Driving digital transformation with an API program

Digital transformation means adapting an organization's strategy and structure to capture opportunities enabled by digital technology. APIs are the connective fabric that's essential as a foundation for digital transformation. Erik Wilde explains why having an API strategy and executing it through an API program is a good way to get the most out of your digital transformation initiatives.

Digital transformation initiatives must cover all pillars of an organization—business, organizational structure, and technology—to make sure that the business side identifies and moves toward new opportunities, that the organization is structured so that opportunities can be addressed quickly and efficiently, and that technology is aligned with the organization’s needs so that it serves as an effective foundation to implement solutions addressing the opportunities. Erik Wilde introduces tools that can help with designing and executing API programs, based on the foundations outlined in Continuous API Management. The five Continuous API Management (CAM) compasses provide structured analyses and assessments of the API strategy, program, landscape, individual products, and consumption practices. Together, they make sure that you don’t miss any important areas and get the most out of your APIs as the foundation for digital transformation. APIs play a central role as the visible and accessible surface of organizational capabilities. They’re the building blocks to build new capabilities out of existing ones, and APIs result from implementing new capabilities that then can become parts of later initiatives. And, last but not least, APIs are externally facing interfaces that allow you to integrate your organization’s external capabilities and/or to provide your own capabilities as services. A well-defined API strategy sets a clear direction about what you should be doing so APIs are used in the best possible way. This is also where your initiatives around the business and organizational pillars align with the technology pillar. An API strategy expresses what your organization envisions as its ideal platform for its digital transformation. The API strategy says what you want as your foundation, and the API program says how the you’re making sure that this actually happens. Good API programs strike a balance between giving teams autonomy and the freedom to move fast and independently, while also making sure that the resulting API landscape has some level of coherence. Common approaches for managing this balancing act revolve around architecture based on feedback, guidance, and support. Teams should be empowered to implement and deploy new capabilities quickly, and governance revolves around making sure that doing the right thing is easy and therefore the default choice.