IBM DataPower Gateway vs Microsoft System Center comparison

IBM and Microsoft are both solutions in the Application Infrastructure category. IBM is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.3, while Microsoft is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.4. IBM holds a 4.1% mindshare in AIS, compared to Microsoft’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

IBM DataPower Gateway

Read 30 IBM DataPower Gateway reviews

5,383 Views
592 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Microsoft System Center

Read 20 Microsoft System Center reviews

562 Views
259 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

IBM DataPower Gateway

Microsoft System Center

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

IBM DataPower Gateway and Microsoft System Center are major players in different categories, with IBM focusing on API management and security, whereas Microsoft excels in IT infrastructure management. IBM seems to have an upper hand in API security features, while Microsoft stands out in infrastructure management, automation, and monitoring.

Features: IBM DataPower Gateway is known for robust API security, data transformation, and scalability capabilities. Microsoft System Center is recognized for infrastructure management, automation, and monitoring, offering comprehensive IT service management.

Room for Improvement: IBM DataPower Gateway could improve its deployment process and reduce complexity for users not specialized in API management. Microsoft System Center could enhance its integration capabilities with non-Microsoft environments and offer a smoother learning curve for users new to its ecosystem.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft System Center is praised for its seamless integration into Microsoft environments and strong support infrastructure. IBM DataPower Gateway offers good support but has a more complex deployment process due to its specialized API management focus, which may require special expertise.

Pricing and ROI: IBM DataPower Gateway typically involves a higher initial investment but offers significant ROI for organizations requiring advanced API management. Microsoft System Center is often seen as offering better value, particularly for organizations invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, due to its comprehensive IT management capabilities and lower initial setup costs.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Microsoft System Center Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Microsoft System Center

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 869,566 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

IBM DataPower Gateway

Ranking in Application Infrastructure

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (5th), SOA Application Gateways (1st), API Management (12th)

Microsoft System Center

Ranking in Application Infrastructure

13th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Monitoring Software (19th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM DataPower Gateway is 4.1%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft System Center is 1.5%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM DataPower Gateway	4.1%
Microsoft System Center	1.5%
Other	94.4%

Application Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

AkshaySawant

Manager at CSB Bank Ltd

Security features excel but development limitations emerge

We are using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes. As per the development perspective, there are some limitations with IBM DataPower Gateway because it only supports XML and XSLT language, but it does not support the Java language. This is the only limitation of the IBM DataPower Gateway. For the authentication and authorization purpose, we can use the IBM DataPower Gateway. It's a very good product. We are mostly using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes and load balancing purposes. If we are handling the load for a particular server, then we can use the IBM DataPower Gateway. The IBM DataPower Gateway is mostly used for security purposes. If we have some APIs and we are using some security for those APIs, then we can use it. It can also be used as a load balancer. It's also used for certificate management, user management purposes, authentication, and authorization. For routing, the IBM DataPower Gateway has multiple URL-based routing and content-based routing capabilities. If we have multiple URLs, then we can use an XML script. Using the XSLT language, we can configure multiple URLs and implement URL-based routing. Content-based routing means if we have multiple requests, we can route the request to a particular URL. For this, we need to use the XSLT language only. We can't use XML, Java, or other scripting languages. With IBM DataPower Gateway, we are using all the APIs. All APIs have been configured on the gateway. We have configured the particular TLS profile and some TLS client profiles as well. Using that TLS profile, we have configured the APIs and authentication. We have configured some tokens also, including JWT tokens and different types of auth tokens. There is also a rate limiting feature which we use for handling API loads.

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Carl Palapal

Sr. Sys. Server & Storage Egineer / Tech .Consultant at CANAR OFFICE SYSTEMS

Provides comprehensive system management with effective deployment and integration capabilities

The advantages of Microsoft System Center are significant, and I have seen other products as well. As far as advantages are concerned, they have PXE deployment, which is good for deploying operating systems, such as Windows client systems including Windows 10 and Windows 11. Since it is a Microsoft product, all the patches are proprietary, making it easier to deploy. In Microsoft System Center, all the features are integrated already, whereas in ManageEngine, you have to license each feature individually to access those features. The automated features of Virtual Machine Manager are very useful; it automates as long as the policy that I have created is in line with the objective, especially the templates when I'm going to deploy. Regarding endpoint management, Microsoft System Center is very helpful; it has integrated endpoint protection deployment, allowing me to handle endpoint configuration, system deployment, and patch deployment, making it an all-in-one stop shop for managing and configuring end clients. The impact of using Microsoft System Center is significant; it gives me a whole picture of my environment, making it easy to get inventory details regarding applications and hardware, providing full visibility of my setup within the organization.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The API Connect gateway service and the SQL injection feature is good."

