As cloud, mobile, big data, analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) continue to transform business, application (“app”) strategies are becoming critical for companies for digital innovation and in order to seize new opportunities. App strategies, in particular mobile app strategies, primarily rely on programming interfaces to invoke business logic or access data in clouds or data lakes. Therefore, the centerpiece to implementing an app strategy is to adopt an “API first” approach. This approach follows logically from the “virtualize first“ policy pioneered by VMware and the “cloud first” policy posited by many of the current cloud players. An “API first” approach focuses on providing application programmable interfaces (APIs) first in contrast to user interfaces (non-programmable) to enable new and extensible business capabilities and ultimately allow business-to-business interconnections that fuel the digital economy.
This strategy has gained momentum for a couple of reasons. First, we live in a multi-device world where businesses have found that building an API layer that can serve all of their applications is the most sensible strategy for efficiently developing and maintaining desktop, tablet and mobile apps, whether Web-based or native. Second, it is now possible to build new business models with APIs, leveraging cloud, mobile, big data and analytics capabilities that are now readily available for consumption and packaging to consumers or to other business. For example, new sources of data, such as that provided at www.data.gov, offer new business possibilities when you exploit this data with well-structured APIs. At Equinix, software architecture and engineering teams primarily follow an “API first” approach to enable new business capabilities for Equinix and our customers.
The API Ecosystem and the Equinix Developer Platform
As APIs become critical to businesses, there’s a strategic need for companies to foster an API ecosystem. Equinix Developer Platform helps them do this. It allows the developer community to explore, subscribe and connect to Equinix’s programmable interfaces.
As part of the Equinix Software Architecture & Engineering team, we have seen how the digital economy is evolving, in terms of overall API design and development in the industry, as well as within Equinix. This blog post provides you with an overview of the capabilities of Equinix Developer Platform.
Developer Platform Overview:
A single pane of glass to effectively engage the developer community and enable API exploration, API subscription and collaboration
Platform Capabilities
The Equinix Cloud Exchange suite of APIs is the first incumbent on the Equinix Developer Platform, with a suite of other API catalogs to follow.
With this capability, Equinix took a significant step towards providing a simple, intuitive and engaging platform for our developer community, thus taking our digital journey forward.
Click to access Equinix Developer Platform.
Questions? Feedback? Want to know more about Developer Platform?
Email us at developer-platform@equinix.com
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