API as a product

Application programming interfaces, or APIs, are used to allowconnect different software programs to communicate with each other, or APIs connect software systems. Because of this, many consider APIs as systems integration technology and not software products themsthemselves. However, these interfaces allow developers to leverage data, functions, and applications to build new products and services, and they tend to be a way for companies orand businesses to express themselves in software, and. anAn API can allow those businesses to expand into new contexts or adapt to meet changing user needs or preferences.

This has, in part, begun to change the mindset around APIs, with some companies beginning to see APIs as a chance to deliver long-term value at scale, especially as they can be evolved over time to meet changing customer needs. This is separate from the development of an API as a one-time project. And theThe change in mindset has placed the API in athe place of a product, to be designed like a product, rather than as middleware. This has increased the ease of consumption and use, and the development of APIs can provide strategic value and future extensibility for both API developers and users.

With API as a product, the API can be monetized, often for niche functionality, allowing. anAn organization is able to monetize several APIs, and oftenthose servedare usually delivered over HTTP. Further, this has led to a new paradigm, as explored in part above, where API becomes synonymous with API-driveAPI-driven software Software-as-a-Serviceas a service (SaaS), in which the API is the software, and has been seen as a natural evolution of B2B SaaS. Many API as a product providers are able to develop bespoke offerings for specific instances as well. ExamplesThe following are examples of this type of product include:

• Stripe - offersStripe—offers an API for online commerce interactions to help other platforms easierease overhead
• Twilio - aTwilio—a communication facilitation platform, Twiliothat offers communication benefits to companies that do not want to develop their own communication channels but integrate those channels into existing infrastructure
• Mailchimp - offersMailchimp—offers an API product solution that unifies marketing efforts across various channels

When developing an API as a product, the design of the product can matter. ThisThe design has to start with the questions of "why" and "how," which have to be defined clearly before the API is built. This includes questions aroundregarding what problem the API can solve or help solve, how it can help companies achieve their goals, and what business needs can be met by the API meet. This strategy can help inform the design of the API, which can matter for end-users.

The design questions can, and probably do, center around the vocabulary used in the development of the API, as the words and terms used can increase or decrease the learning curve and understanding for end-users;. itAnother candesign beconsideration is the styles of the API or what protocols the API supports, such as REST or GraphQL;. the design can further beAlso, a more natural or less natural design can be chosen, such that a user may have to change their way of approaching using an API, orin doescomparison thewith an API followthat follows established standards or conventions;. andFinally, consistency should be considered, such that the API can be familiar with related products, towhich makemakes it easier for a user to switch to a new API, or ahave consistency in experience with APIs across the offerings of a single company.

As part of designing an API as a product, a company can also turn to dedicated tools and open-source communities whichthat work to help users design and manage APIs as a Productproduct. These include Microcks, an open-source Kubernetes-native tool for API mocking and testing tool; Apicurio, a tool to help users design API contracts collaboratively; and Red Hat 3scale API Management, designed to help ease the design and management of APIs as a product through collected feedback and active management of an API.

When designing an API, it is also important for the company offering the API as a product to enforce a consistent set of security policies and protocols across public and private APIs. This can include authentication systems, such as 0AuthOAuth 2.0 or OPen IDOpenID Connect, with a transport layer encryption to protect the data and control who has access to it. Further, it can include consideration of spike arrests, per-app usage quotas, and related concerns to maintain consistent API performance.

Similar to the products sold under a SaaS model, an API developed as a product has to follow a new lifecycle management protocol compared towith legacy APIs. WhereWhile a legacy API integration was often considered a one-off product, that would be discarded and replaced as soon as the product was considered obsolete;, an API developed as a product should be continuously monitored and iterated, with. analyticsAnalytics and user feedback to continue to iterate andcontinually improve the API, with new iterations deployed through management tools capable of supporting dynamic changes to the existing API implementation, rather than replacing those implementations.

Because API users are developers, an API product designed to andbe capable of empowering developers, for example, by giving them a tool capable of assembling assets from disparate sources into a new product or service, is more likely to attract customers to it. This requires, as part of an API lifecycle, that the product is consistently designed to facilitate more assets to be exposed to and capable of being retrieved by APIs, bundling these resources into the existing product, and publishpublishing those resources to the users to meet their needs.

As explored above, APIs have specific lifecycles. As a product, these lifecycles are different than those lifecycles for APIs whichthat are intended to be replaced and tend to include the design, development, testing, management, and maintenance of the product. To help with this, there are various companies that sell API management services. These companies tend to treat the API as a product, and tend to offer the following services:

• API design - thisdesign—this often includes the tools and templates to design, publish, and deploy APIs as well as record documentation, security policies, descriptions, usage limits, runtime capabilities, and related information.
• API gateway - thisgateway—this refers to API management solutions serving as a gatekeeper for APIs through the enforcement of relevant API security policies and requests and guarantees authorization and security.
• API store - oftenstore—often API management solutions offer users the ability to keep their APIs in a store or catalog where they can be exposed to internal or external stakeholders, so users can subscribe to APIs, orand obtain support from users and the community.
• API analytics - thisanalytics—this allows users to monitor API usage, load, transaction logs, historical data, and other metrics to better inform API use and development.

Some API management services also offer cloud and on-premise hosting for an API. This hosting, along with analytics services, allows API management service providers to help API developers determine routes for iteration, and services that should be included or removed from an API. Further, these services allow users to keep all of their APIs behind a single IP or domain, and protect them with keys, tokens, and IP filtering. This can help secure the API without the API developer needing to develop that security infrastructure, or needing to host the API services.

