Mapping your essential metrics for API management

API management is vital for the future of your organisation. Distributing, controlling and analysing the APIs that connect applications and data across your business and across clouds is fundamental for the growth, flexibility and agility of your business.

Without structured API management you simply wouldn’t be able to respond to the rapid changes in consumer demand. We’re also seeing more and more people across enterprises, without the title of developer, with their hands in APIs. This means that an API program can quickly lose its focus and go off the rails.

So, how do you stop this happening and ensure the needs of your developers and applications using the API are being met?

Choosing your API management solution

It’s essential to opt for a solution that provides dependability, flexibility, quality and speed.

To achieve this, as well as ensuring that your public and internal APIs are consumable and secure, your API management solution should provide the following:

• Access control
• Rate limits
• Usage policies
• Developer portal
• API gateway
• API lifecycle management
• Analytics
• Support for API monetisation

At DeeperThanBlue, we can assist with choosing the most suitable API management solution for the current, ongoing and future needs of your business.

So, you have your API management strategy, and your solution. That’s just the beginning. Monitoring, analysing and reporting is essential.

Measuring the success of your API management efforts: Your crucial KPIs

Measurement is vital to evaluate the success of your API efforts. Yes you can dig into the analytics, but what does success look like considering the unique nature of your business? It’s vital to consider the following API KPIs.

• Dependability

  This is the availability of the API to developers. Consider measuring downtime to understand dependability. Question whether it is always available for use? And how many API calls can be made by a developer within a certain timeframe? Opting for a quota for example ensures that an API is protected from abuse, meaning more predictable management.

• Speed to API

  Essential to measure in today’s fast-moving business environment. The ability to achieve your business goals must be balanced against the ability to rapidly launch APIs. It’s also important to consider speed to onboard and speed to upgrade.

• Breadth of business

  This is extremely important for businesses that are accustomed to legacy integrations or old systems, where there may be resistance towards adopting an API program. If you make this target a priority you can ensure that the API program quickly escalates, whilst high-achieving APIs can also be spotted quicker.

• Flexibility

  This refers to the options that developers have when adopting APIs – the greater flexibility an API has means greater effort and cost when managing it.

• Cost reduction

  Upper management will always want to know this. Significant cost reductions are often realised as re-use of APIs increases, removing the requirement for needless duplication.

• Quality

  The consistent performance of the API’s behaviour to the expectations of your developers. How satisfied are your developers with the API?

• API monetisation

  How can you capture the revenue for the sales of core products that are enabled by APIs? Again another great metric for senior management.

• Number of developers applying APIs within business contexts

  Try and distinguish between overall developer adoption and adoption amongst specific developers who are using APIs in a known business context.

• Number of applications available to customers

  Has your API program resulted in a number of applications that are only used internally and not by customers? Question what the ultimate goal of your API program is.

To learn more about effective API management, get in touch with us today at DeeperThanBlue to ensure your journey to the cloud runs as smoothly as possible.

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