On the complexification of API business alignment

I raise a red flag whenever I feel someone is making a simple topic feel complex. The last time this happened was a few days ago when an API industry veteran insisted on the complexification of API business alignment. Yes, the term “complexification” exists. It’s the process of increasing the complexity of something by splitting it into several parts. The goal is to make readers lose focus on the immediate problem and, instead, emphasize that the problem is in the lack of clarity of the outcome.

This is what happened when I was suggesting that the API industry could have an official registry and API search engine. I proposed that OpenAPI could launch it since it’s an official organization that consumers trust. The reaction was to show that such a registry would never work because it wouldn’t be able to align with the business needs, whatever they are. That is correct, an API registry would never be able to align with all existing business needs. In the same way, a Web page registry, a.k.a. a search engine, doesn’t align with all existing business needs.

There is, however, at least one business need with which an API registry aligns. But before getting to that, let me try to demystify what “business alignment” is. Well, in simple terms, aligning an API with the needs of a business means that the API supports the goals of the business, whatever they are. There’s nothing more to it. If the goal of the business is to reduce costs, then the APIs should help automate manual processes. If the goal of the business is to attract partners, then the APIs should help those partners easily exchange data with the company. What happens if the goal of the business is to attract new customers?

If the goal of the business is to attract new customers, then the APIs should be easy to discover and onboard. Let me repeat and emphasize. If the goal of the business is to attract new customers, then the APIs should be easy to discover and onboard. How can we make APIs easy to discover by potential customers? One way is to publish information about those APIs in a place where potential customers can go to and find them. This place is the OpenAPI registry I was proposing.

There is no complexity in this. It’s a simple alignment between one of many possible business needs with something that generates the desired goal. What businesses do with those new customers, how they onboard them, and, among other things, the pricing strategies they have in place, are beyond what the OpenAPI registry would offer.