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Essential components of an API program (Part 1 of the enterprise API program guide)

Understanding key challenges and drivers of an API program, essential components needed to build it, and what it takes to go from a vision to a thriving API program.

There are four essential components of an API program. Read part 1 of the enterprise API program guide to learn about strategic alignment, organizational governance, digital product delivery, and platform enablement. 

Strategic alignment

  • Anticipate, understand, and satisfy stakeholder needs
  • Map key decision-makers and their interrelationships to business drivers and vision
  • Balance strategic concerns with a business-led, not a tech-led approach

Organizational governance

  • Ensure executional alignment with an API product roadmap
  • Prioritize effectively with delivery team independence
  • Prioritize product delivery
  • Drive reuse of platform components and self-service

Digital product delivery

  • Reimagine the business as sets of APIs delivering digital capabilities across the whole ecosystem
  • Converge on a common definition of value for digital products
  • Put consumer value propositions first
  • Manage the full API lifecycle with emphasis on Design-first

Platform enablement

  • Bring business models and technology models together in a single API platform to enable collaboration

  • Build a technology ecosystem for value exchange using APIs to link architecture patterns.
  • Enable greater self-sufficiency and collaboration without sacrificing great experiences, speed, and security through automation

Download this guide to continue reading (Part 1: Essential components of an API program)