There are so many reasons APIs are important today. Businesses are finding many benefits with APIs because they are not only making it easier to achieve goals and increase revenue, but they are also allowing businesses to strengthen their relationships with partners and potential customers.
“Businesses are moving beyond APIs as integration solutions only and starting to find opportunities to productize their businesses using APIs. These API products consist of business and technical capabilities that can be shared internally within and across lines of business, but also with partners and public developers. This not only creates new revenue possibilities, but it also reduces customer churn due to the deeper relationships created as a result of API consumption,” said API Consultant James Higginbotham from LaunchAny.
Austin, TX- based LaunchAny offers API strategy and design consulting and training. By partnering with software companies, LaunchAny can help evolve their product architecture into a secure, API-centric platform for channel partners and mobile apps.
Higginbotham spoke with DevsWorld about the growth of APIs and challenges and where they are headed in the future.
“APIs are fundamentally about the collaboration between users, developers, and systems. The API ecosystem you build will either empower or limit how they interact with you. By treating your APIs as products, we move APIs from an internal integration mindset to a collaborative mindset that supports your customers, partners, and developers,” Higginbotham said.
Not only knowing all that goes into the development and delivery of APIs is important today. But ongoing support, security, marketing and ROI are all important things to keep in mind.
Higginbotham noted that while quite a bit of effort goes into delivering a comprehensive, secure API design, there are API frameworks and tooling today that can help with that. What’s needed now is for developers to start using this new tooling.
When it comes to marketing, there is a definite need for a comprehensive API marketing plan. Everyone from developers, product managers, business leaders and the C-Suite should be involved according to
Higginbotham.
Of course, depending on the type of organization, it will differ as to who should be making the final call. But getting these people involved to try out the API, make recommendations and ensure requirements are being met with it is vital.
“API providers must understand their target market and the types of marketing personas necessary to take an organization through the marketing and sales pipelines.”
And it’s not set it and forget it once you get passed this phase. “Organizations must understand that APIs will change over time. Since your API is mission critical to your consumers, you must take responsibility of your build and retain trust with your API consumers. API providers must own their API versioning strategy, including running multiple versions in parallel to support API clients built on older versions.”
At the upcoming All About the API event in Las Vegas, Higginbotham will be presenting during a session titled, “Moving Toward a Modular Enterprise.”
The session will examine how APIs are changing the way we view software and how companies need to shift their way of thinking to become more API-centric. Other topics to discuss include how messaging platforms and voice-enabled devices are changing the fundamental ways we interact and build software. Finally, a closer look at where these trends are taking us and what that means for today’s API initiatives.
Edited by
Alicia Young
