The thought behind API Connect is that APIs are small data applications, often called microservices, but they are applications nonetheless. APIs need to be created, tested, deployed, debugged, clustered, scaled, monitored, managed and administered. The actions in the lifecycle occur before organizations can use API management offerings to add and enforce policies to APIs for security. API Connect enables organizations to perform the actions in the API lifecycle efficiently, whilst avoiding the issues that commonly surround creating, running, updating, or scaling APIs separately from API management offerings.
Beyond the scope of the IT department, API Connect improves the rate of innovation for organizations, reach new customers with ease, and gain competitive advantages by facilitating rapid delivery of applications and services.
For additional monetization, organizations can publish their APIs to select business partners or developer communities through the use of varying rate limit plans. Then, API Connect can analyze API usage and performance to improve the efficiency of the offerings. API Connect promotes visibility and consistency alongside development, operations and line-of-business teams, because is acknowledges that helping the organization better align technology strategy with business strategy is vital for success.
Three editions of API Connect are available with flexible ordering options:
• Essentials
Essentials is a free offering for developers and businesses to provide the essential functionality to create, run, manage, and secure the consumption of APIs and Microservices. However, it does not include IBM support.
• Professional
Professional is designed for departmental use, because it provides the functions that are available in the Essentials edition, and adds the functionality to cluster a limited number of nodes within a single datacenter.
• Enterprise
Enterprise is designed for enterprises and includes a comprehensive set of enterprisegrade capabilities. It provides the functions that are available in the Professional edition, and adds a robust set of additional functionality. Enterprise also delivers support for the clustering of a large number of nodes within a single datacenter, and across multiple datacenters.
Both the Professional and Enterprise editions are priced offerings that include support from IBM.
IBM API Connect is planned to be made available on March 15, 2016 with flexible pricing for your various needs. We will share more in the upcoming weeks. To get details about how API Connect can help you be more productive and reduce dependence on IT as well as shorten development cycles