We work with multiple customers, and this is one of the tools we use to help them with integration.
IT architect at Primark
An integration solution with a useful real-time integration feature, but the price could be better
Pros and Cons
- "like the API lead integration, which is more focused, and I also like real-time integration."
- "The price could be better. It would also be better if they simplified the code."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
I like the API lead integration, which is more focused, and I also like real-time integration.
What needs improvement?
The price could be better. It would also be better if they simplified the code.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using IBM Integration Bus for more than 15 years.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
IBM Integration Bus is a stable solution.
On a scale from one ten, I would give stability a nine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
IBM Integration Bus is a scalable solution. We have about 1000 users and 30 applications.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give scalability an eight.
How are customer service and support?
IBM's technical support is pretty good. They are very quick to respond once we raise a PMR with them.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. We already have a CI/CD pipeline in place. We just have to create the images, and then automation takes over and deploys it quickly.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give the initial setup a nine.
What about the implementation team?
We deployed this solution. We have two to three people who do this.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
IBM Integration Bus is expensive. There are cheaper products in the marketplace.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give the pricing a two.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this product as it's an IBM product. However, it all depends on the use case. If it's heavy machine-based transactions, I recommend IBM Integration Bus. But if it's API-based, I would recommend another solution.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give IBM Integration Bus a six.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Developer at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
Built-in nodes significantly simplified our integration tasks, easy to scale and setup
Pros and Cons
- "IBM Integration Bus has been effective in facilitating our messaging and service-oriented architecture (SOA) or bus architecture. So, we're already utilizing it to transform the data from the source it's sending. It converts the data from the format the source sends it into the format the destination system requires. So we are transforming the messages, which are required by the destination system; that's the one way."
- "Performance can be an issue sometimes. The tool occasionally crashes due to memory-related problems. We've reported these issues to IBM, and they are actively working on improving the tooling experience."
What is our primary use case?
We use IBM Integration Bus to communicate with existing systems like COBOL. We utilize COBOL copybooks, which we need to transform for downstream systems. We create schemas and leverage the COBOL capabilities to convert messages to the target systems. This is one example of our integration use case.
How has it helped my organization?
IBM Integration Bus integrates with various applications and systems.
We have many external customers who call our Integration Bus using the SOA WSDL. We expose WSDL to external systems, allowing them to share inputs with the Integration Bus.
In turn, the Integration Bus integrates with additional third-party and external systems. So, it acts as a middle layer between source and target systems.
IBM Integration Bus has been effective in facilitating our messaging and service-oriented architecture (SOA) or bus architecture.
So, we're already utilizing it to transform the data from the source it's sending. It converts the data from the format the source sends it into the format the destination system requires. So we are transforming the messages, which are required by the destination system; that's the one way.
Another way we are routing the messages to the different destinations is based on the source and the payloads they are giving. So we are reading that payload and, based on that, targeting the task. So, we are transforming the same message to the different destinations. That's another way.
IBM Integration Bus's built-in nodes significantly simplified our integration tasks. Almost all of our solutions have benefited from the built-in nodes. Each node has its own specific functions, making them incredibly valuable for various development tasks.
What is most valuable?
Transforming the messages is a valuable feature for me.
All the message transformations, conditional routing, and simple data movements are already built-in.
Additionally, there are some powerful conditional processing capabilities. These features, especially conditional routing and complex data mapping, are crucial for handling multiple complex integrations.
The graphical mapper makes transformations much easier. For simple one-to-one mappings, the source and target can be directly connected, saving developers time.
What needs improvement?
Performance can be an issue sometimes. The tool occasionally crashes due to memory-related problems. We've reported these issues to IBM, and they are actively working on improving the tooling experience.
It would be great to see better memory management to avoid these crashes.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for five years now. I use v10.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I had no issues with stability. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We haven't encountered any issues with volume or performance based on our testing. While we are still developing these applications, we are confident in the solution's ability to handle high volumes.
I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
I would rate my experience with the initial setup a nine out of ten, with ten being easy.
It's very easy to set up. It typically takes less than an hour.
What about the implementation team?
Two people were involved. One is the administrator, who has the necessary permissions and installs the product.
The other is the integration developer, who defines the integration flows, steps, and profiles.
One person could be from IBM support, while the other would be from the Windows or Linux administration team.
