Digital transformation had a crucial impact on information technology innovation.
In fact, it pushed the modernization of IT, introducing new paradigms to manage and use its infrastructures.
In this scenario, we saw the birth and development of new business models. Among them, the first that deserves to be mentioned is the so-called “API economy”.
Let’s find out together what the acronym APIs stands for and why it is becoming more and more important to improve businesses.
APIs: A DEFINITION
When we talk about APIs, we refer to a business paradigm that bases its main communication processes on Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).
APIs, born as simple software components that allow communication between applications, have now become systems software services. They can be managed in the cloud and offered with payment to consumption. Companies can choose to use them internally to develop new products and services, but also propose them to the public. So, we can say that a business that chooses to take the most out of APIs is a business that uses this technology to reach customers through products and services with high technological content.
HOW DO APIs WORK?
APIs allow your products or services to communicate with other products or services without the need to know how they are implemented. What does it mean? Compared to a traditional software, which has a monolithic structure, the APIs paradigm allows companies to decompose the application into many components. These components can be independently developed, also using different programming languages.
Today’s applications could then be depicted as Lego: each block of them can be added or removed at will. In this way the company can simplify the app development and save both time and money. So, we could link APIs with the word “flexibility”: when creating new tools and products or managing existing ones, APIs allow a business to simplify their design, administration and use, providing new opportunities for innovation.
A FOCUS ON APIs’ MAIN BENEFITS
Actually, APIs are not a new technology, since they have been around for many years.
However, in the last few years they became more and more widespread, covering nearly every vertical industry because of the need for fast and more efficient processes.
This is because, thanks to APIs, companies can expand their business across borders, conquering new markets, suppliers and customers. All this with a speed that in the past was unimaginable.
In fact, before APIs, connecting a computer to the data center required a specific and tailored project, let alone several weeks of effort.
But let’s go deeper to the heart of the matter: what are APIs’ main benefits?
- Greater impulse and incentive to invest in a real digital transformation process;
- Greater efficiency in the use and exploitation of data;
- Business development with high scalability logics;
- Greater digital continuity in the operating flow between the various business lines;
- Easy to test new business solutions, thanks to faster and cheaper development of the necessary applications;
- Customization of the customer experience by simply interfacing a wide variety of services and solutions.
APl businesses that want to move towards a digital transformation need to reach two main goals: increase revenue and become more competitive in the market.
APIs and cloud native applications actually allow them to do so. They make it easier to monetize the use of data and applications, while creating better services and products.
Companies can achieve excellence by developing a software that makes their digital strategy operational, with a positive impact on public confidence and profitable quality over time too.
Bit2win’s OMNICHANNEL SALES SUITE has all the features you need to drive your business towards digital transformation.
It is cloud-native, for easier access, and requires no manual updates. It is based on a 100% API-First technology, which makes the use, adaptation and revisiting of the different elements intuitive and reliable.
