The role of API standards in an enterprise strategy

APIs have proven to be one of a business’s most valuable assets. So it only makes sense to properly manage them to further fuel growth.

One critical piece of this puzzle is consistency. When APIs are designed, documented, and maintained universally, developers can work faster. There’s also the assurance that APIs are appropriately secured and compliant.

API standards lie at the root of API consistency.

Defining API standards

API standards are an established set of guidelines and protocols that define an organization’s development, deployment, and management of APIs.

There are really two levels of API standards:

• Industry API standards for consistency and ease of business exchange (i.e., FHIR in the medical field, FDX for financial data and open banking…). Read more on API industry standards here.
• Technical API standards for consistency and ease of technical delivery (ex., Open API Specification, AsyncAPI, Arazzo – more on this below)

Covering everything from API design principles to security protocols, API standards ensure that every developer follows the same drumbeat.

Consider this from the perspective of API design. There could be at least four technically correct ways for your developers to design an API. By establishing API standards, you can ensure that different teams take a unified approach.

Ideally, developers should be included in the API standard conversation — both during their initial development and the ongoing review of these standards. Their firsthand experience with APIs is valuable in ensuring standards are technically sound and designed to address any inefficiencies or complexities.

Learn how one transportation leader uses developer input to continuously improve API standards.

API standards continue to evolve with the needs of the market, too.

Many people were talking about an emerging technical API standard when I attended the APIdays conference in London last month: The Arazzo specification is a new community-driven API standard that is complimentary to OpenAPI, aimed at defining language-agnostic workflows and dependencies between multiple API calls.

It improves both human and machine readability, enabling automated workflows, documentation, and test case generation, much like how OpenAPI describes singular APIs.

What is interesting is its concessions to the ubiquity of artificial intelligence: the standard enables deterministic API invocation by AI-based models, such as large language models (LLMs) — meaning, Arazzo could allow AI systems to understand and interact with APIs in a predictable manner to automate tasks like documentation, coding, and regulatory compliance checks.

The idea that AI models could be the new consumer of APIs, expressed by my fellow Axway Catalyst Emmanuel Methivier, is clearly starting to reach practical applications.

Read a deeper analysis of the Arazzo specification here.

Where API standards fit into API governance

Organizations have an average of 613 API endpoints in production, with the pressure to deliver digital services further driving growth. As API sprawl grows, it becomes increasingly critical for API producers to have an internal framework that guides the management and control of the API landscape.

That’s where API governance enters the picture.

API governance goes beyond managing individual APIs. Its goal is to make the value of APIs more apparent and accessible for developers and consumers to use. Well-defined API standards support this strategy.

Dive Deeper into API Governance at the Enterprise Level

The strategic value of API standards

With predictable rules and guidelines for interacting with APIs, the learning curve is less daunting for developers. Consistent patterns in everything from authentication methods to data formats leaves more time to focus on building APIs rather than troubleshooting errors.

Standardization also supports enhanced API security. API attacks are rising, with Axway customers like Bundesagentur für Arbeit, a German employment services provider, experiencing more than 5 million attacks daily. A robust, unified security model ensures every API receives the same level of protection, with consistency across data encryption, error handling, and more.

Consult this guide on best practices for keeping your APIs secure.

With API standards, enterprises are also set up to scale. A well-defined API framework supports reliability and interoperability.

While this creates a more seamless experience for developers and partners, it also empowers businesses to expand their digital footprint across new markets and services.

One of the key findings in Postman’s 2023 State of the API Report was that for 43% of companies, APIs produce more than a quarter of revenue. Being able to accelerate innovation securely and drive API adoption supports this growth.

How Amplify Platform supports your enterprise API strategy

Axway’s Amplify Platform is designed to make governing and securing APIs easier. By automating the discovery, testing, and validation of all API assets, developers can quickly discover any unmanaged APIs and ensure the proper security policies are enforced.

Companies can configure these policies from the platform’s 200 prebuilt operations, or opt to customize their own policies.

At the same time, Amplify Platform allows enterprises to publish APIs as easy-to-consume products. Only approved assets are published into the API marketplace, with high-quality documentation provided to support their use.