The product requires ongoing maintenance. However, the people required for the maintenance depend on the project. In my organization, we have five to ten based on our projects.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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IBM Integration Bus
October 2025
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Senior unix middleware architect at Garanti Teknoloji
A stable solution that can be used for document conversions
Pros and Cons
- "We use IBM Integration Bus for document conversions."
- "We decided to move away from IBM Integration Bus for IT technical refreshments."
What is most valuable?
We use IBM Integration Bus for document conversions.
What needs improvement?
We decided to move away from IBM Integration Bus for IT technical refreshments.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using IBM Integration Bus for ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
IBM Integration Bus is a stable solution.
I rate IBM Integration Bus a nine out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
IBM Integration Bus is a scalable solution.
I rate IBM Integration Bus an eight or nine out of ten for scalability.
How are customer service and support?
I rate the solution’s technical support an eight or nine out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I rate IBM Integration Bus a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Head of enterprise applications sector at Agricultural Bank of Egypt
Great integration but not particularly user-friendly
Pros and Cons
- "IBM Integration Bus's best feature is integration."
- "IBM Integration Bus isn't particularly user-friendly and has a big learning curve."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use IBM Integration Bus to integrate core banking and card management systems.
What is most valuable?
IBM Integration Bus's best feature is integration.
What needs improvement?
IBM Integration Bus isn't particularly user-friendly and has a big learning curve. In the next release, IBM Integration Bus should support microservice architecture.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
IBM Integration Bus is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
IBM Integration Bus is scalable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used TIBCO and webMethods.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex; deployment took around a month, while implementation took around four months.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a decent ROI from IBM Integration Bus.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
IBM Integration Bus is expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I wouldn't recommend IBM Integration Bus to other users because of its high learning curve, and I'd rate it seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IBM Integration Bus Developer at Telecom Egypt
Great stability, stream lined convergence of other products, and works well with critical projects, but the performance needs to be enhanced
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable thing is the loose coupling and making the change in only one stack of the ESB layer or the middleware layer."
- "The performance needs to be enhanced when working with the Toolkit."
What is our primary use case?
It is used for the banking domain and telco. We use it for integration between vendors from core banking and the other channels, for example, buyers, CRM and codes.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable thing is the loose coupling and making the change in only one stack of the ESB layer or the middleware layer. This helps in big projects and when we have multiple channels calling back at the same time.
What needs improvement?
The Toolkit itself is based on Eclipse and Java, and it does not respond sometimes. When we are working on the Toolkit using or working on our PCs or remote desktop the program has issues with performance. The performance needs to be enhanced. More labs for developers who want to learn about this technology for trial. They may provide a trial version of App Connect or Toolkit to try it for themselves.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using IBM Integration Bus for the past five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable and used by very large companies and banking in EMEA, or in Egypt and the Middle East. It is used in very stable projects and critical ones that have payment transactions, like wallets or through transactions, and internet banking.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very scalable. We have twenty different developer and administrator teams working with it.
How are customer service and support?
If we have to fix an installation or other support needed, an administrator opens a ticket with IBM and they support it, especially if it is in the license agreement with them. But, I am a developer, not related to technical support. From the community side, I would rate technical support a seven out of ten because IBM documentation is available over the internet and on other websites.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward and takes about one minute to deploy
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have the enterprise edition, and it is licensed yearly. I do not know what the cost is.
What other advice do I have?
They can converge other products, ESB, or SOAR architecture. I may recommend IBM as a solution tool for a business if they are looking for a stable environment. They will find support on the community forum. I would rate IBM Integration Bus a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Software Engineer at Giza Systems
A strong and scalable solution that can be deployed easily
Pros and Cons
- "IBM Integration Bus is a very strong tool."
- "We have to stop the integration server to start the debugging process."
What is our primary use case?
We used the solution for opening new accounts for a banking system. Our client used some old techniques and didn’t have an integration layer. I created an account opening application for our client.
What is most valuable?
IBM Integration Bus is a very strong tool. It helps in integrating the front-end and back-end systems.
What needs improvement?
We have to stop the integration server to start the debugging process. The debugging mechanism of other products is better than that of IBM.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I did not face any issues with the solution’s stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy, but the database is quite heavy for the local DC. It was also a little bit complex to connect to some databases.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment of the solution is very easy. We just add the integration server and drag and drop the services to the integration server. We deployed the solution in-house. We do not face any trouble in the maintenance of the product.
