Integration Discussions and Vendor Strategies

APIs are something I've discussed a lot recently and this blog continues the theme. In this entry I discuss how API management relates to Service Orientated Architecture (SOA). I discuss how SOA is not going away but it is going to be greatly simplified by the introduction of API management and its concepts. I also discuss how IBM's API Connect product works in both a "traditional" SOA world as well as the more rapid and potentially more agile world, that APIs have grown from.

It’s hard not to notice the up-swell of API Management in the press in recent times. If you come from an EDI background you may dismiss API Management as not being relevant. I also often hear the contrary view - that EDI is old-school and that APIs are taking over.  I don’t believe either to be true.  There are plenty of Qualities of Service that EDI gives in spades that API management simply doesn’t touch and vice-versa. In this blog I’ll review those differences and show how API and EDI are complimentary technologies not competitive. I'll also suggest where the future lies for these two differing technologies and that, actually, the comparison isn't EDI Vs API but should be API Vs Web Services.

Back in the day Web Services were the de facto standard for accessing "systems of record". Out of this grew the secured ESB architecture that is synonymous with enterprise architecture. More and more, projects are utilising API Management in those architectures now and pushing on Web Services' door. In this blog I'll explain why social factors as much as technical ones are enabling API Management to make inroads into 'traditional' SOA architectures. I'll also show that API Management is much more than the " API Economy ".

I’ve previously blogged about what most people would think of when they consider  hybrid integration scenarios . In this blog I’m going to show that some recent additions to the IBM portfolio are adding to those core scenarios. These additions are not major product announcements but just a few little extra additions to current products that will probably have slipped under most people’s radar. Whereas I previously discussed how hybrid integration usually consists of whole sets of servers being moved into the cloud; IBM is now enabling much smaller units of work to be placed there. By doing this they are changing the granularity of hybrid integration.

Ask three different people what hybrid cloud means to them and you'll probably get three different answers. In this entry I'll outline the eight major hybrid cloud concepts as most people would know them. Hopefully, this entry provides a solid introduction to hybrid cloud scenarios discussing not only the use-cases but also what I term their granularity . In my next entry I will discuss how these scenarios are being augmented by recent announcements in IBM's integration portfolio and show that the granularity of  hybrid cloud has just changed.

Over the past few months I've been focussed on the "API -Economy". It's become clear to me that API's have several business drivers - and they're not all just about directly making money. Regulators are now playing an increasing part in the spread of APIs. In this blog I'll try to capture the three main influencers in the API economy and how you may see their affects . I'll focus in on the regulators role as it's not often discussed.

At an event the other day I presented a brief synopsis on what are generally regarded as the main ways to version your API and label the versions clearly. This led to an interesting conversation afterwards so I thought it would be good to share what we discussed in case you find it interesting too ! I've broken this down into three sections. The problem statement; the four ways to label versions and some best practices.

IBM has just GA'd the API Connect Product offering. This offering is IBMs latest incarnation of their API-Management product set and combines several technologies. This entry discusses what it is and how you would use it in your business.