Apache Camel is an open source integration platform.
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IBM Sterling Supply Chain Business Network
Score 8.0 out of 10
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IBM Sterling Supply Chain Business Network allows users to view all relevant transactions from a single dashboard to quickly pinpoint and assess issues allowing resolution in minutes not hours.
Message brokering across different systems, with transactionality and the ability to have fine tuned control over what happens using Java (or other languages), instead of a heavy, proprietary languages. One situation that it doesn't fit very well (as far as I have experienced) is when your workflow requires significant data mapping. While possible when using Java tooling, some other visual data mapping tools in other integration frameworks are easier to work with.
IBM Sterling Supply Chain Business is very well suited for medium to large businesses that have a large commercial / B2B customer set, limited technical resources, and very simple standardized integrations with their B2B customers. It might be less appropriate or a fit for brands that have a much more complex tech stack, smaller commercial customer base, and more complete sales/products or options for their clients.
Camel has an easy learning curve. It is fairly well documented and there are about 5-6 books on Camel.
There is a large user group and blogs devoted to all things Camel and the developers of Camel provide quick answers and have also been very quick to patch Camel, when bugs are reported.
Camel integrates well with well known frameworks like Spring, and other middleware products like Apache Karaf and Servicemix.
There are over 150 components for the Camel framework that help integrate with diverse software platforms.
The UI / UX is pretty straightforward. It does take some time to configure fully (everything is customized mapping tailored to your business's needs), but once everything is set up, their solution is incredibly reliable. Once it's fully onboarded, it's a very scalable solution for adding more clients and integrations to your business. Technical support could be better.
If you are looking for a Java-based open source low cost equivalent to webMethods or Azure Logic Apps, Apache Camel is an excellent choice as it is mature and widely deployed, and included in many vendored Java application servers too such as Redhat JBoss EAP. Apache Camel is lacking on the GUI tooling side compared to commercial products such as webMethods or Azure Logic Apps.
IBM Sterling Supply Chain can be more expensive and complex, and has lower customer and technical service support than some of the other players. Onboarding might be a bit faster with different providers. Other providers might be better for businesses that are still in the earlier stages of their maturity, with regular growth or regular changing business and processes that are not fully established, might find IBM Sterling less of a fit for their operations and integrations.
Very fast time to market in that so many components are available to use immediately.
Error handling mechanisms and patterns of practice are robust and easy to use which in turn has made our application more robust from the start, so fewer bugs.
However, testing and debugging routes is more challenging than working is standard Java so that takes more time (less time than writing the components from scratch).
Most people don't know Camel coming in and many junior developers find it overwhelming and are not enthusiastic to learn it. So finding people that want to develop/maintain it is a challenge.
