Do I Need an API Led Strategy?

Whether or not you plan for it, APIs are becoming a critical aspect of your business’s functionality. The Wall Street Journal reports that 10 percent of businesses already use more than 200 apps. You cannot stop your employees from adopting apps that help them do their jobs. Instead, you should lead them by developing a digital strategy that helps monitor KPIs, reviews API adoption, and follows a planned roadmap to reach business goals. In this way, developing an API led strategy may provide your organization with the direction it needs to navigate an increasingly complex technology landscape.

Common Benefits of an API Led Strategy

Organizations can gain exceptional benefits by making API integration a critical part of their IT operating models. When you implement an API led strategy, you could gain advantages by discovering:

• Automation that streamlines your business processes.

• Improved security through better account authentication.

• API connectivity that lets you keep using legacy systems that still serve purposes.

• More secure connectivity between IoT (Internet of Things), microservices, third-party SaaS (software as a service), and internal APIs.

• Scalable features that conform to user needs.

• New business opportunities that your competitors do not know.

As applications become increasingly important to business success, you need to find an API management platform that helps your team reach these goals. Not only are the use of applications increasing, their degree of inter-connectedness is also increasing. An effective API led strategy will provide clarity on how data moved between these applications will be managed and executed.

Improve Your Business Performance With Effective API Management

API management shouldn’t take a lot of time. In fact, the right API management platform can help your IT team save a lot of time and energy, which gives them more opportunities to focus on meaningful projects. Remarkable API products should give your DevOps team the power to:

• Generate new APIs automatically.

• Track key metrics, such as how many people use your API and web services.

• Monitor connectors to ensure security.

• Access a developer portal to write custom scripts.

• Add business logic that server-side scripting that creates a better user experience.

• Reuse APIs when possible.

• Set API limits to keep applications running smoothly.

• Automatically turn SOAP into RESTful APIs.

• Accelerate time to market so you can beat competitors.

Recommended reading: Optimizing Your Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) With APIs

Building a Secure, Efficient Technological Ecosystem

Some stakeholders might not feel comfortable embracing all of the components of an API led strategy. You may find it helpful to provide evidence that effective API design creates a more secure, efficient ecosystem. For example, you can show them how modern APIs lead to better customer experiences by letting users access financial services online without compromising their security.

You may also want to demonstrate how open APIs can give the business access to low-cost or free microservices. Instead of paying API developers to build microservices, you can start using them immediately. Once you provide a few use cases that convince stakeholders to try an API lead strategy, you need a plan to:

• Identify all of your current applications, web services, microservices, and legacy systems.

• Determine which digital assets you want to keep.

• Decide which apps you want to connect to third-party services, such as Salesforce CRM.

• Discover any current APIs that your organization already uses.

• Choose an API management platform that can perform all of the essential tasks for keeping APIs efficient throughout their lifecycles.

Recommended reading: Enterprise Apps vs. Microapps: How Microapps Are Improving App Interactions

API Management Tools to Compare

You can spend a lot of time comparing API management tools, their features, and prices before you decide which option fits your business strategy best. Some of the most popular tools include:

• Mulesoft Anypoint

• Apigee

• Kong

• Dell Boomi

• Amazon API Gateway

• Microsoft Azure API Management

Embrace an API Led Strategy With DreamFactory

An API led strategy needs a platform that can handle all – or at least nearly all – of your API creation and management tasks. A platform of this kind needs a comprehensive range of features and functionality to manage your organization's APIs. DreamFactory stands out as your best option because it has features for:

• Easy API publishing and key management.

• Generating live, interactive API documentation for all of your connected data sources.

• Securing your APIs with Role Based Access Controls.

• Integrating with databases and business intelligence tools.

• Combining unrelated databases to give you access to all of the information you need to discover emerging trends.

• Instant API creation through a no-code platform that’s doesn’t require much technical experience.

DreamFactory exists to give organizations better control of their digital ecosystem. See how well it works by starting your free trial. Once you see how easy it becomes to connect and manage your digital assets, you will understand why so many organizations make DreamFactory a part of their API management strategy.