What is API?
What are API interfaces?
How does API Management work?
What are the advantages of API Management?
Learn when it makes sense to use API Management in your company
Amazon S3
What you should consider with API
Because we’ve already worked extensively with EDI, API Management allows us to get even more out of our workflows with solutions that simplify and streamline the exchange of processes. If you are not yet familiar with EDI, we recommend that you read our lexicon entry “What is EDI?
How do API management solutions work? And what are the advantages of an API? What is an API anyway? These might all be questions that you ask yourself if you are not necessarily a software developer who deals with interfaces every day. In order to explain such technical topics as comprehensible as possible without raising further questions, we have written this lexicon entry.
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What is an API?
The term API is the abbreviation for “Application Programming Interface”. An API is therefore an interface that a software system provides in order to integrate it into other programs. Since we at INPOSIA see ourselves as bridge builders in the digital domain, APIs are bridges between software systems to enable communication between them. APIs thus standardize the data transfer between two programs or modules and help to exchange information.
API vs. Web APIs?
With APIs, you have to distinguish the normal ones from Web APIs. A web service also includes an API, but primarily offers a web service. Through such web services, a website provider can integrate different services or external providers into his portal via a network. You can assign certain properties to a web service:
- A web service provides a service over a network
- A web service offers an automated data exchange and use of functionalities
- The exchange of data and functionality is independent of the programming language or hardware and can therefore be integrated into any system
- A web service is a pure computer-to-computer communication
Delimitation of REST APIs?
REST-API (Representational State Transfer-API) is an interface that supports the exchange of data from distributed systems. This is especially true for Web services. This enables the system to distribute data and tasks to different servers or to request them using an http request.
Programming or user interface?
APIs, i.e. programming interfaces, must also be distinguished from user interfaces. The former is just machine-readable program code that does not come into contact with the user, but only processes data and forwards the result to the module. The user interface on the other hand is the interface between the user of the software and the program. It receives the user’s input, passes it on to the application and then returns the result to the user.
How does API Management works?
An API management solution should in its main function control the various interfaces to other applications. This includes analyses, access controls and workflows. For example, data can be imported from an isolated system or accessed via an external provider. All this happens in real time.
Workflows are made easier by allowing routines to be simply called or terminated remotely. Thus, the API allows access to hardware, databases, individual program functions, interfaces or other elements, provided this has been defined beforehand. The connections between APIs and the corresponding applications are automated and controlled via the API management solution. This does not only apply to external APIs, as you can also develop your own APIs that you make available to other companies.
Do I have to use API Management if I switch to EDI?
You don’t have to, but it makes your processes much easier. The simple connectivity via API interfaces allows you to integrate API services directly into your own workflows. For example, you can use the INPOSIA Suite, the INPOSIA Cloud or your own EDI system to connect external APIs, such as Amazon S3, Amazon MWS, Ebay SellerAPI, Salesforce, Allegro, Google AP SAP API Business Hub, or even develop your own APIs and make them available to third parties. All data and communication processes that you need for your routines are thus automated.
APIs that can be easily connected:
and many more, as well as develop your own APIs…
How do I integrate a API Management Solution into my ERP system?
In our application example we make our own APIs available to other parties. In our example, a logistics service provider can thus access information such as stock levels, article master data, delivery orders, warehouse actions and much more from the customer’s ERP system in real time. We thus avoid problems such as delayed data provision, missing data or stock differences.
The logistics service provider sends data to the INPOSIA suite via API RESTful. The API hub accepts the data coming from the supplier and processes it in the background workflow. This workflow can read any data from the customer’s ERP system and create associated response data. This response is then sent back to the supplier via the same web service.
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What advantages does API Management offer?
APIs can be used to simplify large and complex software packages. This is done by outsourcing individual functions into practical modules, thus creating a clear overall structure of the program.
At the same time, such packages make the program code less error-prone and also enable easier maintenance. At the same time, higher security is made possible, because in the event of an error, only the specific modules and the forwarded data need to be checked.
By deploying an API management solution, your IT department no longer needs to develop, deploy and manage APIs for every concern. An API Management Service can do this for you, granting permissions, easily integrating third-party APIs, without compromising security of data access.
In addition, you can monitor all transactions between the APIs, giving you a complete overview. Have your integration scenarios analyzed and get performance metrics, calls, latency and error rates at a glance.
What advantages does the API management solution from INPOSIA offer?
Simplicity
Our API management solution makes the deployment and management of external and proprietary APIs convenient and easy. You can keep track of all transactions using the transaction monitor.
Reliability
All integration scenarios happen in real-time between the different systems.
Flexibility
INPOSIA is flexible in terms of standards and supports JSON, SOAP, RESTful and many more.
Security
Our security is important, so we use the latest security standards (Security Tokens, XML Security) to protect your data accordingly.
You are interested in our API Management Solution and have questions?
Then get in touch with our API experts. We are happy to be there for you. By telephone, by e-mail or personally at your site!
Christian Marreck
API Management Specialist