DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Partner Zones AWS Cloud
by AWS Developer Relations
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Partner Zones
AWS Cloud
by AWS Developer Relations

Trending

  • WireMock: The Ridiculously Easy Way (For Spring Microservices)
  • DevOps Pipeline and Its Essential Tools
  • Testing, Monitoring, and Data Observability: What’s the Difference?
  • How To Backup and Restore a PostgreSQL Database
  1. DZone
  2. Software Design and Architecture
  3. Integration
  4. The Lack of an API and Healthy Partner Integrations is an Early Warning System for Service Providers

The Lack of an API and Healthy Partner Integrations is an Early Warning System for Service Providers

API Evangelist Kin Lane provides insight into early warning signs for service providers.

Kin Lane user avatar by
Kin Lane
·
Apr. 11, 16 · Opinion
Like (3)
Save
Tweet
Share
3.70K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

I was disappointed to see the email in my inbox this morning from IFTTT about their Pinboard integration. I also helped amplify Pinboard when he was Tweet'n up a storm earlier, and I recommend you read his post: My Heroic and Lazy Stand Against IFTTT.

However I had work to get done on an essay about the API effort over at Brigham Young University, and prepare for some meetings I have this week around the Open Referral API definition, to help people find government services--IFTTT bums me out, but priorities.

The loss of Pinboard integration in IFTTT sucks, but there is always Zapier. ;-) I began moving away from my IFTTT support back in 2014, after I began seeing their lack of an API, and the absence of a forward-facing business model, as an early warning sigs about the sustainability of IFTTT as an service provider.

I prefer having the option of paying for services in which I have a growing dependence on for my personal digital presence, and it is vital when it comes to my business presence. This was a deal breaker for me when it comes to IFTTT being a service I could support.

I also strongly believe, that if you are building a startup using the APIs of other companies, you should be offering an API for your own aggregation, automation, interoperability, and any other aspect of your tech--otherwise it isn't a service I want to support. 

There are many other approaches to integrating your cloud services, and the concept of iPaaS is a growing layer of the API space. Unfortunately there will also continue to be incentives for startups to not offer an API, be secretive and shady about their operations, not communicate honestly with their community, and have fucked up terms of services. 

All we can do to combat this, is to make sure and only use the services who have a sensible business model which is in alignment with their community, provide a truly open API, that possesses terms of service that are more human than lawyer, and know how to actually communicate with their community. 

Which is why I support API providers like Pinboard, a service that plays a central role in the operation of API Evangelist. 

API Integration

Published at DZone with permission of Kin Lane, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Trending

  • WireMock: The Ridiculously Easy Way (For Spring Microservices)
  • DevOps Pipeline and Its Essential Tools
  • Testing, Monitoring, and Data Observability: What’s the Difference?
  • How To Backup and Restore a PostgreSQL Database

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com

Let's be friends: