Businesses are struggling to satisfy today’s business demands while being hampered by technology from the past. Legacy and in-house infrastructure cannot keep up with the digital transformation advances defining a more complicated business environment. Automation is necessary to keep a competitive edge. Your business should utilize as many technologies as feasible, a concept known as “hyper-automation” coined by Gartner.
Gartner defines hyper-automation as “a business-driven, disciplined approach…to rapidly identify, vet and automate as many business and IT processes as possible [and] involves the orchestrated use of multiple technologies, tools or platforms”.
Enterprise automation is a critical corporate practice that has helped countless businesses improve efficiency. According to a Salesforce survey, 95% of executives and directors recognize the value of automation, and 88% want to make automation a priority in their company.
This fundamental principle also applies to API automation. APIs are an essential yet underappreciated technology that supports the current digital environment. But what is API automation, and how can it help your company? Read on to learn more.
What Is API Automation?
API automation streamlines API management throughout its lifetime, automating all primary API product functions such as creation, deployment, publishing, and consuming. API automation is a low-code (or no-code) technique for integrating and delivering software that works in tandem with existing continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) procedures.
APIs as technical artifacts and APIs as tools that enhance digital competitiveness are two distinct things. APIs have traditionally been used to link together various services and applications. But, in today’s API automation world, it’s all about understanding APIs’ underlying business value. API automation can help you expedite digital transformation, boost innovation, and expose your most valuable services to new markets and channels.
Here are some vital features of API automation:
- Creates, deploys, publishes, and consumes API products while integrating with a more comprehensive CI/CD development approach.
- A distinction is made between raw one-off APIs that connect services and applications and API solutions that promote APIs based on business skills to help companies compete in the digital age. These products can be made available through an API marketplace.
- It allows for minimal human intervention, such as in the case of key stage promotion approval processes.
- Automation is a low-code solution to API products’ complete lifecycle tasks that reduce development time and improve market time.
- There is a centralized management system for API product automation.
What Are the Benefits of Automation on API Generation?
The automatic creation of an API between two previously disconnected applications or services is the first use case for API automation. Manually developing an API may be a highly technical and time-consuming process, depending on the use case and technological complexity – assuming you can even find a qualified API developer in the first place. With a project timetable of weeks or months, the cost of developing an API can rapidly reach tens of thousands of dollars. If the underlying services change, these figures also don’t consider ongoing support and maintenance.
API automation enables organizations to reduce production time from weeks to minutes. Here are the substantial benefits of automation on API generation:
- Lower costs – API automation technologies are significantly less expensive than hiring a full-time API developer.
- Simpler to manage – API automation tools with powerful capabilities allow you to monitor and manage all of your produced APIs from one place, making it easier to keep track of them all.
- Improved flexibility – Building APIs manually can become brittle and unreliable when the underlying technology evolves. These difficulties can be resolved with API automation, which will keep your API working smoothly.
What Is API Automation Testing?
Testing new API releases before deploying them to production is mandatory, like any other software product. Therefore, another use case of API automation is conducting automated tests on the API to confirm that it is working correctly.
API automation is not the same as API automation testing. Nonetheless, these phrases are commonly interchanged. This is because API testing software has been around longer than systems capable of automating API management activities.
As a result, most people think you’re talking about API testing automation when you say API automation. However, APIs may be used to automate a lot more. Many businesses, however, are unaware of this.
The Added Edge of API Automation
Gartner estimates that enterprises that combine hyperautomation technologies with operational processes like API management can save 30% on operating costs. However, for many companies, hyperautomation seems unrealistic in an attempt toward digital transformation. Nonetheless, this figure highlights the enormous advantages that automation can offer. Moreover, companies that choose API automation will gain more productivity, lower expenses, and speed up their digital transformation.
It is crucial that your organization properly packages and promotes API products before you start automating APIs. It is not sufficient to just expose or use APIs. Before approaching API automation, you must first develop experience with API products. You must also recognize that APIs are more than just a way to connect different digital services. APIs can attract a consumer audience while still providing more profound corporate value. In fact, in today’s fast-changing technological scene, they give a critical competitive advantage.
Integration and API Automation with Profound Logic
Interfacing with different systems is no longer a hassle or a challenge. Profound API and its underlying Connector technologies simplify the bi-directional connection with IBM i.
The management and performance monitoring dashboards in Profound API allow you to keep track of the health of your API ecosystem. It provides you with the ability to fix issues before they cause any business interruption. By combining JavaScript and Profound Logic, you can take digital transformation to the next level and minimize the time to market for new technology today.
Contact Profound Logic to start your next project! Contact us at sales@profoundlogic.com or call us at 1-877-224-7768 to learn more!
