It is very easy to get drawn in with all the API hot topics when doing online research for your API architecture. You will find articles, books, and rants about microservices architecture, API gateways, OpenAPI, Swagger, REST, and any other number of API related topics. A deep understanding of these topics is critical to some organizations and use cases, but does every application need this complexity?
The reality is that most small to midsized businesses, especially those running applications on IBM i, just need a simple solution that works.
Time Constraints
Many of these companies have only a few IT resources. In many cases, these resources have multiple responsibilities. They are developers who also maintain servers and networks. I have worked with numerous companies that were single person IT shops. One person is responsible for keeping everything running.
In these types of environments, the IT staff barely has time to keep existing systems running and enhanced. A complex architecture is destined to fail.
Transaction Volumes
Everything you read about API architecture tells you that you must have a complex system in place that is infinitely flexible and scalable. If you are expecting tens of thousands of transactions per second, then this is absolutely true.
The reality for most small shops, both IBM i and not, is that they will never have anywhere near that volume of API calls to deal with. Most will process less than a few dozen per second. In that scenario, a single API server will handle the workload easily. IBM i customers often have systems that rarely, if ever, utilize half of their CPU and memory resources. An API server can put those resources to use and easily handle the average workload. So why introduce unnecessary complexity?
The Right Solution for the Job
Early in my career, I worked for an apparel manufacturer as a developer and later a project manager. One thing I always had to keep in mind was that we were in the business of making clothes, not writing code. I was always looking for the right solution for a given problem. That meant delivering a solution in a timely manner and with as little ongoing maintenance as possible.
We take that same approach with our solutions here at Profound Logic. We always strive to deliver solutions that are as simple to use and maintain as possible. In fact, simplification is one of the company’s core values. Our API solution is no different.
The goal of Profound API is to allow our customers to integrate via API and make it simple. Once the product is installed, you can have your first API in minutes. Not only will you have your new API developed, but you will also have tooling baked in for documentation, management, monitoring, testing, and more.
Take a look at https://profoundlogic.wehoming.com/api and reach out to discuss how we can help you achieve your API goals without needing to hire or train an entire team of experts.
Written by Brian May, Vice President of Product Management at Profound Logic
