Top 4 Trends in API to Watch Out For

Application programming interface (API) has become an invaluable prerequisite for digitization and innovation in today’s technological landscape. Concurrently, industry-specific shifts, customer trends, and economic forces are reshaping how enterprises use APIs to expand their operations and maintain a competitive edge.  

However, if there’s one thing constant, API management remains a linchpin to the digital economy, regardless of the size of a business or its industry. This post will cover some top trends to look an eye out for in the coming years.

1. COVID-19 continues to push digital transformation through APIs

Recent research indicates that more and more companies are beginning to accelerate their investment toward digital transformation because of the global COVID-19 virus and consumers moving en masse to online channels. The pandemic has significantly impacted nearly all industries, from retail and banking to hospitality and travel. While many were optimistic that everything was temporary, it’s not going away anytime soon.

Some traditional models of business, like healthcare, have even been upended. For example, most checkups and visits were done in person before the coronavirus. Nowadays, medical practitioners and insurers need to cater to virtual visits. And APIs are critical components in ensuring that all revenue channels and services are stitched together appropriately. Likewise, platforms for API management enable organizations to secure and access external and relevant APIs to provide new solutions to customers.

2. Increasing API use for compliance

Compliance continues to grow in importance in business. With the increasingly stringent guidelines, regulations, and standards, and the steeper penalties and catastrophic sanctions, companies across all industries are under pressure to stay compliant. However, with API, the task becomes much easier and more manageable. And many businesses are leveraging the technology to keep on top of all compliance-related matters. 

Some are even using news API for media screening to scan and compare their customers against negative data to spot problems before they cause trouble, thus, making APIs the new standard for compliance.

3. Platform integration and microservice growth

Composable enterprise tech and microservices have considerably grown in use and popularity. As a growing number of companies continue to adopt these types of technologies, they’ll require the right API management platform that can deploy in environments like Kubernetes and integrate various composable software to work seamlessly together. In other words, organizations that are looking to do well with microservices and APIs will need to have interoperability gains with all platforms. 

4. Machine learning and artificial intelligence

To date, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) have impacted many enterprises. Despite significant advances, most companies have been busy scrambling with microservice, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud implementations to concern themselves with ML and AI. However, these technologies are changing rapidly, and experts predict they’ll be utilized more as they continue to be more widely available in APIs.

Conclusion

For many, the key to business success is accelerating a company’s digital transformation. Using API technology, you can digitize your operations much faster. You must do it, or you’ll miss out on opportunities to grow and succeed.

Also Read: 5 API Metrics That Every Product Manager Should Be Tracking