We just conducted a workshop on a modern API lifecycle in London at the API Conference. While talking about providing real-time APIs using Streamdata.io, one of the workshop participants asked about whether it would be more efficient for an API provider, or for the API consumer to use the service. While Streamdata.io helps any web API be more efficient with how it delivers data and content, overall more efficient API providers will deploy our service, then when any individual API provider does–providing a simple answer to the workshop’s participants question.
While individual API consumers can sign up for Streamdata.io, use it to proxy any web API, and enjoy the benefits of efficiencies, it really makes more sense for the API provider to do it. The best case scenario is that the API provider signs up for a Streamdata.io account, and proxies their own APIs using our service. Efficient API providers will then be the only one polling their API using our service, and they can then deliver real-time streams of their APIs using Streamdata.io to hundreds, or thousands of consumers. Meeting the needs of their most demanding consumers, reducing the load on their servers, and leaning on Streamdata.io to scale their streams across many consumers.
Unfortunately, we can’t always get the attention of service providers and convince them of the need to have a streaming version of their services. Sometimes it takes several of their API consumers asking for it, or actually putting Streamdata.io to work for them before they’ll be convinced. We find ourselves helping API consumers understand that they can use our services in their applications, however we also like to remind them that they can reach out to API providers and let them know they’d consume a streaming version of their services. Ideally, all API providers would provide webhooks, streaming, and event-driven versions of their API resources, but not all API providers have invested in their platforms to move them to this level of maturity.
While we are happy to provide our services to API providers, as well as API consumers, we’ve preferred to work directly with the API providers themselves. It just makes more sense for them to be leading the conversation around streaming versions of their services. We can deliver efficiencies for both sides of the equation, but it just makes more sense for the platform to connect directly with us, and handle the technical, business, and legal side of providing real-time streams to their customers. If you need help talking to your API providers about delivering a streaming version of their APIs, feel free to let us know, and we are happy to help reach out. We are eager to build relationships with API providers, and help them realize the real-time and event-driven potential of their platforms, helping them see the demand amongst their consumers always helps us demonstrate the value and relevance of using Streamdata.io services.
