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IBM MQ pros and cons

Vendor: IBM
4.2 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

IBM MQ is renowned for its reliability, ensuring messages are not lost and providing a robust integration platform for critical business needs.
It is highly scalable, supporting a range of messaging topologies and handling high transaction volumes efficiently.
Security is a key feature, with advanced options like SSL, TLS, and RBAC, offering compliance and data protection.
IBM MQ's guaranteed delivery feature ensures seamless message exchanges across distributed systems, including integration with mainframe applications.
It provides exceptional stability and performance, supported by a reliable vendor with strong support, making it a preferred choice in industries like finance.

CONS

Scalability and scaling with IBM MQ have limitations compared to other cloud-native products, with issues in workload balance and high availability.
Handling large volumes is challenging, with limitations in queue sizes, message lengths, and overall capacity, preventing scalability.
There is a lack of integration with newer technologies and systems like Kafka, RabbitMQ, and public cloud messaging solutions, making it less competitive.
Cost is a significant issue, with high licensing fees and expensive scaling, causing some users to seek alternatives like open-source solutions.
IBM MQ support and customer service have room for improvement, especially in responsiveness and knowledge provision during critical situations.
 

IBM MQ Pros review quotes

it_user523101 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Architect Mainframe at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Oct 18, 2016
One of the most valuable features is the standardization in terms of messaging; if you have MQ, you probably can talk to anybody.
it_user523107 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Sep 29, 2016
It allows us to observe the status of our applications in real time; basically, very quick.
it_user523110 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Infrastructure Manager at Royal Caribbean International
Dec 21, 2016
Now, it's real time, where we can effectively handle millions of transactions an hour, once we implemented MQ.
Learn what your peers think about IBM MQ. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user523113 - PeerSpot reviewer
Large System Administrator at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Dec 22, 2016
It's reliable.
it_user523116 - PeerSpot reviewer
Application Architect Lead at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Dec 19, 2016
The reliability is a benefit.
it_user523119 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director, Computing Services at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Dec 21, 2016
MQ is a very quiet product: It does what it's supposed to do, is very reliable and scalable, and when there is a problem it's usually because someone did something wrong or wrote something wrong, and once that gets corrected, it just keeps running day and night without missing a beat.
it_user523122 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director Mainframe System Engineering at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Oct 19, 2016
In conjunction with some other products we use, such as IIB, it does a lot of the transformation and cuts out a lot of programming that has to be done for transforming data from our carrier customers into the format that we need it to be.
it_user523128 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Architect at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Dec 20, 2016
We've been using MQ for so many years; it's been really, really working great for us.
it_user523131 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Project Manager - Infrastructure Delivery (Mainframe Services) at a hospitality company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Dec 21, 2016
To have that relationship, and to have MQ being able to service what they service and support that expansion has been fantastic.
it_user523134 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Infrastructure Services Lead - Mainframe and Enterprise Batch at Rogers Communications
Dec 25, 2016
Stability is awesome. MQ is up all the time.
 

IBM MQ Cons review quotes

it_user523101 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Architect Mainframe at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Oct 18, 2016
Technical support is average. In terms of efficiency and response time, it's average, comparable to any other vendor.
it_user523107 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Sep 29, 2016
It's within z/OS, so it's green screen. It's not user friendly, but I can understand that.
it_user523110 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Infrastructure Manager at Royal Caribbean International
Dec 21, 2016
I lose sleep at night, because of, if we have issues.
Learn what your peers think about IBM MQ. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user523113 - PeerSpot reviewer
Large System Administrator at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Dec 22, 2016
The user interface might be an area with room for improvement, but we use MQ Explorer and that helps solve a lot of our problems there.
it_user523116 - PeerSpot reviewer
Application Architect Lead at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Dec 19, 2016
Technical support is very disappointing.
it_user523119 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director, Computing Services at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Dec 21, 2016
If it was a little bit more user friendly, or more gen-x friendly maybe, that would be the best benefit.
it_user523122 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director Mainframe System Engineering at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Oct 19, 2016
There is room for improvement with the price.
it_user523128 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Architect at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Dec 20, 2016
In some cases, when a file got transferred, it has same name on both sides. That could have something to do with the product or it could have to do with something else.
it_user523131 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Project Manager - Infrastructure Delivery (Mainframe Services) at a hospitality company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Dec 21, 2016
They might be able to improve the monitoring features.
it_user523134 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Infrastructure Services Lead - Mainframe and Enterprise Batch at Rogers Communications
Dec 25, 2016
Price is one thing that could be improved.