APIs are a simple concept: they are the glue that ties data together. While traditionally used to integrate discrete applications, they are the key technology that makes new insights and many other IT changes possible.
If we look at the IT trends apparent today, APIs play a critical role in all of them.
Cloud projects use APIs.
Software that interacts with sensors uses APIs.
Contextual mobile applications use APIs.
And getting big data into systems to be ingested and analyzed is the task of the humble API.
Current estimates are that nearly 24 percent of all web and 15 percent of all mobile applications currently utilize APIs.
These numbers are expected to increase to more than 80 percent by the end of 2018. So APIs aren’t simply the buzzword of the day; they are an integral part of the rise of an entirely new way of approaching business problems and potential technology solutions, and they will increasingly be seen as a critical part of the operation of any organization.