What is our primary use case?
My use case for
IBM MQ is that it's a middleware solution for our enterprise.
What is most valuable?
The features of
IBM MQ that have proven most effective for ensuring message delivery reliability are the stability of the system, the resilience and the product, which is definitely of top quality in this segment. This is a product which is very common, and many competent products are there, but it's time-tested, very stable, highly resilient, and has all the features to troubleshoot even if something goes wrong. It's the best from all perspectives.
What needs improvement?
The areas of IBM
MQ that have room for improvement are its compatibility with the public clouds, specifically its compatibility with
Azure or
AWS, as there is definitely a lot of scope for improvement there.
For how long have I used the solution?
In our organization, we have been using IBM
MQ for around 10 years, but we moved it to cloud two and a half years ago. The product has been in use for the last 10 years on-premises, and recently, for two and a half years, we have been using it on cloud.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
We used a direct service from IBM for the deployment of IBM MQ in our environment. It is not a third party, but it is a service taken from IBM itself. There is an IBM subsidiary IT team in the Middle East who has helped us.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate the technical support from IBM as seven out of 10.
The reason for this rating is due to the turnaround time, which is an important factor. IBM follows a practice of raising a ticket and has specified turnaround times to get back to us. Though usually, if it is high priority or top priority, they turn around faster, even for medium or low priority issues, their turnaround time is not as good to complete our project. We cannot hold on to the project for a long time just to wait for IBM to fix the issues. Our project will have its own timelines, so we expect turnaround times for medium and low priority incidents or tickets to be better than what IBM is currently offering.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I did not use a different solution before IBM MQ. For the last 10 years, we have been using this solution, so I don't remember what was there 10 years back.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of IBM MQ was complex on cloud. If it had been on-premises, it would have been very simple. On cloud, it is complex, and we had to take help from IBM itself for that.
What about the implementation team?
We used a direct service from IBM for the deployment of IBM MQ in our environment. It is not a third party, but it is a service taken from IBM itself. There is an IBM subsidiary IT team in the Middle East who has helped us.
What was our ROI?
I have seen an ROI from IBM MQ in terms of its role as a tool for integration platforms; however, it does not directly relate to any cost or revenue. It does not have functional features, as it's a product which integrates the external systems with internal systems or among the systems themselves, making it an essential technology component required to integrate multiple systems.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of IBM MQ is definitely on the higher side. There are many market-competitive products, but this is a top product in the market and messaging middleware software, so the cost is high.
What other advice do I have?
The approximate number of end users in our organization using IBM MQ is roughly 30.
I would recommend IBM MQ to other people.
I do not wish to disclose my organization's name or email because this does not represent the organization's viewpoint officially.
I rate IBM MQ overall as a seven on a scale from 1 to 10, when 1 is the worst solution, and 10 is the best solution.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
*Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
