How Koç University powers digital transformation with Tyk's API management platform
100+ APIs
Unified management of over 100 APIs across multiple systems and departments.
15,000+ students and staff
Seamless digital services for the entire university community through integrated API infrastructure.
Enterprise-scale integration
Comprehensive API management spanning academic, administrative, and student information systems.
Region
EMEA
Sector
Education
Product
Self-Managed
Why Tyk?
Koç University needed a robust API management solution that could handle the complex integration requirements of a modern educational institution while providing the security, scalability, and governance necessary for managing sensitive academic and student data across multiple systems.
The system infrastructure and network team considered three or four API management providers before spending a couple of weeks doing a proof of concept with Kong. Then they heard about Tyk. Fatih Büyüktaş, Software Development and DevOps Group Manager at Koç University, recalls:
“When we discovered Tyk, we saw that its price and features exactly fitted our budget and needs compared with the other options.”
Implementing Tyk went smoothly from start to finish. Within a week, Koç University had the API management and security solution it needed, with an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) for managing its 100 or so APIs.
At a glance
Company
Koç University is a leading Turkish university, excelling in research, education, and innovation across disciplines.
ku.edu.tr
Key features used
Koç University is one of Turkey’s leading private universities, serving over 15,000 students and staff members. The university leverages Tyk’s API management platform to orchestrate digital services across their academic and administrative systems, enabling seamless integration between student information systems, learning management platforms, and various departmental applications.
The problem
The pandemic forced Koç University to rapidly pivot to digital-first operations, spinning up numerous apps and APIs to support remote learning and campus management. Their infrastructure team faced mounting challenges with a fragmented ecosystem of legacy applications suffering from frequent internal security issues, manual processes taking weeks to deploy, and disconnected systems creating data silos. Students and staff struggled with inconsistent user experiences across multiple platforms, while IT teams found it increasingly difficult to maintain security standards and monitor system performance across their growing API landscape.
The role of Tyk
Tyk sits in between Koç University’s APIs and its frontend apps. All app users – around 10,000 of them, including students, staff and administrators – connect through Tyk. The gateway makes security easier to manage and ensures authentication can’t be bypassed.
Much of the backend has been built using Mendix, a software development platform that enabled the university team to quickly spin up apps and API-based integrations during the pandemic. The resulting microservices architecture meets a range of needs, with services that span campus access, dormitory access, course evaluation, a mobile app used by students and faculty staff and the KU portal, again used by students, staff and admin personnel.
The solution
Four years ago, Koç University’s systems encompassed a range of legacy applications, suffering frequent internal security issues. Now, the university has a highly secure, modern architecture with Tyk in place to manage and secure its APIs. Software Development and DevOps Group Manager, Fatih Büyüktaş, observes:
“Tyk’s best feature, for me, is the user interface – because it was hard to manage and configure many APIs by editing files. Tyk’s graphical user interface made it very easy, so my team could manage those APIs easily – it’s a good user experience.”
Tyk has significantly reduced the time it takes the university to manage its services, enhancing productivity and reliability while bringing down costs. It is now easy for developers to integrate new APIs and apps, meaning the team is both more productive and happier. Büyüktaş comments:
“By using Tyk, we saved a lot on the operational costs. It was taking days or weeks to deploy an application because everything was manual. Tyk speeds up everything. We can deploy an application on the same day. That wasn’t possible before.”
Meliksah Karakas, Principal DevOps Engineer at Koç University, adds:
“Our security risks decreased after using Tyk. Tyk helps us to increase development productivity and to keep our APIs secure. We don’t lose control. When an API password/token needs to get updated, we know what was updated and where the API token was updated. Consolidation and central management increase development efficiency.”
The future
Using Tyk means that Koç University is well positioned for future innovation. First on the list of upcoming changes is a project that’s already underway to move from Linux to Kubernetes, which will deliver smoother product upgrades and new API monitoring interfaces. The university’s system infrastructure and network team is working closely with Tyk’s engineers to implement this and is enjoying feeling well supported. The team has also used the Tyk community for support as well, finding it helpful to see others’ ideas and approaches when using Tyk.
At some point, the university also plans to create an open data portal with APIs for students. It’s a longer-term goal, but one that the team knows they can use Tyk to achieve; Tyk’s Developer Portal was one of the key product features that caught their attention right from the outset. It means that Tyk can support Koç University both now and in the future.
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