API Management – Infrastructure vs SaaS

The Enterprise is buzzing with API initiatives these days. APIs not only serve mobile applications, they are increasingly redefining how the enterprise does B2B and integration in general. API management as a category follows different models. On one hand, certain technology vendors offer specialized infrastructure to handle the many aspects of API management. On the other, an increasing number of SaaS vendors offer a service which you subscribe to, providing a pre-installed, hosted, basic API management system. Hybrid models are emerging, but that’s a topic for a future post.

Before opting for a pure SaaS-based API management solution offering, consider these below.

The Cloud Advantage
One can realize the benefits of cloud computing from an API management solution without losing the ability to control its underlying infrastructure. For example, IaaS solutions let you host your own API management infrastructure. Private clouds are also ideal to host API management infrastructure and provide the added benefit of running ‘closer’ to key enterprise it assets. Through any of these SaaS alternatives, an API management infrastructure optimizes computing resources utilization. IaaS and private cloud based API management infrastructure also provide elasticity and can scale on-demand. Look for API management solutions that offer a virtual appliance form factor to maximize the benefits of cloud.

Return on investment
The advantage of a lower initial investment from SaaS delivered API management solutions quickly becomes irrelevant when the ongoing cost of a per-hit billing structure increases exponentially. With your own API management infrastructure in place, you leverage an initial investment over as many APIs as you want to deliver, no matter how popular the APIs become. Many early adopters, which originally opted for the SaaS model, (notably the more successful APIs) are currently making the switch to the infrastructure model in order to remedy a monthly cost that has grown to unmanageable levels. Unfortunately, such transitions are sometimes proving more costly than any initial costs savings.

Agility, Integration
SaaS solutions provide easy-to-use system isolated in their own silo. This isolation from the rest of your enterprise IT assets creates a challenge when you attempt to integrate the API management solution with other key systems. Do you have an existing web portal? How about existing identity, business intelligence, billing systems? If your API management solution is infrastructure based, you have access to all the low level controls and tooling that are required to integrate all these systems together. Integrating your API management with existing identity infrastructure can be important to achieve runtime access control. Integrating with billing systems is crucial to monetize your APIs. Feeding metrics from an API management infrastructure into an existing BI infrastructure provides better visibility, etc.

Security
Depending on the audience for your APIs, various regulations and security standards may apply. Sensitive information travelling through a SaaS is outside of your control. Are any of your APIs potentially dealing with cardholder information? Does PCI-DSS certification matter? If so, a SaaS-based API management solution is likely to be problematic. In addition to the off-premise security issue, SaaS based API management solutions offer limited security and access control options. For example, the ability to decide which versions of OAuth you choose to implement matters if you need to cater to a specific breed of developers.

Performance
Detours increase latency. By routing API traffic through a hosted system before getting to the source of the data, you introduce detours. By contrast, if you architect an API management infrastructure in such a way that the runtime controls happen in direct path of transaction, you minimize latencies. For example, using the infrastructure approach, you can deploy everything in a DMZ. Also, by owning the infrastructure, you have complete control over the computing resources allocated to it.