and easy access to data – either internally or externally . Similarly , if they can ’ t support lightweight APIs utilising common standards such as REST / JSON to present access to data , alarm bells should be ringing that it ’ s no longer fit for purpose in the modern digital setting .

Teams embarking on this process will frequently realise that it will be difficult to deploy changes at speed without compromising the existing platform . This is another sure sign that the legacy application isn ’ t up to the level of performance required by today ’ s microservices strategies .

Instead , APIs can extend the life of legacy systems to deliver transformational communicative capabilities organisations need . In doing so , IT teams can focus on a winwin scenario where their infrastructure can be modernised to deliver on business objectives and with minimal organisational disruption .

The trouble with APIs

While APIs empower organisations to adapt fast to a changing world and deliver a top-notch experience of their ecosystem to employees , customers and partners , enterprises around the world are dealing with the realities of API complexity . According to recent research , enterprises now rely on three different API management vendors at a time and will likely be using four in the next two years .

With increased digital maturity comes increased complexity that creates bottlenecks thanks to API programmes that run in a disjointed or siloed manner in multiple parts of

the business . Thanks to the sheer number of APIs , multiple API gateways , a lack of common standards and security , and no common catalogue to index everything , many firms are grappling with the fact that innovation is stalling as developers struggle to reuse assets . This equates to high operational complexity , increased security risks and a worrying lack of centralised visibility and governance .

The key to mastering API complexity

Organisations need a clear API strategy in place that makes it easy to create , control and consume APIs . Just as with modern IT architectures overall , the goal should be to stop building systems and start cultivating ecosystems . In other words , centralise as much as is necessary and decentralise as much as possible . The main focus should be on delivering more value to the business with APIs .

Organisations can create entirely new digital experiences that utilise the best that modern portals and mobile experiences have to offer . What ’ s vital , however , is that they can do so without the need to painstakingly re-engineer backend legacy infrastructure .

To move forward faster , companies need to find ways to embrace API life cycle management and efficiently manage and govern multiple API gateways , their hybrid cloud IT environments , and other third-party ecosystems . Only then can they leverage the true promise of APIs to unleash value faster and reuse existing investments to drive new opportunities and revenue . �

COMPANIES NEED TO FIND WAYS TO EMBRACE API LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND EFFICIENTLY MANAGE AND GOVERN MULTIPLE API GATEWAYS , THEIR HYBRID CLOUD IT ENVIRONMENTS , AND OTHER THIRD-PARTY ECOSYSTEMS .

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