There are many of you reading this that are managers looking to get a better grasp on what an API is and how it can benefit your programmers. API is an acronym for “Application Programming Interface”. Simply put, this interface allows programmers to develop applications that communicate with an existing application or service to automate the flow of data and manual data entry.
The largest benefit of this process to organizations is the significant decrease in internal costs by eliminating the need for their employees to re-enter data that is already captured by an application, site or service. Programmers are provided with a powerful sets of tools that work within the software application. This allows the programmer to greatly extend the capability of the interaction with the product. The most sought after API’s at this time lie in the realm of Social Media and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). A great deal of these API’s are extremely programmer friendly and free. This makes them a win with lower cost to the client, win with ease of use for programmers and a big win for managers by cutting development time and providing increased ability to stay on track for deadlines and budget of deliverables.
Here are the 3 incredible Benefits of an API
- Develops Consistency for programmers to write applications that automate tasks for the client. This in turn allows for improved user experience.
- Easy Program Development by providing programmers the assurance that all protocols are addressed, for developing the program. This makes it much easier for the developer to create the program.
- Greater ROI due to less internal cost needed which frees up the valuable time of you or your programmers.
API’s have been in use for decades. The advent of complex social networking programs has added to the popularity of using them. It is with strong suggestion that if you are either a programmer or manager that you closely follow API technology and the organizations that are utilizing them for outside programmers to interact with their code.
Let us know of any outstanding API’s that you would suggest.