The New API-Led Connectivity

by Spencer Nguyen • August 23, 2021

When it comes to closing the technology delivery gap, most organizations are seeing in the IT space, API-led connectivity as the missing link. APIs are a powerful way to integrating your systems, applications and databases and API-led connectivity is the new way of connecting your business. API-led connectivity comes with a few key advantages that make it an increasingly attractive option when achieving seamless technology delivery across the organization. This article explains how it works and what features you can expect in the future.

What is API-Led Connectivity?

If you're looking to connect data and applications together, API-led connectivity is the most methodical answer. With an approach focusing on using reusable APIs that serve a specific purpose, this method enables everyone within your organization to access capabilities and deliver projects using the principles of discovery and self-service.

If your organization implements API-led connectivity, it means:

Your organization will decentralize and democratize data access.

Central IT will begin to produce reusable assets, unlocking systems in the process (i.e., legacy apps, SaaS apps, data sources, etc.).

Multiple teams can reuse the above assets, giving developers the opportunity to discover and self-serve.

The benefits? A more productive, agile, and faster way to approach nearly all of your business' internal capabilities and processes.

Why is API-Led Connectivity Important?

Enterprises are using new technology to engage with customers and employees. This means most organizations are dealing with an entanglement of big data, SaaS, IoT, and mobile—all bringing powerful tools to the table, but most poorly integrated with one another. When these systems lack connection, an organization's ability to utilize each to its fullest advantage (and unlock the associated insights, innovation, and revenue potential) is greatly hindered.

With API-led connectivity, you can put an end to fragile and disjointed point-to-point connections that come about as a matter of project-specific necessity, and instead use APIs that make connectivity seamless, robust, and quick to both set up and maintain.

How to Implement API-Led Connectivity

With API-led connectivity, your organization can begin connecting and exposing its assets for better use throughout the organization—and even by profitable third-party users, if you decide to create an API ecosystem.

In order to achieve compossibility and self-service, you must put an end to point-to-point connections and begin turning each asset into its own managed API, allowing it to be easily controlled and fully discoverable by all of your organization's users, without complexity. Implementing API-led connectivity relies on your implementation of these categories of APIs:

System APIs: These APIs tap into the core records and systems, protecting those records and systems from accidental changes while shielding the user from their complexity. These APIs enable countless users to access the systems and their data stores without needing to learn how.

Process APIs: These APIs access data stored in either a specific system or across multiple systems, allowing them to be interacted with and shaped in a way that isn't dependent on source systems.

Experience APIs: These APIs allow data to be reconfigured, making it more easily consumable. These APIs are generally created following the principles of "API-first" design, meaning the API is designed around user experience for a given use case.

When you approach API-led connectivity in this organized manner, you'll be able to reap all the benefits of this method, making your assets discoverable and available for your entire organization. The result is a business that's agile with all teams being able to compose, recompose, and further adapt APIs to fit changing business plans and objectives.

Making API-Led Connectivity Work for Your Business

If your organization is stuck using the traditional point-to-point approach, your teams may be meeting initial delivery deadlines, but the ability to reuse work from past, relevant projects is non-existent and ultimately leads to far more time and money being spent on projects that could have used APIs and made assets reusable and adaptable from the start. The business benefits of API-led connectivity are obvious. The trouble is in changing your organization internally, first in the structure and mindset of your teams, and then in the tools and approaches you use. DreamFactory can help.

As an API management platform looking to reduce code and simplify API management, DreamFactory will make adopting API-led connectivity more straightforward for all of your core teams. Interested in learning more about how DreamFactory can power API-led connectivity? Start your free trial today and see for yourself.