API: the Business within the Business

The Internet has gone from being a service to a platform for doing business. An important facilitator of this acceleration of that approach is the concept of API (Application Programming Interface). The technological approach is essential, but it is key to have a business approach.

The concept of APIs has existed in technology for decades. An API is a set of subroutine definitions, protocols, and tools for building applications. For example, for a developer, who has to incorporate in his application the copy of a file from one route to another, an API for  input / output The file system provides you with a function that performs this action without the need for you to understand what the file system does internally.

For the development of new functionalities, a set of APIs have always been released by the owners of operating systems or large applications with fundamentally technological objectives.

On the Internet, an API releases, in addition to a technological service, a part of the value of the company so that, thanks to third parties and open communities of developers, the value of said company is increased. It is easy to see it in information services (maps, companies, ), search engines, social networks, etc.

This means a jump from the merely technological framework to the business framework and therefore requires a strategy: objectives, market, price, use and support.

Objective or objectives since several of them can coexist, which can range from brand promotion, to the development of new business models, through the integration of third parties or efficiency in development processes with selected partners.

Market potential. Depending on it, specific communication and promotion actions are derived. Open community of developers? hackathon? partners? Selected third parties?

There are different policies Prices towards developers marked by the objective of the APIs policy

• Gratuitous. Unrestricted use in pursuit of brand expansion. Examples: google maps, facebook
• Pay per use. Payment according to the amount of use, minimum fee, credits or rate per transaction. Examples: amazon web services, google Adwords, paypal.
• Distribution. You receive a fixed part of the profits or a percentage per sale (affiliates). Examples: google Adsense, pandora, amazon.com.
• Service. The developer benefits from a platform, which charges you to integrate with it. Examples: Telegram, ebay, Twitter, Netflix, Salesforce.

Both in the admission of new users to the service, and in maintenance, support and control, it is necessary to have some usage policies. These policies ensure the different processes (registration, cancellations, maintenance, distribution, etc.), the contractual relationship with the developers or their companies, that the services are being used correctly, that we are dimensioned for the new volumes of consumption, that there is no impact reputational, cybersecurity, the incorporation of APIs and new versions thereof, etc.

Ultimately, create an API strategy is to create a line of business that requires dedicated professionals in all areas, from technology, to commercial, through legal or marketing.