Since the turn of the millennium, companies such as eBay and Salesforce have been the main drivers behind the implementation of APIs. Their aim was to gives as many customers as possible a way to access to their databases quickly and – in the case of eBay – the enable mass upload of ads.
Only a short time later, Amazon Web Services (AWS) massively expanded the advantages of API technology with the introduction of so-called micro services architectures, where complex applications are broken down into smaller, independent “micro-applications”. The prerequisites for this? Predefined standards, uniform structures, and clearly defined and documented APIs – in other words, well thought-out API management.
In this article, you’ll find out what API management is, what components it consists of, what benefits it has for companies and how you can successfully configure and manage APIs yourself.
What Is API Management?
API management is the process of integrating (or developing) and managing application programming interfaces (APIs). This includes the deployment of APIs (development and publication), the monitoring of API traffic and performance, version management, and the security of API connections. There are special API management tools on the market that automate these tasks for companies.
Understanding the Management of APIs as a System: 4 Components of API Management.
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API Governance & Compliance.
API governance refers to the policies, processes, and tools that ensure all interfaces are managed and used effectively, securely, and in line with business objectives and regulatory requirements. This includes:
- API monitoring and logging through specialised routines, which enables companies to get insights into API usage, identify potential security threats, and respond quickly to security-related incidents.
- Compliance with industry standards and regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2 and PCI-DSS.
- Detailed API documentation, for example with an API catalogue, in which API developers, API providers and API consumers can search for specific programming interfaces and view their documentation and, if applicable, contract information.
API Security.
API security means protecting programming interfaces from unauthorised access and attacks. On the one hand, this promotes trust in the data and services of API providers. On the other hand, it ensures their reliability, as they are more resilient to attacks. Security management features include:
- Granular identity and access management through the definition of clear access rights and roles for using the APIs. This prevents API misuse and attacks like the introduction of malicious code (for example SQL injections or cross-site scripting).
- Authentication methods such as OAuth 2.0, SSO, 2FA and MFA.
- Encryption using protocols such as HTTS, SSL/TLS or SSH for more or less complex data protection during transmission and at rest.
- Rate limiting & throttling, i.e. the limitation of API requests in a certain time window, regulating network traffic at interfaces and preventing malicious actors from flooding the system with requests (DDoS attacks).
API Lifecycle Management.
An important part of effective API management is lifecycle management. This involves managing and monitoring throughout the API lifecycle, from the initial design and implementation to the retirement of APIs. Best practices include:
- Creating a business plan that defines the company’s API strategy and sets out goals for the APIs, for example whether the developed APIs will be monetised.
- Defining the API design, which determines the scope of functions, security measures, and user-friendliness, among other things.
- API deployment, that is, the development and publication of the API, including intensive functional and technical tests to check, for example, if API requests and responses work smoothly.
- Real-time monitoring of API usage and performance so that suitable optimisation measures can be taken if necessary.
- Management of versioning and retirement to keep an eye on different API versions and shut down outdated versions in a controlled manner.
API Analytics and Reporting.
In an API analysis, the usage data and access statistics of all APIs are centrally collected and evaluated. This analysis helps businesses decide about everything from an API’s pricing model to the development of new features. Decision can include.
- API performance monitoring to check how quickly and efficiently the API can respond to requests and deliver data. This means errors can be detected more quickly and server utilisation can be optimised.
- Monitoring of API security through regular vulnerability scans and penetration tests. Log files can also be checked for unusual activities.
- Analysis of the cost-benefit ratio, e.g. by tracking revenue from API calls and the ongoing costs of maintaining the APIs, their underlying infrastructure and the use of support.
5 Benefits of API Management for Companies.
Comprehensive API management opens up a whole range of new opportunities for companies to optimise their own business model. A professional API management platform can help increase efficiency and reduce administrative costs. Other benefits include:
1. Fewer System Failures.
Companies must ensure that APIs remain stable and performant even under high load to avoid interruptions or complete system failures. Well-planned API management is essential here, since it supports the provision of a correspondingly high-performance infrastructure.
APIs hosted in the Cloud (also as services from other providers) can, for example, take the load off your own servers. Or you can provide several on-premises servers for high availability and better load balancing – depending on your requirements.
2. Enhanced IT Infrastructure Protection.
APIs open up the company’s internal IT landscape to the outside world. This has various advantages, but it it also creates points of vulnerability for hackers and malware to access sensitive data via APIs.
An API management system can act as a firewall of sorts for the IT infrastructure by recognising loads from mass requests or other suspicious activities in good time.
In addition to robust API access management, it also ensures strong encryption and authentication measures.
3. Enhanced Developer Experience.
Developers are API users, too. Successful API management supports developers in creating and managing their own APIs and thus ensures a better developer experience (DX).
This includes, for example, dedicated API developer portals, automatically generated documentation of APIs, or providing code examples (for example client SDKs in several common programming languages) to simplify the development and publication of APIs.
4. Increased Sales Through API Monetization.
Efficient API management reduces administrative effort and helps to extend the API lifecycle. Targeted version control allows multiple APIs to be supported simultaneously, generating more revenue.
What’s more, APIs can be reused. This helps to simplify the updating of APIs via Continuous Integration/Deployment (CI/CD) and accelerate the development of new APIs. Centralised management of APIs can enable companies to save resources and make them available elsewhere.
5. Agility & Scalability as a Competitive Advantage.
Being able to react quickly and flexibly to changes gives you a clear competitive advantage.
Sophisticated API management enables organisations to break up overly complex and heterogeneous IT landscapes and reassemble them into flexible micro services architectures where the individual components are connected via APIs.
The result is an easily scalable infrastructure where applications, tools and services can be added, removed or replaced with ease.
Lobster's API Management Platform: The Central Solution for Efficient API Use.
Interested in establishing a strategically well thought-out API management system for your business? Unsure where to start and hesitant about the technical overheads? Then look no further. Our Data Platform provides you with an innovative, easy-to-use solution to manage API integrations across your entire ecosystem:
- Secure API Gateway: As an API portal, our tech serves as an entry point for all API requests and enables the correct forwarding of API calls to the correct back-end services. And we’ve got authentication, encrypted data transmission, load balancing, and protocol transformation covered, too.
- Central Dashboard: Manage and monitor API integrations in one place. This not only makes monitoring easier, but also helps you keep an eye on all integration processes and use cases.
- Plug & Play: While other companies are still writing requirements catalogues, you’ve already solved a range of API management challenges, implemented your APIs, and connected your systems with the help of Lobster’s ready-made connectors and templates.
