail when using traditional integration tools and methods because the data is often siloed, with said tools unable to keep up with demand. So, what is the solution?

“By using more up-to-date and intuitive integration tools, you can prevent your integration project from becoming abandoned and relieve your headache in one go.”

Famous for their Batman-and-Robin-like dynamic when teamed up, IBM’s API Connect and App Connect are a modernised and agile system that work in peaceful harmony. They were, quite literally, made to be together. So, what are they? Let’s look at them individually first before focusing on their power when together.

 

App Connect Enterprise

IBM’s App Connect instantly connects applications and data from existing systems and modern technologies across all environments. It offers enterprise service bus (ESB) and agile integration architecture (AIA) microservices deployment of integration artefacts, allowing you to deploy to a multitude of flexible integration patterns.

It brings together the best of the existing, industry-trusted IBM Integration technology with new IBM Cloud native technologies to deliver a platform that supports a breadth of integration needs across a modern digital enterprise. Used across a variety of industries and businesses, it is user-centric, driven by AI and robust. Specifically, you can:

  • Work across infrastructures, with configuration-based tooling offering easy integration
  • Solve challenging integrations – now you can mix and match capabilities for various integrations
  • Deploy solutions anywhere with the option to use as a managed service or deploy in any environment

 

Of particular importance is SaaS connectivity from enterprise systems. This means you can now rapidly and simply connect legacy systems to SaaS applications in a secure and repeatable way while maintaining security and governance best practices.

 

API Connect

IBM’s API Connect is a complete, modern, intuitive and scalable API platform. It lets you create, securely expose, manage and monetise APIs across clouds to create powerful digital experiences for your customers and spur innovation across your organisation.

  • Secure APIs: Surely expose existing systems of records, databases or services through APIs to develop new mobile and web applications

  • Manage APIs: Quickly publish, govern, analyse and monetise APIs at every stage of the lifecycle
  • Create new APIs: Simplified methods and a built-in toolkit, enable the automatic creation of APIs that expose data, microservices, enterprise applications and SaaS services
  • Test your APIs: Continually monitor the health of your APIs to solve potential problems before they impact your customer experience

 

ACE and API Connect: The power of togetherness

Being eight and 20 years old respectively, it comes as no surprise that both API Connect and App Connect Enterprise (ACE) have gone through a transformation during this time.

With many years behind it, App Connect Enterprise has the provenance of being reliant and resilient, and when combined with the cutting-edge innovation of API Connect (in a growing API-led economy) is a powerful marriage in ensuring a successful project. They’re optimised with each other in mind for blissful application integration. Here’s why they work so well together:

  • Designed to take the weight off your workforce
  • Made with speed in mind, without risking security or data loss
  • Language agnostic, ensuring a perfect handoff between the two
  • You won’t find a more secure system on the market
  • Both have an easy to understand interface
  • You can easily make your journey to cloud computing – at your own pace (linking legacy systems to SaaS, begin with App Connect Enterprise on-premise and costs no more to move to cloud)
  • As above, perfect for SaaS – working together to leverage API suites

 

Without going into their full history, it’s clear that IBM has been working on this pairing for a number of years. And with so much development behind them, it’s easy to see why they developed a best-in-class product with the IBM Cloud Pak for Integration with a heavy focus on API Connect and App Connect Enterprise.

To learn more about IBM and effective cloud management, get in touch with the team at DeeperThanBlue today to ensure your journey to the cloud runs as smoothly as possible.

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