When talking about APIs, think culture first.
“Building an API strategy has everything to do with having a culture around it.”
This was the key take-home message from my talk at the 2018 Paris API Days.
For corporates, the race towards APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) is on. And while financial service companies were quick off the starting blocks, new payments regulations (known as PSD2) are forcing European banks onto the track. It is becoming a defining moment: forcing banks to make a key strategic decision and embrace the opportunities emerging with Open Banking.
Banks also don’t have too much of a choice. The GAFAs, as usual, are leading the way on platform models — Amazon offers 17 different products, from AWS to Kindle and Amazon Fresh, while Google expanding with Alphabet shows that these actors are very much capable of reaching several industries at once. And all of the top five tech platforms — Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft — have payments licences. They have a strong influence on encouraging non-tech companies to position themselves around their models, conveying a new way to reach customers and expand their markets.
APIs have become a necessary step for companies looking to build stronger interactions with partners, make better use of data, create new distribution channels, and expand into new markets. We are living a key strategic moment for traditional businesses across all industries. Leveraging APIs will be their real business opportunity, but many are at a loss as to where to start.
The field and its realities
In theory, when thinking about an API strategy, the following steps are pretty straight-forward:
- An API strategy is accepted by internal teams and precisely defined,
- a dedicated team is resourced,
- a defined business model and use cases are identified,
- an API prototype is built,
- it is then tested,
- and following feedback and updates, a production version is released.
Voila!
But the realities are very different when building an API strategy with corporates:
- They are not startups and have to comply with existing (heavy) infrastructures
- They must change while continuing to manage their core business
- Governance, processes and teams need to be created and clarified
So, what are the solutions?
The Five by Five method: using design tools to bridge the gap between business and tech.
Adopt a product-centric approach
Interviews, evangelisation sessions, creation of personas, definition of use cases, and coaching employees at all levels are essential.
The challenge here: thinking about APIs as evolving products with a dedicated team, and not like projects with a start and an end date.
Speak a common language
In order to align objectives from across departments, we must bridge technical and business languages, and disband the myth that APIs are a «mysterious technology». .
Build hybrid API teams
Large groups may know where to go, but face blocks on the “how”, and especially the “with whom”. A hybrid and evolving team, with both internal and external talents, is the solution.
Who are they? Internal API evangelists, Product Owners, and Tech leaders, as well as team profiles specialised in on-boarding and spreading this culture within the existing teams are essential. The team must be created before the API product itself is built.
We can imagine a “typical” team composed of the following people:
- 1 Biz Lead
- 1 Tech Lead
- 1 or more developers
- 1 scrum master
- 1 executive “sponsor”
- 1 DX (Developper Experience) Evangelist / Advocate
Once you have your team, the key steps are:
1 — Define the API as a product with a strong value proposition, specific use cases and identified potential users.
2 — Write an “API Style Guide” to align all business units around a common design and to offer a consistent DX experience
3 — Establish metrics for success that align actions with global business objectives
4 — Create the API
5 — Work on ecosystem integration. Corporates should avoid the « we launch and they will come » mentality at all costs, and in order to do so, must learn to collaborate with already existing ecosystems, respecting their specific codes and habits.
This transformation can only succeed if firms hire new profiles or upscale existing ones with hybrid knowledge, at the crossroads of professional expertise, tech and business.
Sad you missed my keynote? We got you covered.
In order to help our clients at Five by Five, we tend to seek out such profiles with strong entrepreneurial mindsets, either from the outside, or by supporting these individuals rise from within the company.
Turns out, we are also looking for such profiles to make our team even cooler. Come help us co-build the API programs of tomorrow!
