APIs are some of the most critical pieces of technology today. While developers may be the most familiar with how they’re used, any business that operates digitally should be fully aware of their importance to just about every online interaction or customer experience. As a result, paying attention to some of the trends driving APIs and API gateways forward is essential. Here are the top trends for 2022.

1. Multiple Gateways, APIs, and Cloud
2. Safety and Security
3. Specification Adoption
4. Developer Engagement

Multiple Gateways, APIs, and Cloud

Portals and getaways play a crucial role in the success of APIs and how well companies can manage them. Not to mention, with multiple cloud architectures, companies will seek to use multiple getaways and cloud systems to support their requirements. According to Ron Huber - CEO Achieve Internet 

“Gateways have matured, and organizations are now realizing that their API portals play a much larger role in their digital transformation success. As companies expand into a multi-cloud architecture, they may have two to ten different gateways, ultimately shifting the focus to the one API portal to drive engagement.”

This focus on multiple gateways is echoed by Edward Mellett, Founder of Wikijob.uk  

“With the increasing complexity of businesses’ IT infrastructures, particularly those on a worldwide scale, new requirements emerge to meet the demands. One example is the use of numerous clouds to decentralize services, hence lowering costs and avoiding service outages. Additionally, it is not uncommon to encounter a scenario in which many API gateways must coexist within the same infrastructure. Additionally, the governance of already complicated API applications becomes even more difficult for businesses and requires extra attention to avoid future difficulties.”

Safety and Security

Security is always a priority, regardless of the business sector. Having a comprehensive view of all your cloud environments, gateways, and APIs and adhering to the basic security criteria is critical to the business’s health. LGPD and GDPR play crucial roles in this context, and some companies may need to devote an entire section to them. As Christian Velitchkov, co-founder at Twiz, explains,

“Since API gateways have already made it huge in 2021 for microservices and are advancing every day with the latest technologies, security and safety could be a trend that will be huge in 2022. With businesses worldwide leveraging API gateways for their requirements, the need to make it more safe and secure is inexplicable. With this need, businesses now focus on having a complete view of the APIs and incorporating the best practices, and ensuring that everything is completely compliant with the rules and regulations.”

As APIs continue to be heavily involved in most integrations with companies adopting best-of-breed tools to build their infrastructures, Velitchkov points out that security will benefit if they follow best practices. He continued:

“Next, this brings us also to the efficiency of the APIs. With the best integrations in the upcoming 2022, businesses will have better autonomy in publishing APIs without any hindrance. However, it should adhere to the regulatory compliances again to keep it safe for the consumers.”

Specification Adoption

Examining an ecosystem in its entirety is complex and demands focus. It is ineffective to shift to the cloud solely to save money if there is no visibility into what is happening. The same is true for APIs and gateways, which must adhere to best practices and be compatible with your architecture’s needs. According to Adam Korbl, Founder & CEO at iFax:

“Undocumented APIs are one of the major pain points for many organizations. API specifications bring many practical benefits within a digitally transforming company. It can benefit by enabling consistency for consumers, addressing technology debt without breaking your contracts, enhanced security, and agility. Specifications provide automated ways to add resiliency to API delivery programs and support improved productivity when tooling ecosystems adopt them.”

Developer Engagement Through Robust Portals

In order to productize their APIs and keep engineers devoted throughout their life cycle, organizations need robust portals, offering end-to-end management, from API strategies to development. 

Throughout 2022, numerous gateway features will continue to be available to facilitate this for API product owners and  developers. By adding a robust portal, users will be able to easily perform API financial, risk, portfolio assessment as well as business relationship management. This will keep developers engaged, allowing them to continue building API ecosystems through within their own organizations.

Embrace Digital Transformation With API Technology Trends

Most businesses have already embraced digital transformation by removing manual processes and shifting their infrastructure to capitalize on cloud-native technologies. APIs can help accelerate these transformations and ensure that companies are well-positioned in 2022 and beyond.