How digital migrants can open the value of systems and data through SAP Cloud Platform API Management

Following a webinar earlier in the year, we take a look at how digital migrants can open the value of systems and data through SAP Cloud Platform API Management.

Regardless of a business’ size, nature or industry, the value of your systems and data and how they’re used is essential to future growth, both internally and externally. As a result, in today’s ever increasing Internet of Things and digital world, APIs and API Management can commonly be found in both B2B and B2C businesses, with each variant serving different purposes and achieving differing end goals.

APIs and Increasing Digitisation

Organisations such as Uber, Airbnb, Netflix and Alibaba are constantly disrupting established industries without any physical infrastructure, instead relying on technologies to engage customers across all touch points and integrate with partners. This enables superior customer experiences, seamless supplier collaboration and new business relationships.

So how is all this possible? All these digital interactions happen outside traditional IT boundaries and environments, and instead are facilitated by open application programming interfaces (APIs), which are the essential foundations for innovative applications in the digital age.

However, these same technologies are available to help any business (including digital migrants), realise the benefits of digitisation and take advantage of systems and data. So, don’t see this challenge as a negative, see this as an opportunity to reinvent your business!

You not might be offering a product or service-led API like some of the digital natives above, but that doesn’t mean your company can’t benefit from a number of their other uses. Stats show that 62% of people who produce APIs, do so to develop partnerships and business with other organisations. Other high ranking reasons for use include to provide interoperability between departments within organisations, to power mobile apps and to provide an extensibility mechanism for customers.

A simple, scalable and secure way to manage APIs

SAP API Management is delivered as part of the SAP Hana Cloud Platform and supports the process of securing, managing, publishing and analysing APIs in a secure and scalable environment.

Engage more partners and developers

This open-extension platform helps simplify integration with SAP and non-SAP solutions, enabling businesses to easily share digital assets as APIs with partners, helping to create business networks and cross-company collaboration.

SAP Cloud Platform API Management sparks collaboration and innovation within your business, partners and developers. Through the development of new applications, it allows third parties to extend solution capabilities in innovative ways. It also provides an intuitive developer portal for quick on-boarding of developers, testing APIs and creating and managing applications. This results in reduced internal development costs and speeds up the innovation process.

The platform also provides the unique ability to connect devices to business transactions, allowing companies to open up new channels, partner ecosystems and benefit from their subsequent revenue opportunities.

Share digital assets and grow your business

Building, testing and deploying APIs has never been easier with SAP Cloud Platform API Management. The tool empowers your business to selectively externalise your assets, not just through the traditional browser-centric model, but also over mobile devices and other channels, allowing your services to be consumed on any platform.

Enable enterprise-grade security, traffic management and performance monitoring

Enable APIs with modern authentication, authorisation and security policies in order to effectively secure access to data and services. Real-time analytics from SAP Cloud Platform help you monitor APIs across various data platforms, both SAP and non-SAP. You can also analyse usage metrics, errors, latency, and performance in a straight forward and secure platform, providing key insights on where to invest your resources in the future.

Improving employee and customer engagement

From a customer and employee point of view, API Management enables you to easily share digital information with customers and employees across multiple channels. As a result your employees and systems can gain awareness about customer needs and preferences and deliver relevant content directly to them – anywhere, anytime and on any device. This results in improved engagements and experiences for customers, partners and employees alike, all of which will be key to boosting business growth.

Case studies: Implementing API Management to increase revenue

One such example of a business using SAP Cloud Platform API Management is Post NL. The Dutch postal service implemented SAP Cloud Platform API Management to allow the company to securely offer its services to partners electronically through APIs.

These APIs help integrate the shipment process into market places for shoppers, including catalog API, pick up and drop off point API and consumer shipment API, all of which help support the company in expanding its partner ecosystem. The API-driven integration of its services with a popular online trading platform in the Netherlands has helped PostNL extend its business reach and increase revenue.

Another other organisation using SAP Cloud Platform API Management to digitally transform its B2B service, is the Hamburg Port Authority, which manages the port of Hamburg. As Europe’s second most successful port, it is restricted by geographical limitations and small berths. However, through the use of a SAP solutions including Cloud to interrogate outside information such as sensor tracking systems and real-time traffic information, the port has been able to improve efficiency and increase cargo handling by twice as much.

Still unsure about API Management? If so, were more than happy to provide guidance, support and help through our Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and User Group membership. Just contact us on 01642 309930 or support@sapusers.org and we’ll come back to you.