The importance of API services in today's integrations

The monolithic infrastructure and applications that have powered businesses over the past few decades are giving way to distributed and modular alternatives - The Rise of APIs, TechCrunch

With SaaS applications rising in popularity, it was only a matter of time before we needed APIs. They provide vital connective tissue between your applications to increase functionality and improve your efficiency. As a result, APIs changed the way we approach data management.

Whenever you see disjointed applications working together, APIs are making it possible. And when it’s not possible, there are ways to build API data services of your own to bring data from applications that don’t want to play along.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five reasons why API services are so important for your business’s integrations:

5 reasons why API services are important for your business

1. Streamlined integrations with applications

As you develop more integrations, you’ll need an easier way of managing them. Disparate applications result in disconnected data sets that are difficult to use in business intelligence. To access and analyze data across your business, you need seamless integrations.

APIs sync your data from various sources, allowing you to communicate vital information between platforms and streamline your processes. Think of it like this: APIs are there to lay down the state-owned road network between applications without each one needing to build their own roads.

With centralized APIs managing the links between applications, data is more readily available and can pass between applications as needed.

2. Automated tasks

Ninety-five percent of IT leaders see the value of automating their business processes. It’s easy to see why. Automation saves time and money, freeing up staff to work on higher-value projects.

APIs enable you to integrate automation tools into your existing systems. This boosts efficiency and cuts costs, as it reduces the manual processes involved in application management.

A real-world use case might be using APIs to link up your marketing CRM with a marketing automation tool. With open communications between the two applications, your valuable lead generation data is ready for automation. From there, you can enjoy benefits such as increased conversion rate, accurate reporting and scalable marketing processes.

3. Better business decision-making

APIs help you make business decisions by:

• Providing you with real-time feeds. Real-time insights help you make up-to-date decisions that match the speed of your business. You’ll also be able to quickly detect any issues and address them before they cause problems.
• Creating reports on individual data sets. With APIs providing you with a centralized hub, you’ll be able to pull specific data sets for reporting. This is vital if you’re trying to make decisions around a specific issue.
• Monitoring your data streams for changes. APIs use automated alerts to let you know when metrics go over their thresholds, helping you stay on top of any changes that may affect reports.

With a steady stream of reliable data coming from your applications, you’ll maximize your ability to make informed business decisions.

4. Improved customer experience

Customer Experience (CX) is crucial for business success. Customers have expectations, and if your website or application isn’t meeting them, they’ll look elsewhere.

APIs help you here by providing a more joined-up user experience. With APIs connecting data between applications, you can enhance the user experience by giving them what they want, all in one place.

For example, think about your online banking, APIs are connecting up the data that allow you to see an updated account balance, as well as all your past purchases and standing orders. It makes it easy, because all the information is joined-up and available without having to resort to lots of button pressing.

From banking to retail, companies have taken an API-led approach to delight their customers with high-quality service, immediate interactions and reduced errors.

5. Boost your development team’s productivity

49 percent of developers said that more than half of their organization’s development spend goes on APIs.

Why? Because integration and interoperability of applications are viewed as key assets. Joined-up information is far better than siloed information—both internally and for your customers. But it’s a difficult problem to address, hence the increased spend in APIs that can help boost development productivity.

APIs do this by:

• Allowing access to more features. Before APIs, your only choice was to build it yourself or not have it at all. APIs provide developers with the functionality they need to make reliable applications.
• Ensuring compatibility. As APIs are already pre-built assets, you’ll have a better understanding of the applications they’re compatible with.
• Catering to preferences. APIs can adapt to your business’s strict requirements. You can configure them to work with your frameworks and coding languages.

Every business is an API business

In 2015, Fortune magazine wrote:

“How a business wins or loses is increasingly dependent on how well they connect to external third-party apps, devices and services.”

This remains true today. As your integrations grow and you strive to compete in the market, you’ll need a way to speed up innovation and reduce development burdens. API services help you do this by monitoring, managing and improving your multiple integrations.

But it’s not just tech businesses or big data leaders that need APIs to stay ahead. Every business is an API business.

Data integration platforms like CloverDX allow you to build your own API data services, facilitating the exchange of data between storage, applications and people. While other tools may have limited capability and scaling, CloverDX meets your API challenges head-on and tackles even your most difficult data problems. If you’re outgrowing your current data tool, book a demo of CloverDX today.