10 things you won't see with great APIs

Most development teams are concerned about API versioning or endpoint design, if anything. Often the APIs are just a means to an end. They are a backend service required by user interface or integration tool. Who knows if there are any standards for API design and development? And the even better question is, why should anyone care?

Here are some common symptoms that tell a seasoned API economy expert that things could be better with your APIs:

1. Developers are asking many questions about the domain, product or service the API is connected to, before even beginning to understand the API(s). 
2. APIs are working, but it’s unclear if they meet standards or what to do if they fall short.
3. Creating new APIs takes a long time.
4. Teams consistently need to rework their APIs after design or security reviews.
5. People are asking, “What is (automated) API testing?”
6. Most APIs are used in point-to-point integrations and are missing opportunities for reuse for other purposes.
7. APIs are like unique artwork: whether hand-crafted or generated from code, everyone follows their style. 
8. The API documentation is shared as swagger links or PDFs. It’s unclear which is the correct version, where to find it and to know if it’s up-to-date. Worse still, it’s waiting for approval to be publicly available, but someone just found it via a web search.
9. The API management tools sound complicated and seem to slow things down. It looks easier just to use shared open-source libraries to generate some documentation.
10. While it should be self-evident, API authentication remains the most common topic people ask about when trying to use the API.

If the list looks familiar, what should you do?

Spend many months trying to figure out what to do. Or just call us. 

We help API enablers and teams design, build and get real value from APIs. 

We are familiar with these types of problems. Importantly, we understand and help address the root causes behind them. 

We can solve these and other problems or help you build in-house skills and capabilities to solve them yourself.

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