"It's high-speed and it can be remotely administered via an API."

"Its initial setup was straightforward."

"It is very easy to set up and configure, even for users with no prior experience."

"The solution is stable."

"The performance is good. It's been very stable."

"The MPGW (Multi-Protocol Gateway) is great because it allows you to easily expose services using various protocols – web services, REST (JSON), and others. This flexibility simplifies things."

"The solution is very easy to work with."

More IBM DataPower Gateway pros

"We like Microsoft System Center's Operations Manager. That is primarily why we use it."

"Step-by-step documentation that clarifies the implementation procedure."

"It can generate KPIs and management reports with monthly presentations on activities and updating the environment (success and failure)."

"The features that I have found most valuable are the ease of configuration and the easy discovery of the environment."

"The detail in the alarms is great."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft System Center is its GUI (graphical user interface)."

"The product's initial setup phase was easy."

"Managment Packs for Microsoft-specific products, help us implement the best practices for each product."

More Microsoft System Center pros

Cons

"An area for improvement in IBM DataPower Gateway is its price point because it's a relatively expensive product. Sometimes, when the customer use case is just a very small subset of what's being offered in IBM DataPower Gateway, then the product can be expensive, making my company lose some of the opportunities because of the expensive pricing. A lower price point for IBM DataPower Gateway, even if that results in a less feature-rich version, would be appreciated. In terms of additional features that I'd like to see in the next release of IBM DataPower Gateway, nothing specific comes to mind because IBM constantly improves its standards and provides quarterly updates to the product, so it's quite fine."

"The initial setup isn't so easy, you need who has experience working with the solution to help."

"Its support services could be better."

"The DCDR process should be less complex."

"The programming language is only supported in XSLT and Gateway script."

"In terms of OEM support, it is poor. If I raise a CBRT one, as per the SLA, they should respond in one hour, however, sometimes it takes four or five hours to respond."

"Some pre-packaged connectors for integration with various applications, such as SaaS offerings, would be a useful addition."

"Additional documentation needs to be provided for complex automations."

More IBM DataPower Gateway cons

"The platform performance and responsiveness need improvement. It still demands high computing resources."

"We have some bugs but it's stable. It doesn't break every day. It works. Like other applications, it has a lot of bugs but they're manageable."

"Microsoft System Center should be easier to manage. However, it is complex to deploy, so people hesitate to use it. Though it has many features, such as licensing, asset tracking, and software deployment, we mainly use it for Windows updates. It protects many screens and integrates with databases, but it's complex compared to other solutions. Many now use cloud-based products or other tools like Automox to deploy updates and manage vulnerabilities."

"The solution's dashboard needs improvement."

"Less server consumption would help, as would better, more flexible reports."

"Could be more user friendly."

"Most of the documentation is online, however, there are some gaps there. The product documentation still refers back to the 2012 Server. We're pretty much in 2022. There's a ten-year gap there."

"The multi-tenancy support needs to be improved. We need to have the ability to manage several different environments from one central point of administration."

More Microsoft System Center cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The total cost of IBM DataPower Gateway would depend on the configuration, but in my experience, it can amount to 60,000 Euros per box, even for the virtual version. Usually, customers need high availability and a non-production environment, so the total price for IBM DataPower Gateway can be quite a lot. It can be 200,000 Euros or a similar figure."

"The tool's initial costing is expensive for small banks and financial institutions."

"The solution is expensive in comparison to other products."

"The cost of this product varies from customer to customer and the relationship with IBM, including how many offerings from IBM are already being used."

"Most customers' use case budgets are not inlined with the price of IBM DataPower Gateway. It is too expensive."

"As far as I know, they have a perpetual license for this product. They are paying perpetual fees rather than an annual subscription or annual pricing."

"The licensing cost is very expensive."

"IBM DataPower Gateway is quite expensive to get resources to work on this product. If the price could be cheaper, I think that will make it a little bit better and easily accessible to smaller clients. Then it could compete with other solutions that are available in the market. There's a whole lot of other solutions available that work well and are cheaper than IBM's products."

More IBM DataPower Gateway pricing and cost advice

"Microsoft System Center is quite expensive."

"Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly."

"I rate the product price as five to six on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is cheap and ten means it is expensive."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."

"It's rolled into our enterprise subscription. The entire subscription is around $25,000 a year, however, that covers all the products that we use."

"We maximized our license investment."

"I know that sometimes there is some reduction in the prices of Microsoft System Center because of the costs of Microsoft SQL Server, which can be advantageous."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

29%

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM DataPower Gateway?