As explored above, APIs have specific lifecycles. As a product, these lifecycles are different than those lifecycles for APIs which are intended to be replaced and tend to include the design, development, testing, management, and maintenance of the product. To help with this, there are various companies that sell API management services. These companies tend to treat the API as a product, and tend to offer the following services:

• API design - this often includes the tools and templates to design, publish, and deploy APIs as well as record documentation, security policies, descriptions, usage limits, runtime capabilities, and related information.
• API gateway - this refers to API management solutions serving as a gatekeeper for APIs through the enforcement of relevant API security policies and requests and guarantees authorization and security.
• API store - often API management solutions offer users the ability to keep their APIs in a store or catalog where they can be exposed to internal or external stakeholders, so users can subscribe to APIs, or obtain support from users and the community.
• API analytics - this allows users to monitor API usage, load, transaction logs, historical data, and other metrics to better inform API use and development.

Some API management services also offer cloud and on-premise hosting for an API. This hosting, along with analytics services, allows API management service providers to help API developers determine routes for iteration, and services that should be included or removed from an API. Further, these services allow users to keep all of their APIs behind a single IP or domain, and protect them with keys, tokens, and IP filtering. This can help secure the API without the API developer needing to develop that security infrastructure, or needing to host the API services.

Application programming interfaces, or APIs, are used to allow different software programs to communicate with each other, or APIs connect software systems. Because of this, many consider APIs as systems integration technology and not software products thems. However, these interfaces allow developers to leverage data, functions, and applications to build new products and services, and they tend to be a way for companies or businesses to express themselves in software, and an API can allow those businesses to expand into new contexts or adapt to meet changing user needs or preferences.

This has, in part, begun to change the mindset around APIs, with some companies beginning to see APIs as a chance to deliver long-term value at scale, especially as they can be evolved over time to meet changing customer needs. This is separate from the development of an API as a one-time project. And the change in mindset has placed the API in a place of a product, to be designed like a product, rather than as middleware. This has increased the ease of consumption and use, and the development of APIs can provide strategic value and future extensibility for both API developers and users.

With API as a product, the API can be monetized, often for niche functionality, allowing an organization to monetize several APIs, and often served over HTTP. Further, this has led to a new paradigm, as explored in part above, where API becomes synonymous with API-drive Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), in which the API is the software, and has been seen as a natural evolution of B2B SaaS. Many API as a product providers are able to develop bespoke offerings for specific instances as well. Examples of this type of product include:

• Stripe - offers an API for online commerce interactions to help other platforms easier overhead
• Twilio - a communication facilitation platform, Twilio offers communication benefits to companies that do not want to develop their own communication channels but integrate those channels into existing infrastructure
• Mailchimp - offers an API product solution that unifies marketing efforts across various channels

When developing an API as a product, the design of the product can matter. This design has to start with the questions of "why" and "how" which have to be defined clearly before the API is built. This includes questions around what problem the API can solve or help solve, how it can help companies achieve their goals, and what business needs can the API meet. This strategy can help inform the design of the API, which can matter for end-users.

The design questions can, and probably do, center around the vocabulary used in the development of the API, as the words and terms used can increase or decrease the learning curve and understanding for end-users; it can be the styles of the API or what protocols the API supports, such as REST or GraphQL; the design can further be a more natural or less natural design, such that a user may have to change their way of approaching using an API, or does the API follow established standards or conventions; and consistency, such that the API can be familiar with related products, to make it easier for a user to switch to a new API, or a consistency in experience with APIs across the offerings of a single company.

As part of designing an API as a product, a company can also turn to dedicated tools and open-source communities which work to help users design and manage APIs as a Product. These include Microcks, an open-source Kubernetes-native tool for API mocking and testing tool; Apicurio, a tool to help users design API contracts collaboratively; and Red Hat 3scale API Management, designed to help ease the design and management of APIs as a product through collected feedback and active management of an API.

When designing an API, it is also important for the company offering the API as a product to enforce a consistent set of security policies and protocols across public and private APIs. This can include authentication systems, such as 0Auth or OPen ID Connect with a transport layer encryption to protect the data and control who has access to it. Further, it can include consideration of spike arrests, per-app usage quotas, and related concerns to maintain consistent API performance.

Similar to the products sold under a SaaS model, an API developed as a product has to follow a new lifecycle management protocol compared to legacy APIs. Where a legacy API integration was often considered a one-off product, that would be discarded and replaced as soon as the product was considered obsolete; an API developed as a product should be continuously monitored and iterated, with analytics and user feedback to continue to iterate and improve the API, with new iterations deployed through management tools capable of supporting dynamic changes to the existing API implementation, rather than replacing those implementations.

Because API users are developers, an API product designed to and capable of empowering developers, for example, by giving them a tool capable of assembling assets from disparate sources into a new product or service is more likely to attract customers to it. This requires, as part of an API lifecycle, that the product is consistently designed to facilitate more assets to be exposed to and capable of being retrieved by APIs, bundling these resources into the existing product, and publish those resources to the users to meet their needs.

In order to create an API as a product, the API has to be monetized. The monetization model that a company chooses for an API is often dependent on the type of API product offering. For example, a technical API product may charge per integration or per rate of data transfer, while a commerce or payment API may charge through a transaction percentage or subscription model. As such, with the range of types of APIs, there is a near equal pluralization of monetization models.