An Application Programming Interface (API) is a platform that allows developers to easily incorporate functionality into just about any kind of smart tech. Even if you’ve never encountered the term before, you’ve probably been exposed to technology that exhibits its results. For example, fingerprint authentication on mobile phones is built in using an API. That saves developers from having to redevelop this feature every time a new make or model of phone comes out.
From an enterprise’s perspective, good API management is a source of insights on how APIs are used and how they perform. Using this information, companies are able to speed their progress towards digital transformation, innovating faster, working more efficiently, and serving their customers better. But APIs aren’t just a way of implementing change, they’re driving change too. We look at the top API trends for 2022, and how they’re changing the business landscape.
1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
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Artificial intelligence (AI), once limited to science fiction, is science fact in today’s world. But, to be really intelligent, machines need the ability to “learn,” hence the importance of Machine Learning. These two technologies are becoming increasingly available to organizations, and the reason for that is the growth in the number and availability of the APIs that make it possible. Think of things like predictive analytics, speech recognition, and chatbots to name but a few.
The API makes it possible for users to “train” artificial intelligence to respond in certain ways, but once again, it isn’t necessary to reinvent the wheel. Certain APIs have artificial intelligence services that have already been prepared to undertake the tasks that businesses want to incorporate. Making your systems more intelligent means less legwork for you, and with AI and ML now within easy reach, it’s a trend that’s gaining unstoppable momentum.
2. Rising API Security
New threats come together with new opportunities. Since APIs are so powerful, protecting them and the data within them becomes a priority. Security is the first and most important factor when choosing APIs, and it’s only after determining security that users will start looking at how it will perform.
When evaluating security measures, a search for vulnerabilities that could allow an API to be exposed or hacked is the first step, and it’s also an ongoing task. Encryption is one of the most important elements in securing APIs. They must only show understandable data to authorized users. Intruders shouldn’t be able to read or understand the data at all. As a result, it must be possible to indicate which identities are trusted and what types of access they will have. And, if all your security training, processes and policies still fail, instant threat protection kicks in and protects the API.
3. Ready-to-Use API Products
With businesses needing APIs to perform a host of different functions, it’s no surprise the API products are becoming big business. Twilio provides a good example of this. Businesses need to communicate with customers across a vast amount of chat platforms. Instead of having to monitor each of these channels separately, Twilio’s API-based product integrates them into a single platform. It’s easy to see the APIs make doing business easier, so developing them has become a business in itself – so much so that deciding what to choose and what to implement is best undertaken with professional advice.
4. Low-Code and No-Code API
Getting a developer or team of developers to code integrations between applications used to be the only option, especially when several of them have to work together. But now, APIs that offer simple drag and drop user interfaces mean that companies can integrate applications or develop them faster and with less technical knowhow. It saves time, it saves costs, and the platform can be customized.
As an analogy, think about what it takes to develop a website. In the past, you had to know how to code to do it. But nowadays, you can design web pages with tools that automatically insert the code. All you do is drag and drop and shift things around. Now, the rise of API adoption has led to ready-prepared “recipes” to automatically code in common tasks according to commands selected by users.
5. API Analytics
Business leadership is all about decision-making and to make good decisions, you need data. Then, the raw data has to be processed – but APIs can make the whole process easy. They collect metrics across a range of sources, and are then able to analyze it in a search for patterns and diagnoses that allow them to present predictions.
In the fast-paced business world of today, having the ability to gather data is easy enough – processing it in a meaningful way, however, is more complex. But with API analytics, analyzing and acting on information can be faster than ever before. Whether you’re looking to improve customer service, strengthen security, or make market predictions, strong APIs can help you to act faster.
Conclusion
In closing, it’s worth noting that strategizing, choosing and implementing APIs is a big decision. Identifying what works best in your unique circumstances, and getting the greatest benefits from your choice, is likely to require a little expert advice. But the important thing to remember is the end-result: the ability to do so much more so much faster at a far lower cost. It’s worth the journey to get there.
