Azure API Management vs. IFTTT

APIM is useful for the standard scenarios:

1) Securing your back-end APIs - If you have a legacy back-end web service that has a basic authentication scheme, you can add some additional security by placing APIM in front, and requiring subscription keys. Leverage your existing firewall to ensure only your APIM instance can communicate with your back-end API, and you've basically added a layer of protection.

2) Lift and shift - there are always going to be clients that don't want to update their clients to use a newer API; in some cases you can make a newer API look like an older one by implementing some complex policies in APIM. You can also do the opposite, making older APIs look new, such as making an XML back-end accept both JSON and XML.

3) Centralizing your APIs - if you've acquired another company and want to make their API set look as if it's a part of the larger whole, APIM is an easy way to provide a consistent front-end interface for developers.

Incentivized

Because of the multitude of options with IFTTT, it is hard to describe the best use scenarios, but I will share how I use the platform at this time. I use IFTTT to check Craigslist for certain IT equipment postings and email me if that occurs, turning items on and off with geo-fencing and WiFi network presence, and linking my calendar to my to-do list

Incentivized

• Easy commissioning of APIs.
• Great policies to control access.
• Easy mock services for testing.

Incentivized

• IFTTT manages a number of social media accounts quite well. Being able to login to one platform with access to all your accounts is great.
• IFTTT is easy to set up. IFTTT has a number of crowd sourced and created formulas that you can use, or if you're looking for something specific you can create your own. This allows for an endless number of combinations and ways to engage with the program.
• IFTTT doesn't require constant upkeep. Once you have things setup you can forget about it and it just works.

Incentivized

• Lack of robustness is a bit of an issue. Several other providers offer more options and capabilities, but then, they are lacking in interface ease.
• As with anything Azure, pricing is really hard to stay on top of. I always find that you really don’t know what you’re paying for until you get the bill. Having an excellent Azure Administrator can help resolve that.
• Integrating with app services outside of Azure can be a challenge, or at least much more challenging than just using Azure App Services.

Incentivized

• The website section "Activity" tends to get very crowded over time. It would benefit from some search and filter functionalities.
• Some services lack ingredients. "Ingredients" are attributes passed from one service to another to enhance IFTTT's power. However, some services (like Evernote's notes, for example) currently have too few ingredients available.
• It is not possible to link more than two services. It would be great, for example, to have an option to take a mail message and post in multiple social networks and blogs with the same applet.

Incentivized

There is no better alternative and although Integromat is new and the GUI is slick, they make you pay per push and IFTTT does not. The rest of the competition make you pay per integration or are just not as seamless in usage or have the depth of catalogue. If you use Zapier for instance, it is because they have an integration you have to use, not because Zapier does a better job.

Incentivized

For the most part, IFTTT is great but it does have its limitations. You may only do one thing at a time. If you want branching logic it can be cumbersome and clunky. This it where something like Microsoft Flow does better. For simplicity, nothing can beat IFTTT for how easy it is to set up and use right out of the box

Incentivized

I have had a few issues with apps over the years. Compared to other services, ITFFF is the best choice but no service is perfect unless you build it yourself for yourself. ITFFF needs more tutorials on how to create a custom platform, but overall I will recommend it as an easy to use, time-saving service.

Just try it for your own social media platforms. Then imagine how much money it can save/make.

Incentivized

Azure APIM vs Amazon API Gateway:

1) Azure APIM was a complete package that included a developer portal.

2) We are very Microsoft centric - so the Microsoft product suite aligned very well with our business needs.

3) It was faster and easier to stand up Azure APIM for testing than it was for the Amazon API Gateway.

Incentivized

I haven't used Zapier extensively, but it seems that IFTTT is much simpler to set up. However, Zapier appears to be a much deeper integration where you can sync a variety of fields of data and customize the sync more than you can with IFTTT. Zapier may be more valuable for someone with a complex need and IFTTT is built for simple solutions for more basic apps.

Incentivized

• We can always think of positive ROI impact on business
• It helps to easily facilitate the design, deployment, and maintenance of our APIs

• We have not had to purchase a subscription to a social media automation tool.
• We have saved time sharing information between systems.
• We have been able to reach out to our clients faster because notifications are coming to our attention in more ways than just our inbox.

Incentivized