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The future of your business depends upon your API IA - whatever that is?!
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Did you knowDid you knowthe future ofthe future of
your businessyour businessrelies upon yourrelies upon your
API IAAPI IA
Whatever that is?!Whatever that is?!
The fall of the Berlin wall - November 1989The fall of the Berlin wall - November 1989
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Executive Summary
Services are digital models of key aspects of your underlying business model.
This Application Programmers Interface allows developers to create value.
1. Does your business have a coherent Service based API?
2. Is your API closely aligned with the language used across your business?
e.g. Are these two key Information Architectures (IA) aligned?
Because the future of your business relies upon your API IA. Upon how
Open, Scalable, Effective and Flexible your business model really is.
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The 5 eras of computing
In “Information Technology and the Future Enterprise” (Desanctis et al. 2001)
table 1-1 shows “5 eras of Computing”.
1 - 1954-1963 Isolated machines
2 - 1964-1976 Distributed access to mainframes, compatible product lines (IBM 360 architecture)
3 - 1977-1984 Midrange computers, easy-to- use interfaces
4 - 1985-1996Personal computers, local area networks, Internets, and Extranets
5 - 1997-onward Personal digital assistants, mobile technology with next- generation Internet as primary platform
But perhaps onward is due for review?
Each era appears roughly a decade long, and 1997 was over 10 years ago.
Aylam with big hand I
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The 3rd wave of computing
4 years before Desanctis, Mark Weiser (Weiser, 1997) referenced
Alan Kay from Apple defining 3 waves or paradigms of computing.
1 - MainframesShared by lots of people
2 - Personal Computing Person and machine staring uneasily at each other across the desktop
3 - Ubiquitous Computing (Calm technology)When technology recedes into the background of our lives
Unfortunately I have been unable to find Kay's original text but the similarity
to Desanctis et al.'s “5 eras” is unmistakable.
New big Mark on table words
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A Paradigm shift is due
Either way, we are definitely at the tail end of the Personal Computing era.
And Mobile Computing is now mainstream and literally ubiquitous.
Since each of Desanctis' “5 eras” are about a decade long the 5th era
that started in 1997 is likely coming to a close.
I propose that Service orientation is the key to this next era.
Now that IP based computing and Mobility are ubiquitous there can be
real demand for easy to consume Services that are device independent.
Where there's a Ubiquitous Network, Services are the key.
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The Service oriented future
The new Mashup culture fits the ubiquitous network environment.
Open Service APIs are the best “fit” for that purpose – Mashability.
1 - Presentation ApplicationA User Interface that a User sees and interacts with
2 - Open Service oriented APIs Open APIs that Presentation focused client applications can utilise
3 - Underlying InfrastructureTraditional enterprise systems or even cross enterprise eco-systems
By encapsulating core business activities within Service oriented APIs you
enable presentation flexibility driving greater innovation at the User's level.
And you help buffer the underlying infrastructure from this change.
Back to the Future
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Your website as your API
“Can your website be your API?” (McLellan, 2006) outlines
how Microformats can turn websites into containers for
accessible and flexible structured data.
But for Businesses this model must go even further.
Instead of just making structured business data accessible,
Business APIs need to make data functional.
They need to help customers find Products and place Orders.
They need to effectively orchestrate complex Order fulfillment.
They need to make this info transparent and easy to understand.
Power Plug
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The importance of words
If your business API is the key to delivering scalable, flexible and mashable
Services then the words you choose to describe things becomes more
important than ever.
The names you give your Services, the methods/actions they perform
and the data fields they manipulate all have a real impact.
They impact how well people learn and remember these Services,
e.g. their final adoption, or your competitors Service adoption!
This defines how people view your business model, including you.
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Information Architecture
Information Architecture has many meanings to many people
(e.g. see Barker, 2005 – What is Information Architecture?).
However the classification and labeling of your business API clearly
involves defining an Information Architecture.
This means your API is the tangible implementation
of the abstract Information Architecture
that is your Business Model.
The future of your business really does depend upon your API IA
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Closing the circle
While many people lay claim to the origins of Information Architecture
(Moreville, 2004 - Preface), Xerox Parc was created in 1970 with a single goal:
Xerox Corporation gathers together a team of world-class researchers in
information sciences and physical sciences and gives them the mission
to create "the architecture of information."
The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) officially opens its doors
at 3180 Porter Drive in Palo Alto, California on July 1, 1970.
http://www.parc.com/about/history/
The idea that Mark Weiser's Ubiquitous or Pervasive Computing
might lead to making IA the key to the next era also seems somehow fitting.
Torhouse Stone Circle, Wigtown
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Is your business prepared?
We have seen how Computing is driving waves of change that can be
classified into distinct eras or paradigms. It also seems apparent from
this analysis that a new era is due.
And the SOA and Mashup hype of Web 2.0 seems to suggest that the birth
of that era is upon us. If the changes brought about by Personal Computing
and the Internet are anything to go by more significant change is coming.
Is your business prepared?
Does your business have an API and how “fit for purpose” is it's IA?
What about your competitors?
Boyscout
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