

IBM DataPower Gateway and Kong Gateway Enterprise are competitors in the API management and gateway solution space. DataPower excels in securing enterprise applications, while Kong Gateway Enterprise is favored for its scalable microservices architecture.
Features: IBM DataPower Gateway is known for its robust security, integrated support within IBM's ecosystem, and enterprise security features. Kong Gateway Enterprise stands out with its multi-cloud support, plugin-rich environment, and flexible architecture.
Room for Improvement: IBM DataPower could improve in user interface flexibility, cost-effective scaling options, and advanced cloud features. Kong Gateway Enterprise might benefit from enhanced compliance tools, tighter integration with non-open-source platforms, and more detailed monitoring and logging features.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM DataPower employs a traditional deployment model, requiring IBM system knowledge but offering extensive support. Kong Gateway Enterprise provides quick deployment with open-source elements and offers community and premium support options.
Pricing and ROI: IBM DataPower Gateway has higher initial costs due to hardware and integration demands, yielding ROI from security capabilities. Kong Gateway Enterprise offers a cost-friendly entry point, leveraging open-source components with a scalable investment model that benefits evolving businesses.
We count the number of hits and can say we earn and actually get the benefit from it.
In terms of OEM support, it is poor.
I would evaluate customer service and technical support as a little bit weak, so I give it a seven out of ten.
The technical support from Kong Gateway Enterprise would be rated about eight, as we missed local technical support.
Once you install the product, we can't scale the resources on the IBM DataPower Gateway.
The scalability of this solution would be rated about eight or nine.
IBM DataPower Gateway does not handle all the traffic on a single node.
If we require additional features, we can't configure them on the IBM DataPower Gateway.
Whenever I am writing code, it should give recommendations automatically by incorporating AI so I can write the code in a few minutes or seconds.
My experience with the pricing of this product is that pricing is too high and should be reduced.
More plugins for additional integrations would be helpful and openness for traditional development languages, such as .NET, because many enterprises are looking for .NET solutions or incorporating with .NET solutions.
I think it costs around 5 Crore in Indian Rupees.
No other Gateway offers this as part of the integration offering.
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.
IBM DataPower Gateway has positively impacted my organization by allowing me to implement rate limits on the different API usage, which is the benefit.
The most valuable features of Kong Gateway Enterprise are its seamless integration with Kubernetes and cloud, many plugins that can be incorporated in a solution, and its incorporation with low-code function systems.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Kong Gateway Enterprise | 5.9% |
| IBM DataPower Gateway | 3.1% |
| Other | 91.0% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 11 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 2 |
| Large Enterprise | 17 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 8 |
| Large Enterprise | 19 |
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:
IBM DataPower Gateway Benefits
IBM DataPower Gateway provides many benefits. Some of those benefits include:
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
Kong delivers a next generation API platform built for modern architectures. With a lightnight-fast, lightweight, and flexible core, Kong delivers sub-millisecond latency across all your services. Kong's is deployment-, vendor-, and pattern-agnostic, allowing you to run your services how you want, where you want, and with who you want - from baremetal to cloud, monolith to microservices, service mesh, and beyond.
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