View
2.086
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
Entering the Platform AgeHow to create genuine value for
internal and external API consumersSteven Willmott, steve@3scale.net @njyx
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
www.3scale.net
Platforms FTW!
THE VALUE OF PLATFORMS
Agility
Deliver more value, faster, with less resource
Platforms power the core of your business
EXAMPLE:UBER
EXAMPLE: “APPLE TV-OS READY” IN 2 WEEKS
Example: AmazonEcho
PLATFORMS & BI-MODAL IT
“Gartner's Recipe For Disaster”- Jason Bloomberg / Forbes
“This is akin to adding lipstick to the pig.”
- Simon Wardley, CSC
“Gartner’s bimodal IT consideredHarmful”
- Phil Wainewright / Diginomica
True if you are doing it wrong…
But this is not about separation
It’s about going from 1-1 to 1-N (and N-N)
1-1 IT
Need for software innovation drives deep integrations
Inte
rnal
Sys
tem
s
Appl
icatio
ns
1-N IT
Governance and APIs create reusable anchor points
N-N IT
Common governance rules can apply to APIs from anywhere
Platform value is “co-creation” of value between providers and
consumers
(buyers & sellers)(you & partners / customers)
(mode 1 & mode 2)
SO: HOW DO WE SUCCEED?
THREE KEYS
“Jeff Bezos Moment” (thank you @frankarr)
)
CHAPTER 1: AUSPICIOUS BEGINNINGS
But ... adoption is slow …
#1: FOCUS ON VALUE
Walked th
rough
all major p
rocesses
Calculated co
st
benefit
EXAMPLE:MAPS CREDIT UNION
Loren Paulson, APIStrat, 2015
API for product listingBut not pricing or transacting
Almost null utilityEXAMPLE:MID-SIZED ECOMMERCE COMPANY
A Map of Expectations
Prohibited Design
Firedrill Innovation
Expected
Unexpected
DesirableUndesirable
Thor Mitchel, 2014
Questions to Ask
• Who is the customer?• Where is their value?• If we create this, will you use it?• What is the complete use case?
Key Strategy
Deliver value one API and one use-case at a time
CHAPTER 2: FOCUSING ON THE CHOSEN
More adoption … but still 50% off target
#2: OPTIMIZE FOR ACCESSIBILITY AND UTILITY
We have great developer experience … what happened?
Warning: Blasphemy Alert
Developer Experience is Overrated
Questions to Ask
• When Developer Experience is not enough • How do the APIs need to be consumed?• Who else might consume them? • Where do their effects propagate to? • What additional value can we add?
Web Ranking API
Realized plugins were
criticalPlugins now drive
majority of businessEXAMPLE:SIMILAR WEB
Noahm Schwartz, APIStrat, 2015
Millions of devices syncing
Robust libraries & dev
collaboration
Randomized back off
EXAMPLE:FITBIT
Jeremiah Lee, San Francisco, 2016
Amazon Alexa App
Query order is not
optimized for Voice
Secondary query rank in
client added EXAMPLE:CRUNCHBASE
Nicolas Greenie, San Francisco, 2015
Key Strategy
The API is not the key thing – the value is the key thing
CHAPTER 3: IN FULL FLIGHT
API Demand is up – multiple teams are using them: powering core business
Woho!!
But...
Hairy Panic!
#3: DIVIDE AND CONQUER
Questions to Ask
• How to split Dev, Ops, Management?• What do we automate? • What do we monitor? • Which APIs do we focus on first?• How will we manage change?
Vicious Circle
Virtuous Cycle
Key Strategy
N-N >>>>> 1-N
Governance + Support
e.g. tools, platforms, guides, design sages
CHAPTER 4: IMPACT!
• Very hard work• Unglamorous• It is not a big bang (big bet)• People get upset at rules and
restrictions • But … hugely rewarding
Recommendation:
Focus on Business(es) enabled (number, revenue)
TAKE AWAYS
Your company NEEDS your platform strategy to succeed
Even if you have a “Bezos Moment” – Keep focused on the value you
are delivering piece by piece
Try to empower both API creation and usage
BACK AT THE OFFICE…
A commitment…
1. Talk to ONE key API consumer in depth: nail their use case
2. Write that value down and articulate it for your whole API team
3. Assess the objectives for the API Platform program in terms of business supported
API Owners Manual
http://www.3scale.net@njyx @3scale
http://bit.ly/APIOwners
Images (Copyright Authors)• Apple TV Image, Apple.com: https://
support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare/images/en_US/appletv/apple-tv-3gen-home-screen.jpg
• Amazon Echo: Amazon stock marketing image• Bay Bridge: https://unsplash.com/photos/0iAzHzjeYRk • Jeff Sheldon https://unsplash.com/photos/o6Y9E-DdG6w• Taras Perevarukha https://500px.com/photo/215416/-by-taras-perevarukha• Richard Bland https://
500px.com/photo/89775589/coming-for-you-by-richard-bland?ctx_page=2&from=search&ctx_q=platform&ctx_type=photos&ctx_sort=relevance
• Kaleb Nimz: https://unsplash.com/photos/-5rA4DRrEXU• Seabags Creative: https://unsplash.com/photos/U3m4_cKbUfc• Todd Quankenbush https://unsplash.com/photos/IClZBVw5W5A• Hairy Panic http://
theconversation.com/what-is-the-hairy-panic-tumbleweed-that-has-buried-a-small-australian-city-55074
Recommended