What other advice do I have?
I am a system integrator. In Software AG, debugging does not intervene with any other process. I also use Software AG webMethods and TIBCO. Software AG webMethods is the best product because it is very easy to develop and flexible. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
Technical Lead at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
An excellent solution for transformation and routing with a responsive support team
Pros and Cons
- "The features I have found most valuable in this solution are transformation and routing."
- "The product does not provide API management."
What is our primary use case?
The product helps us develop integration applications. It also enables communication between applications from different environments.
What is most valuable?
The features I have found most valuable in this solution are transformation and routing.
What needs improvement?
IBM Integration Bus doesn’t provide some features that MuleSoft provides. These features should be added to the solution.
The product does not provide API management. We have to use a separate tool called API Connect for our needs. It would be good if IBM could combine these tools.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for the past nine years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The people in our organization who faced scalability issues deployed the product on the cloud, where they could make it scalable. I rate the scalability an eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
I have spoken with the support team about a couple of issues. They were really helpful, and the response was very fast.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. We did not face any challenges.
What about the implementation team?
It took us a couple of minutes to deploy the product. We deployed the solution with our in-house team. A team of two to three administrators usually monitors the product in the production environment.
What other advice do I have?
I am using the latest version of the solution. We use Jenkins to deploy the applications we build on IBM Integration Bus. My organization is one of the largest IT service providers, with hundreds of customers across the globe.
We depend on IBM for patches when there are some issues in the production environment. I am a developer, and I work in solution development. I have worked with multiple organizations for multiple accounts. I would recommend the solution to others. IBM Integration Bus is a leading product.
Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Solution Engineer at Capgemini
Simple installation, beneficial for legacy systems, and good support
Pros and Cons
- "I am into microservices using Java Spring Boot, but if we are using legacy systems, IBM Integration Bus is very good for them. They have their own computational logic called EC12, their own proprietary language. You can do any kind of complex logic and can implement other ESVs that I have seen."
- "IBM Integration Bus can improve JSON Schema validations. We don't have any kind of nodes that can support that kind of validation. If we want to containerize it by means of the docker's containers in the clouds, we are not able to manage it very well."
What is our primary use case?
We are using IBM Integration Bus as a messaging solution for our customers. They have legacy systems. Some are MQ systems, file-based systems, app-based systems, and ERP systems. We place it in the middle of integrations. One system sends messages or communicates to another system written by us.
What is most valuable?
I am into microservices using Java Spring Boot, but if we are using legacy systems, IBM Integration Bus is very good for them. They have their own computational logic called EC12, their own proprietary language. You can do any kind of complex logic and can implement other ESVs that I have seen.
What needs improvement?
IBM Integration Bus can improve JSON Schema validations. We don't have any kind of nodes that can support that kind of validation. If we want to containerize it by means of the docker's containers in the clouds, we are not able to manage it very well.
In a future update, IBM Integration Bus could add better API management. It only supports Swagger at this time.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using IBM Integration Bus for approximately eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
IBM Integration Bus sometimes hangs but the IBM App Connect Enterprise successor version is a lot better.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
IBM Integration Bus scalability depends. The scalable of the on-premise version is difficult to scale. For example, if you're using the file processing that can be locked on the files and there is an increase in the number of threads there is some limit. The cloud version is not the same, by using a container, we can scale up to any extreme level. That kind of scalable is not there in the on-premise version.
We have 10 to 15 people using the solution.
How are customer service and support?
I never interacted with IBM for technical support. However, my clients have and they have had a good experience.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not worked with other solutions similar to IBM Integration Bus.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of IBM Integration Bus version 7 was complex, but the 10 and 11 versions were not difficult. We are using IBM App Connect Enterprise, the successor version of the IBM Integration Bus. IBM Integration Bus no longer exists, but the installation was quite easy. This is a single-step installation. The installation can take approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of the IBM Integration Bus is expensive. If you compare the price to the cloud version you can purchase what you need but the on-premise version price is flat.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
In the modern integrations in the EPAs world, IBM Integration Bus is not well fitted, because if we have legacy systems, it is fine, but if you want to manage the EPA, govern the EPA to allow people to choose the different platforms, such as the cloud platform, Mule CloudHub I would not recommend it. For the legacy integrations, I can recommend this solution.
I rate IBM Integration Bus an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
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