Today’s tech news headlines are filled with examples of the opportunities, and potential pitfalls organizations can face when making the transition to an API platform.
On one hand, there are examples of companies that have been able to unlock new channels of growth and innovation by inviting developers to build on their platform, and integrate with their APIs. You can find plenty of success stories in companies like Twilio, Stripe, Braintree, Salesforce and Expedia, which have used APIs to expand their revenue streams.
You can also find evidence in the opportunities that exist for organizations transitioning to an API platform in some of the major acquisitions in the tech space, including Google's acquisition of API management platform Apigee in 2016, Oracle's acquisition of API design platform, Apiary in 2017, and most recently, the $6.5 billion acquisition of API management platform, Mulesoft by Salesforce announced just last week.
On the other hand, there are examples of companies that have faced scrutiny for providing a poor developer experience, or not having the right strategies in place before opening their API platforms. Even a company like Facebook, which has long been celebrated as an example of a successful API platform for its Graph API, is now facing backlash for exposing millions of its users' personal data.
There are lessons to be learned from both the successes and failures of companies transitioning to an API strategy.
Lessons in Transforming the Enterprise to an API Platform
If your part of a team that’s involved in launching, or scaling an API strategy, then you’re familiar with the difficulty that can come with transitioning a company to an API platform.
These challenges include:
- How do you align your business and technology teams when planning an API?
- How to do you maintain consistency and provide the right level of governance when designing APIs?
- How do you improve communication and oversight when developing an API, and ensure the right people are informed when changes are made?
- How do you set up processes and implement the right solutions to make sure your strategy scales across teams?
These are just some of the challenges that API developers, CTOs, architects, and product managers will face when launching and scaling an API platform strategy. And while these aren’t the type of challenges that will make tech headlines, they are important roadblocks that teams will need to overcome if they want to unlock the potential of their API programs.
Are your digital transformation efforts taking your business in the right direction?
James Higginbotham is an Executive API Consultant with experience in API strategy, software architecture, and training teams in API and microservice design. James guides enterprises through their digital transformation journey, ensuring alignment between business and technology through product-based thinking to deliver a great customer experience.
James has learned firsthand about the challenges teams can face when transforming their organization to an API platform. And that’s why we have invited James to come share some of the key lessons he has learned, and share his insights.
On April 10, James will be joining us for a free webinar: Lessons from Transforming the Enterprise to an API Platform. This session focuses on lessons learned from working with various organizations in hospitality, loan origination, and fintech to develop and deploy their API platform. These enterprises implemented an API first design, federated governance, and API management layers as part of their overall platform strategy.
We will explore what worked, what didn't work, and tips to ease your transformation initiatives.
Topics that will be discussed:
- Developing an effective API program that promotes internal reuse and a thriving partner program
- Techniques for implementing API governance, including an exploration of centralized vs. federated governance
- How microservices and modular software design are changing the culture of today's enterprises
- Increasing API onboarding and adoption by developing a great portal and developer support process
- Tips for accelerating your transformation initiatives with an API-centric approach to the enterprise
Watch the Recording