Glossary Term

API Manager / API Gateway

Software that sits between IBM i data and outside applications to publish, secure, monitor, and control API traffic in one place.

Definition

An API manager, sometimes called an API gateway, handles the parts of API integration that get harder to manage as usage grows: authentication, rate limiting, request transformation, logging, and analytics. Rather than building that control layer into every individual integration, IBM i teams route API traffic through a gateway that enforces the same rules everywhere.

Buyers researching IBM i API integration software often start by asking about specific connectors, but the more durable evaluation question is whether the platform includes real API management capability or only point-to-point connections.

Example

A company exposing order status to a customer portal might use an API gateway to enforce authentication and rate limits once, instead of rebuilding that logic in every application that calls the API.