The acronym of API stands for Application Programming Interface. The most common API management solutions aim to make your construction process more straightforward, safer, more efficient and more accessible to the user. Nowadays, this practice is widespread in several market segments. Want to know how to manage an API? Do API management, code sharing and communication between apps and tools without a user seem like safe strategies?
The five pillars of API management
The API management solutions are gaining the attention of professionals. The practice allows organizations to publish applications from internal or external developers on their websites, which increases the potential of the services provided. Now that you know the concept of API management, would you like to know its five pillars?
Protection of data assets to prevent attacks
Make sure your organization’s systems have sufficient protection against vulnerability and message attacks. The role of the Gateway is to inspect and filter all API traffic to identify and thus neutralize possible common or emerging threats. It needs to be designed and certified to address specific API threats, such as denial of service attacks, virus, SQL injection, etc. Deploying a help desk tool can assist in managing your team and optimize the API management service, besides improving the relationship between the company and customers.
Possibility to have functionalities in friendly formats
The API management solutions allow more complex on-premise application services to be converted into “friendly” formats for developers, making the processes uncomplicated. It will provide more efficient solutions, including the features for presenting the services of the enterprise. In general, this procedure will involve using a Gateway or SOA to convert data from SOAP-based services into APIs automatically.
Ensuring secure access control
Solid access control with identity management and social login functionality must be implemented. After all, it is the foundation of API security. Without reasonable control, it is impossible to prevent unauthorized users from accessing company information or applications. Thus, the Gateway must-have functionalities that provide centralized access control to the API infrastructure, using standards.
System optimization and API lifecycle management
The availability of applications to end-users and back-end systems needs to be maintained. Thus, the external use of a given API’s services cannot impact the performance of systems that share these resources internally. It is essential to consider the scalability and measurement of the use of this type of service. The Gateway is also responsible for defining policies that protect back ends from spikes in the number of hits or attempts to DDOS attacks.
Management of developer teams
Finally, when managing API management, consideration should be given to providing the necessary resources for developers to create applications that have real value. The most efficient way to empower them is through interactive and digital collaboration features. To this end, a portal can be created to simplify the registration of APIs and promote team engagement. It is also recommended to use mobile technologies and cloud computing. They are essential and fundamental, not only for the management of APIs but also for the company’s management as a whole.
