What Is API Integration? Complete Guide

With API scripting, you can add a custom script that calculates shipping costs based on the customer’s location. For example, when using a CRM such asSalesforce, you might want to combine data from your customer database, accounting system, and email marketing platform. Here we will discuss these primary challenges and identify how you can streamline your API workflows and achieve a successful API integration strategy for your company. APIs are a complex process that can be difficult to understand or use without the proper tools. Additionally, not all API providers offer the same features or support.

When customers log into an eCommerce store, they expect a seamless experience. Login APIs allow stores to integrate their login process with other systems, including social media platforms and identity management services. This integration ensures that customers can easily log in to their accounts without having to remember multiple usernames and passwords. These platforms and digital technologies also often leverage enterprise-scale APIs and web service catalogs to help integrate existing business systems while adding a layer of user functionality. No Code platforms enable enterprises to build and deploy integrations at a much faster rate without IT infrastructure friction.

to 73% of collected data isn’t processed or analyzed.

Eliassen Group is a leading strategic consulting company that provides business and IT services for our clients as they seek to transform and execute strategies that will drive exceptional outcomes. Leveraging over 30 years of success, we focus on professional services, talent solutions, and life sciences. To mobile database and API integration devices, cloud applications, analytics platforms, and more – quickly and in a secure and controlled manner. Comprehensive services and solutions for MuleSoft and IBM API Management platforms and tools. Instead of starting by building the applications or looking for backend systems of record, you start withAPI First.

With a JWT access token, far fewer database lookups are needed without compromising security. This can be addressed by using JWT with refresh tokens and JWT expiration. With each API call, you check the JWT signature and verify expiration.

Support

Once the edge APIs are designed, the backend team can design the utility APIs and the domain APIs to suit the requirements of the edge APIs. If unforeseen issues are encountered, they can go back and update the edge APIs as required. Protocol switching and the ability to process different data formats — Transformation of messages from one format to another. For instance, when exposing a SOAP service through a RESTful API with JSON payloads. Orchestration of services and APIs — Ability to compose end-to-end services by aggregating multiple services.

When you have determined your goals, you can now start the development process and build a custom application. Your app can then interact with software platform APIs to establish new functionalities that help accomplish your goals. However, there is an additional requirement to achieve optimal and automated business processes and procedures that interact and share critical data. There is a lot of talk concerning API integrations and in the digital transformation domain, they are critical. But it’s easy for a non-technical person to get lost in the sea of standards, terms and changing trends. An API-first integration strategy is intended to bring benefits of reuse and agility, but instead can result in more complex and time-consuming integrations.

What is API-based integration?

API strategy ensures that the entire IT organization and its resources are aligned with the strategic goals. In this webinar, we gave a brief overview of the problems that digital businesses solve today by adopting an API strategy and how it differs from organization to organization. For Deutsche Bahn and Helsinki Regional Transport Authority, it’s public transit data . For travel and entertainment, there’s TravelgateX, Universe and Yelp. There’s geodata , health data (eg, Stanford University’s HIVdb), chemical reactions , development tools , professional data , and Holocaust archives .

For example, if you want to align your contract definition standard to the OpenAPI specification you need to ensure you select a technology that supports that. An alternative to the API gateway is an API proxy, which is basically a subset or specialized version of an API gateway that provides minimal processing for API requests. The API proxy handles communication, including protocol translation, between specific software platforms, such as a proxy endpoint and target API. It can also control the flow of traffic between sending and receiving points.

Connector Applications

Developers face fewer difficulties in consuming an API when data is provided in common formats, using common protocols and processes. The API-first approach accomplishes this by understanding that APIs are part of an overall platform where interoperability is crucial. Consistency is achieved by using assets such as style guides, which enable API development teams to build APIs which operate harmoniously. When businesses look for a partner to unlock their legacy data and allow new connections and opportunities, a strong API platform and strategy are the answer to digital growth. Sensedia has the experience and award-winning solution to help customers experience their digital acceleration journey and ensure they can capitalize on their data, connections and strengths.

• You may have to manually connect to the apps, collect and feed in data and business logic from each API, aggregate, test, add security, etc. to draw integrated insights.
• They provide connectivity, allowing you to incorporate new data into systems and processes.
• APIs create value in almost any industry where enterprises, partners and providers all exchange data.
• Often, it is replaced by a newer version or an entirely different API product to provide similar services.
• The rate at which customers abandon their shopping carts is a major concern for most eCommerce businesses.
• It offers end-to-end integration for cloud-based applications and prides itself on being a one-stop shop for all your integration needs.

Similarly, time saved on managing APIs can be spent more productively. With the burden of API creation, monitoring, and management lifted from their shoulders, your team can devote their days to more important work. You can reduce your workload even further by using a low-code API integration platform. API integrations are the glues that hold together technological developments. There’s currently a booming market for API integrations and API integration tools such as Workato .

Platforms we work with

We know that API is an acronym for Application Programming Interface. In an API-first integration strategy, we have to think of APIs similar to a business contract. When we get into any serious business with another party, we initially make a contract or an agreement between the two https://globalcloudteam.com/ parties. Similar to that, in integration use cases, we need to get the APIs done first. With that in mind, we design the APIs to expose a predefined set of capabilities of the backend systems to the frontend applications such as websites, mobile applications, and IoT devices.

The headless nature of APIs is a good fit for this, as the various systems and applications which comprise an omni-channel approach can use the APIs to get the data they need in the way they need it. With API-first, the APIs serve as a composable foundation on which omni-channel solutions can be built. Furthermore, an API-first approach will increase the chances of success by creating APIs which are documented, consistent, accessible and reusable. By treating the APIs as their own products and dedicating sufficient time and resources to their design, the API-first approach can cater to a wide range of consumer use cases. This increases opportunities for collaboration between business units within the organisation, as well as external consumers such as clients, partners and other third-parties. Our global team of experienced, certified consultants and developers is well-versed with latest tools, technologies, and platforms.

Codify data ownership

These IPaaS services can also allow you to connect and stack multiple APIs, which goes a long way to helping Enterprises automate their workflows. It unlocks a new level of flexibility of information and service delivery. It also makes the embedding of content from different sites and apps easy. An API acts as the interface that permits the integration of two applications. All of these benefits lead to an overall increase in operational efficiency, which improves a business’s functionality, performance, and bottom line.