{"id":3594,"date":"2011-11-22T10:15:11","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T09:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visionarymarketing.wordpress.com\/?p=2215"},"modified":"2024-02-01T11:03:27","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T10:03:27","slug":"welcome-to-the-api-jungle-part-i-a-surfeit-of-apis-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visionarymarketing.com\/en\/2011\/11\/22\/welcome-to-the-api-jungle-part-i-a-surfeit-of-apis-2\/","title":{"rendered":"API jungle: What brands should do with this surfeit of APIs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the API jungle or why developers must learn how to find, select, integrate APIs and contribute to their improvement and evolution. This is guest blog post by\u00a0Martin Duval, CEO, <\/em>Bluenove.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

API jungle: What brands should do with this surfeit of APIs<\/h2>\n
\"API<\/a>
API jungle: What brands should do with this surfeit of APIs – Martin Duval at LeWeb10 (Photo by Fred Zone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I started writing this article at the beginning of October 2011 , the http:\/\/www.programmableweb.com\/<\/a><\/a>[1] web site indicated on its home page that it has identified 4007 APIs and 6175 mash-ups on a global footprint: At the moment you are reading this piece on the Visionary Marketing<\/a>, I am certain these numbers are completely outdated. I agree that, Dear Developers, these numbers are still very far from your \u2018Ocean of Apps\u2019 but this new ecosystem nevertheless starts to look like a \u2018Jungle of APIs\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

First and foremost, let\u2019s take the time to put this notion of Open APIs back into its context. \u2018Application Programming Interfaces\u2019 do enable the connection between different IT platforms and the integration of different application and services through the creation of a \u2018mash-up\u2019.<\/p>\n

Open APIs proposed by a mobile or web player aim at helping the creation of an ecosystem around a common platform, therefore forming a dynamic community of creative developers who are given the opportunity to innovate faster and in many more directions, than if\u00a0 they wished to do it on their own.<\/p>\n

This is therefore a genuine Open Innovation strategy in which the various players will have to initiate and maintain a long-term bond of trust, based on elements such as stability, sustainability, ease of use of the platform and the APIs, but also based on a win-win relationship with its community of partner developers.
\nBeyond the major web platforms (Google, Facebook, Ebay, Twitter, Amazon, etc.) that propose to the developers a big set of APIs and of course the main mobile OSes (Iphone, Android, Windows Phone, etc.) offering their SDKs<\/a>[2] to support the development of mobile applications, similar open programs exist as well in the Telecom industry.<\/p>\n

Telecom operators such like Orange (with Orange API<\/a>[3]), Telefonica (with their BlueVia<\/a>[4] program) or Telenor (with Mobilt Bedriftsnett<\/a><\/a>[5]) also allow access to third parties to some of their network assets such as SMS, click-to-call, location, storage, billing, etc. in order to facilitate the emergence of new services through the innovation potential from developers, start-ups and brands.
\nA signal demonstrating the need for rationalisation and standardisation in this \u2018jungle of APIs\u2019 came up with the GSMA \u2018One API\u2019<\/a>[6] initiative: a success still to be confirmed.<\/p>\n

What brands should do with this surfeit of APIs<\/h3>\n

The API landscape is extremely dynamic. The following 2 diagrams taken from ProgrammableWeb<\/a> describe the most common APIs which are used in order to build mash-ups. They show the dominance of major historic players (check the \u201csee all time\u201d diagram) but also the more recent rise of new players such as Twilio<\/a> in the recent past (last 14 days), as well as the convergence of Cloud Computing and Telecom.
\nThere is yet more evidence of the emergence of this new ecosystem; it is indeed interesting to notice the emergence of new players offering the technical support to manage API infrastructures such as the new Application Enablement Services Business Unit from Alcatel-Lucent (the one that acquired ProgrammableWeb in 2010), Mashery, Apigee, Aepona or 3Scale.
\nBut let\u2019s come back to the relationship between Apps and APIs.<\/strong>
\nAfter all, aren\u2019t applications mere channels? To support their promotion, we can reasonably bet that Brands will also create APIs in the future, with probably a more obvious way to demonstrate Return On Investment through the number of innovative apps created by third party creative developers than through the number of downloads KPI<\/a>[7] of their own app. Brands could therefore propose APIs in order to extend the reach of their products and services.
\nHere are some suggestions for a few popular Brands<\/strong><\/a>[8].<\/strong><\/p>\n