API-first companies are leading the tech world, with some of the most innovative examples like Stripe, a payments processing platform, quickly rising to become one of the biggest names in tech. These API-first businesses are rising across the board and not just in western markets. The Asia-Pacific region is also seeing similar growth in API-first breakthroughs.
This isn’t just due to the innovation inherent in leading an API-first business. APIs consistently allows companies to scale their operations seamlessly.
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What is API Maturity?
API maturity is an organization’s ability to extend API architecture and design and develop its current setup to include new endpoints with security at the heart. Add more endpoints, and any system inherently becomes more susceptible to cyber-attacks. APIs are no longer simply a tool to access digital assets and services. Today they can help get new businesses or new business branches up and running sooner. APIs were the ones to help introduce new revenue streams for airlines in the form of transporting medical equipment for airlines during the pandemic, for example.
How to Boost API Maturity?
There are a few ways to improve API maturity.
Analyze Current API Status
There are four general stages of API maturity. The first stage is accessed. Teams need access to the data that they need, no matter where they’re located. You will then need to integrate the API so that its use is standardized and it can be reused as often as required. From there, you need to reach the experience stage. This is where security, performance, and automation come into play. The final step is transformation, where you change your business model to API-first. This final stage allows you to take full advantage of your API investment.
Use an Innovative Management Platform
The platform you use to develop and even distribute APIs will make a massive difference to your efforts. The right API management platform allows you to streamline development so you can efficiently publish, secure, analyze and manage your APIs and services across platforms. With the right workflow, you can increase development and management efforts by over 400x, vastly boosting your business’s ability to transform its API development efforts.
This applies to API-first companies all the way to those looking to innovate and bring their business up to speed with a new round of investments. Not only can you boost developer productivity, but you can also use this platform to help make your APIs more discoverable and consumable by the wider market.
Such a platform will help you accelerate time to market, allowing you to get your ideas out there faster and with greater success.
Release APIs as a Product
Very few businesses can and will want to develop an API for in-house use alone. Large tech giants that want to stand out can absolutely take on the investment, but for most, this isn’t feasible. By expanding your reach to sell your API as a product, you can set it as a strategic asset and even prioritize its development in your business plan. Between understanding your API status, what you need to do to advance it, and using the right management program, expanding to the point where you can release your API as a product is the next logical step.
