3. Sign up for your trial: If you haven't already, sign up for your free trial instance from here.
4. Considering a purchase? If you are interested in purchasing the solution, all the offering options are available on My IBM Dashboard. Both Flow Run and Runtime Compute editions can be accessed through the self-serve option. If you are an AWS customer, you can also conveniently purchase App Connect through the AWS Marketplace.
Building integration flows
App Connect provides a no-code interface with AI-powered features and a versatile development environment. This empowers both business users and integration specialists to create and deploy flows using a variety of integration methods.
The Designer serves as your primary tool for flow creation. It offers a web-based, drag-and-drop experience that requires no prior training. Create your first flows with pre-built templates from the template gallery, covering a wide range of use cases. Use the catalog page to connect to your existing applications and explore the events and actions you can incorporate into your flows.
For an overview of App Connect Designer and a demo on building a simple event-driven flow, watch this on-demand webinar.
Here's how to build your first flow:
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Import a template: Select a pre-built template from the gallery to get started quickly.
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Build from scratch: Alternatively, create a new API or event-driven flow tailored to your specific needs.
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Connect to applications: Seamlessly connect to your application accounts using the catalog or directly within the flow editor. Secure connectivity features ensure connections to applications on private networks.
AI-powered assistance
The App Connect AI features help streamline the flow-building process:
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Intelligent guidance: The AI assists you in building flows and mapping data elements.
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Real-time testing: Test your flow as you build it using sample data to validate individual actions or the entire flow.
For more details and examples on how AI can assist you in the application integration process, watch this on-demand webinar.
Test and export your flow
The Designer authoring tool is intended for authoring and testing. Once you're happy with your flow, you can easily test and export it:
App Connect Designer provides built-in features for monitoring the health and performance of your integration flows:
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Flow status: The flow tile displays the current status, allowing you to monitor its performance.
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Log Viewer: Access detailed logs to troubleshoot any issues.
Advanced integration needs
For complex integration needs, a downloadable advanced authoring tool, the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit, is available. Accessible from the App Connect homepage, this Eclipse-based toolkit offers extensive support for virtually any data format and empowers you to craft solutions for intricate integration challenges.
Regardless of the authoring tool used (Designer or Toolkit), your integration solution is packaged as a BAR file, ready for deployment and management using the Dashboard.
For a detailed overview of the App Connect Toolkit and insights into building custom integrations, watch this on-demand webinar.
Deploying and managing integrations
The App Connect Dashboard provides a dedicated runtime environment for deploying and managing your integration solutions. Here, you can deploy integrations created in either App Connect Designer or the Toolkit by establishing integration runtimes to host your solutions.
Simply select "Deploy integrations" to initiate a guided process for uploading your BAR file (runtime artifact) and configuring your runtime. The navigation pane provides various views to manage your deployed integrations, BAR files, and configurations.
Get support and answers
We offer comprehensive support to ensure a successful trial experience. Our technical specialists can guide you through advanced features and answer your questions during live demos.
Explore valuable resources from our active community, who publish insightful blogs and articles. The community forum is another excellent platform to ask questions and learn from peers. Additionally, our YouTube playlists provide a wealth of technical demos for further exploration.