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To round out my discussion of enterprise API strategy, I want to focus on how enterprise’s can use APIs for internal usage.  I have already discussed how enterprises can benefit from exposing some of their data to the general public as well as customers and partners.  Those are the standard target audiences for API programs. 

Photo courtesy of zegosoft.com

I recently discussed what data/content enterprises can open up to the public through APIs.  This week, I want to discuss the customer and/or partner API tier.  This tier covers data that is too important to the enterprise to be made public, but is very useful to its customers and/or partners. 

Healthcare and mobile technology influence each other more each day, making seamless data sharing essential for their mutual development. And as the best conduit for fast and organized information exchange, APIs are now becoming crucial to healthcare innovation.

A couple of weeks ago, Adria Richards (West Coast Developer Evangelist with our friends at SendGrid) hosted Girl Develop Its’ “How to Rock Your First Hackathon”.

She went through some of the key resources anyone should have ready (not just the ladies) for your first hackathon:

Learn To Code Resources

The Yellow Pages Group (YPG) has experienced an incredible journey from phonebook supplier to online communications and marketing giant. And since releasing an API, the Canadian company and its business partners continue to enjoy even more growth.

Last week, Mashery attended PennApps, a 40-hour application development competition organized by the students at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. 

The bi-annual event is a 40-hour hackathon that brings 500 student designers and developers from around the world together to build and hack. 

Mashery hacks
There were eight hacks built using Mashery APIs. Here are some favorites:

Photo courtesy of Asigra.com

The term “big data” continues to make headlines across the tech and business worlds, but what is it exactly and how can it help companies reach their full potential?

Photo courtesy of ProgrammableWeb.com

Here at Mashery, we’ve seen firsthand the proliferation of hackathons around the world.  There is no question to the tremendous value it presents to the API space for enterprise, startups, and the developer community.  The transition of an idea into an app can be a difficult process, especially when solving a complex problem. Hackers deserve tremendous credit for meeting this challenge and continuing to redefine how digital innovation will change the industry.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about an API strategy specific to enterprise needs.  The strategy discussed in that post is one of dividing data into tiers.  Large companies have virtual landfills full of data, but not all company data is the same.  Some is public, some is for customers only and some is for internal use only.  The API strategy should reflect that.  It should have different tiers that are meant for different users.

The journey of Netflix from DVD rental service to video streaming platform and ultimately API powerhouse is a timeless and instructive story of adaptability.

From humble beginnings, Netflix’s API skyrocketed and has remained strong even through the company’s difficulties. By continuing to strengthen its API strategy, Netflix can only increase its momentum going forward.

Photo courtesy of apievangelist.com

We are clearly far past the point of having to explain the benefits of API management and services, but there are still specific aspects where more attention is merited. In particular, partners.

In 2013, Learning how to enable your business with APIs is a common theme among enterprise IT departments and also among business. Enterprises are seeing that the current state of SOA Governance is headed towards extinction. These enterprises face a new kind of tension: the app and API economies on the one hand, where enterprises drive new revenue streams by (gulp) publishing corporate data APIs for third-party developers to use, and SOA on the other, where tight governance is the name of the game. But the loose coupling in RESTful web services forces a discipline all its own.

Here at Mashery, we believe in the transformative nature of APIs.  We hear from our customers and partners every day about the power of APIs to build new business models, new partnerships and new channels.  This fall, our Business of APIs (BAPI) conferences, gave us the opportunity to highlight our customers and how APIs transformed their business. 

ESPN and Cisco provided great examples. Summaries of their presentations are below, but I encourage you to watch the videos in their entirety (links below). 

Large companies have been a part of the API game from the start.  Ebay and Amazon have had APIs since the early 2000’s.  And now, more and more enterprises are developing API programs.   Large companies in industries as varied as retail (BestBuy), hardware (Cisco) and distribution (Coca-Cola Enterprises) are all creating successful API programs. 

There are over 8,300 APIs out there today and the number keeps growing.