The MPGW (Multi-Protocol Gateway) is great because it allows you to easily expose services using various protocols – web services, REST (JSON), and others. This flexibility simplifies things.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM DataPower Gateway?

This product is definitely expensive because if any issue occurs in the live environment or production environment, and our organization faces some issue with the IBM DataPower Gateway, then the IB...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM DataPower Gateway?

I have significant experience with the IBM DataPower Gateway. As a security product, it is very good. However, from the development perspective, it has limitations because it only supports the XSLT...

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft System Center?

The product's initial setup phase was easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft System Center?

Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft System Center?

The disadvantage of Microsoft System Center is related to the many integrated services; if one service is failing, then all features will be affected. For example, with site configuration, when one...

See all answers

Comparisons

IBM API Connect vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 36% of the time

Apigee vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 10% of the time

Kong Gateway Enterprise vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Azure API Management vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 6% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM DataPower Gateway Competitors

VMware Aria Operations for Applications vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 38% of the time

JBoss Enterprise Application Platform vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 28% of the time

IBM BPM vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 19% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 16% of the time

More Microsoft System Center Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM DataPower Gateway

September 2025

Download IBM DataPower Gateway product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center

September 2025

Download Microsoft System Center product report

Also Known As

WebSphere DataPower, IBM DataPower, IBM WebSphere DataPower

MS System Center

Overview

IBM DataPower Gateway is a robust, secure next-generation enterprise-grade single multichannel API gateway that supplies dynamic access, integration, control, and outstanding security. The solution is available in a broad range of workload capabilities, including application programming interface (API), service oriented architecture (SOA), B2B, cloud, web, and mobile. These dynamic capabilities ensure users are able to quickly increase the reach of an organization's critical IT resources to new channels, which will provide shareholders, team members, and clients with safe, secure access at all times.

DataPower Gateway is very flexible and is widely available in virtual, cloud, traditional, physical, Docker, and Linux form factors.

IBM DataPower Gateway Features

IBM DataPower Gateway has many value-added features. Some of these features are included below:

Control: The solution provides decision point authorization and authentication for all standards, including Lightweight Direct Access Protocol (LDAP) and Open Authorization (OAuth), which allow for better access control across an organization’s entire network.
DataPower dashboard: The dashboard is specifically designed to enhance performance and determine problematic processes. The solution provides intuitive real-time performance transparency to diagnose operational and performance anomalies and offer repair and restoration recommendations.
Enhanced messaging: Users are able to easily mediate messaging and protocols by incorporating the best of today’s traditional and modern application standards.
Integration: IBM DataPower Gateway offers super fast mainframe connectivity, database connectivity, transport protocol bridging, content-based routing, and any-to-any message transformation, ensuring secure and immediate connect service.

IBM DataPower Gateway Benefits

IBM DataPower Gateway provides many benefits. Some of those benefits include:

Flexibility: The solution is easy to use and configure and provides for a pleasant, intuitive overall user experience. The solution can immediately be used out of the box, which makes overall process management simple.
Protection: The solution provides sturdy continuous service protection and application performance using robust powerful routing and traffic control.
Security: The solution’s enterprise-grade De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) ready gateway enables users to enforce the desired runtime application security across all messaging protocols.
Profitability: The solution’s design ensures significant reduction of development costs in addition to the streamlining of overall operations. Users are able to achieve reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) and experience a near-immediate ROI.

Reviews from Real Users

“My company has a good impression of IBM DataPower Gateway. What I like about it is that because it's an appliance, it's a turnkey solution that's very fast and out of the box. Another valuable feature of IBM DataPower Gateway is that it's easy to integrate with other products.”- Bálint T., Solution Manager at Intalion

“You don't have to have a separate DMC proxy because DataPower Gateway is an appliance and will take care of a lot of security features. These include data validations, encryption, as well as XML or any type of scripting or security threats that are present. From a security point of view, being an appliance in the DMC zone, IBM DataPower Gateway will take care of the entire security angle for the infrastructure.” - Sathyan K., Founder/Director at perfTech Solutions Pvt Ltd

IBM

System Center helps customers realize the benefits of the Microsoft Cloud Platform by delivering unified management. Experience fast time-to-value with out-of-the-box monitoring, provisioning, configuration, automation, protection and self-service.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

RBL Bank, Availity

Kassen_rztliche Vereinigung Nordrhein, Magyar Telekom Nyrt., Adeka, QualCare, Aeriandi, UniCredit Bank d.d., Mostar, Allianz Australia Ltd., Grupo Familia

Buyer's Guide

IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Microsoft System Center

September 2025

Free Report: IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Microsoft System Center

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