How WSO2 API Manager is leading the open source pack
I wrote a medium post sometime back about the WSO2 API Manager features in the form of a cheat sheet. When I was writing that post, I found it really hard to make that post short enough so that people can actually read it (most of the people don’t read posts which takes more than 5 mins). That is an indication of the number of features it has and the depth of each and every feature. After about 2 quarters, Forrester has also felt same about WSO2 API Manager and named it as a “Leader” in it’s latest API Management wave report.
As depicted in the above graphics, WSO2 has become a leader for the first time in their history. You may think what is the big deal here given that there are 3 other big players in the same section. But the most important aspect of this report is that WSO2 is the only “open source” software vendor in that section. What that means to the enterprise world is that it is no longer a truth that only proprietary vendors can become leaders in the enterprise software world. Now we have a 100% open source software vendor with a mid-size market capture with all the great features and an even stronger strategy.
In Forrester’s own terms “As the only fully open source solution in our Forrester Wave analysis, WSO2 provides good breadth across all evaluation criteria. Particular strengths include formal life-cycle management and non-REST APIs, both of which facilitate mature and disciplined enterprise API strategies” they have specifically mentioned the breadth of the feature set available with WSO2 API Manager.
This is a major victory for the entire open source community which will make open source the one and only choice for enterprise software architecture. One other important aspect of this announcement is that now you have a strong vendor with so much flexibility to build your API Management platform. Even Forrester has praised the flexibility of the platform with this comment “WSO2’s solution typically provides flexibility to address a variety of approaches to APIs. Examples include hierarchical tagging, configurable portal navigation, separate API keys for sandbox and production use, API-specific discussion forums, configurable API user metadata, WebSockets support, and conditional rate limiting. Its microgateway provides a labelling feature that simplifies management of groups of APIs”
Another key aspect which this report highlights about WSO2 API Management platform is it’s stronger vision on the current and future API management requirements. With the features like micro gateway and service-mesh support, the product has shown great leadership to the entire API management space. Here’s how Forrester thinks about that “WSO2’s future vision centers on digital ecosystems and changing solution architectures (e.g., microservices and low-code)”
Overall, this has been a great news for the entire open source community as well as for the enterprise software domain. You can download the full report from the below link.
