Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) vs. API Management
This article goes over Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) vs. API Management, but why should you just choose one?
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Join For FreeSome organizations remain unconvinced of the need for an application programming interface (API) management solution. This is especially true of those that already use an integration platform as a service (iPaaS) to integrate their applications and data. Part of the reluctance stems from confusion around what sets the two solutions apart. Nevertheless, the fact is API management and iPaaS solutions perform unique functions that are equally critical to succeeding in today's digital economy. Modern organizations need both.
The Interplay of APIs and an iPaaS
An iPaaS lets you exchange data between different systems. It enables data to flow between cloud applications, data warehouses, IoT devices, data lakes, and other systems in your technology stack.
APIs undergird this process. When swapping data between, say, your enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, a modern iPaaS like the SnapLogic Intelligent Integration Platform will expose the APIs of each system. In other words, it lets you create APIs.
But API creation and API management are two different things. If you don't manage the APIs you create, you run the risk of data breaches, chronic system malfunctions, and operational inefficiencies — the origins of which can be hard to pinpoint. What's more, you fail to capitalize on the revenue potential of your APIs.
What Does API Management Have to do With Apples?
Here's a farming analogy to illustrate my point.
If a farmer plants an apple orchard, she cannot hope to derive any benefit from it unless she manages the trees (APIs). But if for whatever reason she fails to manage the orchard, a litany of troubles will follow.
As the orchard matures, thieves will creep in and steal ripe apples, pests will wipe out whole rows of trees, and arid patches of soil will cause some roots to wilt and die. And the farmer, unaware of the source of these problems, will have no recourse against them. Nor will the farmer know how to exploit the healthy trees.
What's more, should a cider-maker come along wanting to buy apples wholesale, the negotiations would flame out before they'd even begun. After all, no one wants to partner with a supplier who doesn't manage their orchard.
What Sets an API Management Solution Apart From a Traditional iPaaS?
In the same way, if you want to turn the APIs you create with your iPaaS into a profit-generating digital ecosystem, then you must manage your API orchard.
The first step in gaining sovereignty over your APIs is to understand the capabilities that set an API management solution apart from a traditional iPaaS. Bear in mind, the two solutions need not — and frankly, should not — exist in isolation.
The following are five distinct capabilities of an API management solution.
1. API Control and Governance
An API management solution helps you avoid disruptions to your API processes through features like rate limiting (or, traffic throttling) and load balancing. Rate limiting allows you to limit the number of API requests made to certain APIs in a specified time frame. Load balancing enables you to leverage multiple gateways for a single API so that when a flurry of API requests comes in, you can distribute the workload across the various gateways. Both features reduce lag times and prevent system failures in your API processes.
2. API Gateway
API gateways regulate who and what can access your APIs. They protect your data and API infrastructure by repelling unauthorized users. They also spur innovation, expedite business processes, and create a fluid customer experience by granting quick entry to developers, partners, and customers.
3. API Developer Portal
A robust developer portal provides developers with the resources they need to rapidly create applications with your APIs. Such resources could include API reference documentation, OpenAPI specifications, use cases, demo videos, and other materials to help developers understand the API capabilities and controls quickly. A developer portal can help drive innovations that in turn create new digital revenue channels for you.
4. API Lifecycle Management
An API management solution provides all the tools and infrastructure for planning, designing, implementing, testing, publishing, operating, consuming, maintaining, versioning, and retiring your APIs. Controlling all the key stages of the API lifecycle in one place radically boosts your productivity in building and overseeing your digital ecosystem.
5. API Insights and Reporting
An API management solution provides API analytics so you can see and act upon lucrative opportunities in your API landscape. API reporting also enables you to spot and resolve problems before they spiral out of control. You can monitor API performance in real-time, view dashboards of usage trends, segment data across multiple dimensions, detect threats, and more. Having access to timely, in-depth analytics is essential to your API strategy.
An iPaaS serves as a necessary and powerful foundation for building a modern, cloud-centric data architecture. But it can only get you so far. If you want to build a full-fledged digital ecosystem, one where partners, developers, and internal stakeholders create applications with your APIs that yield profits for years to come, then consider adopting an API management solution.
Ideally, you should leverage an iPaaS that offers API management capabilities in the same platform. Indeed, if you can integrate your applications and data, create APIs, and manage the API lifecycle all with one unified solution then your API orchard will surely bear fruit in abundance.
Learn how to reap the benefits of a universal integration platform with iPaaS and API management capabilities in the white paper, "API 101: Modern technology for creating business value."
Published at DZone with permission of Karen He, DZone MVB. See the original article here.
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