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Benefits of using MuleSoft

January 6th, 2022

An API gateway is a programming management tool that sits between an Application Programming Interface (API) and several backend services. The gateway works as a reverse proxy and is the single entry point that routes the calls from clients and sends them to the corresponding micro service. It determines the services that should be done, and delivers a seamless, unified service to clients. The gateway is extremely important, and it has to be delivered with consistent quality or it becomes useful. Through APIs, enterprises initiate a lot of activities like traffic management, system integration, transformation, etc. 

It is very important that the APIs are secure and work with optimal functionality at all times. The success and even survival of enterprises actually do depend on this one factor. When you spend a lot of time doing business in the digital world, it is obvious that you are connected to a broader ecosystem of devices and applications. Being open is equal to being open to security vulnerabilities. 

The API gateway is designed to provide robust security to your systems. It functions as an inline proxy point of control over the APIs, authenticating each API request with credentials, token validation and other authentication techniques. 

What Makes MuleSoft a Good Choice For My Business?

Would Mulesoft be a good choice for my business

At the end of the story, that is probably what you are concerned about – Would Mulesoft be a good choice for your business? The one word simple answer for this would be – YES, and a very big one too. Because connectivity led by API is one of the most effective ways of collecting data to applications, and quite unlike point-to-point integration, the approach is centered around self-service, well-designed APIs and reusability. 

The main priority of companies would be competent ways to leverage the full potential of their  data in the cloud and on-premises through API-led connectivity. This is where MuleSoft Anypoint has the advantage, for companies of all sizes. They help in seamless connectivity of devices, data and applications both on-premises and on the cloud. 

Enterprises looking for scalable and flexible application networks will find MuleSoft to be the ultimate solution for their challenging connectivity requirements. Being a unified platform, the API Anypoint can easily connect data, services and applications safely and securely, is reusable and pluggable. You can use it to connect with any source of data, including databases, SaaS apps, mainframes and even Enterprise Resource Planning or ERPs with seamless satisfaction. 

With the MuleSoft platform, you can design, run and manage all the APIs in the same platform. It comes with developer friendly tools to enable the easy set up and modification of the application networks. In addition to that, there is flexibility and scalability through its cloud-first approach. If you want to CI and CD testing, you can integrate that too with MUnit. Additionally, the platform has a drag and drop dashboard making it easier for developers to create simplified orchestration flows. 

The main components of MuleSoft

Here are the main components found in MuleSoft Anypoint platform:

 

Credits: MuleSoft 

Anypoint Design Centre – The design center has all the tools needed to implement data and application flows. It can simplify API design. There is a web-based interface for designing, documenting and testing APIs.

Anypoint Management Centre – Comes with a unified interface to help handle all the main aspects of the platform.

Anypoint Exchange – It is the marketplace for connectors, templates and APIs. There will be hundreds of these, and you can publish and market your own connectors as well.

Anypoint Connectors – All the much-needed tools and assets to connect faster.

Runtime Services
– This is the complete suite of platform services providing the highest levels of security, high availability, reliability and scalability.

Mule Runtime Engine – The Runtime engine is the main portion of the MuleSoft Anypoint platform, because this is where the APIs are run, and also data processing is done.

MuleSoft When Compared With Other APIs

MuleSoft with Amazon API Gateway

A comparison between the two gateways would reveal that MuleSoft platform is easier than Amazon API and meets the needs of business enterprises, but there are areas where one scores better than the other. 

In the Shared Categories department, both Amazon API gateway and Mulesoft Anypoint Platform can be categorized as API Management. 

In the Unique Categories department, Amazon API Gateway has no unique categories, while MuleSoft can be categorized as API Design, Message Queue (MQ), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), API Marketplace, and iPaaS. 

Though many enterprises vouch for Amazon API gateway, it is not quite user-friendly, and the deployment and management part is not as easy as other competing platforms.  As for MuleSoft, it is still a good integration service but has to be better on their core cost model. 

The quality of support given by both platforms are very good, because there is a huge community of users on either side. Both the platforms are easy to do business with. 

Another downside of MuleSoft is that it is more suitable for large business enterprises, rather than small businesses, or companies with low budgets. There is a free trial, but it is otherwise more expensive than other tools in the market. 

APIs continue to rule the market in a digital world because as the needs escalate so should the performance of APIs. With a comprehensive and all encompassing platform like MuleSoft, enterprises can manage their API initiatives without a hitch. It gives speed and agility like never before, and it becomes easier to integrate systems, contents, tools, data and applications irrespective of what the environment is. 

Boomi Vs MuleSoft 

Boomi is another leading integration platform, like MuleSoft. The major difference happens when Boomi focuses on integrating enterprise systems together. MuleSoft’s focus is connecting cloud technologies together. 

Boomi is the closest competitor of MuleSoft and it simplifies the way enterprises integrate and manage their data and applications. With Boomi, enterprises are able to get real time access and management of critical data assets.

So when you compare both Boomi and MuleSoft, it is important to know that both are developing solutions at different levels.  So when you are planning to choose one over the other, remember it all boils down to how your business needs to process data. Choose Boomi if you want a single solution for delivering data from one system to a number of systems at the same time. If you are looking for a unified approach where you need high performance and familiarity across both cloud based solutions and on-premises, then choose MuleSoft. 

It is also the better choice when you are considering solving issues real time because the API manager of Mulesoft is much superior. 

Apigee Edge and MuleSoft

Mulesoft’s strength is in its integration capabilities, and Apigee is used for micro service management, mainly because it is a more mature platform. Google acquired Apigee in 2016, and is quite simple to use. However, developers need to learn Swagger to work with Apigee. A positive point of the platform is its Day Zero feature which speeds up production considerably. 

Though Google has been focusing on Apigee’s capabilities in micro service management, there has been significant developments in its performance in cloud solutions too. 

If you are looking for technical prowess, both have their own strengths and the choice will be based on a business decision rather than a technical one. 

Microsoft and MuleSoft

Both API management platforms are formidable peers with almost equal popularity levels. Microsoft is a very stable platform for application development for both developers and vendors , with support of several programming languages like C, C++, Java etc. The APIL portal is a bit powerful and its functionalities are more suitable for experienced developers, but then you can personalize the portal and customize the dashboard with the entire workflow. 

The downside of Microsoft is that its APIs are not lightweight and hence not compliant with Apps. Beginners would find it a bit difficult because the interface is not friendly at all, and needs improvement for the on-premise services. 

As for MuleSoft, its core cost model is a disadvantage, but it is still the best integration service and the APIs are easily searchable and reusable. 

Conclusion

If you are planning to shift to the MuleSoft and Salesforce environment, you can easily hire a team of mulesoft developers with excellent knowledge of the platform and experience in integration projects. It is easy to hire freelance experts because that gives you a lot of flexibility, and room for innovation. 

MuleSoft is still the best niche tool for launching projects because you can leverage just one marketplace for integration assets and APIs. With the built-in support for Jenkins and Mavens, developers can test their APIs and integrations easily. And for automated security, they can utilize the compliance and custom policies before deploying the apps on to the cloud or on-premises. With a unified API management and integration service like MuleSoft platform, you can manage users, monitor and analyze traffic and secure APIs all in a single platform. Get started with us if you think MuleSoft is the first choice for your business, or if you need to choose one of the API management tools, and you don’t know where to start. 

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