2019: Integration is COOL – APIs stay HOT

The interplay between integration and APIs is where cool becomes hot! Here are our integration predictions for 2019.

Subhash Ramachandran Subhash Ramachandran

In 2019, integration has finally emerged from the shadows of IT and is pushing to the forefront by business users who want their DIY tools and by millennials who ask “Where’s my app?” Meantime, APIs are coming out of their geeky technical shadows and foremost on the minds of CxOs as a hot technology trend that they want to leverage. 

The interplay between integration and APIs is where cool becomes hot!

Here are my predictions for 2019:

  1. Sunny Days Ahead.

Multi-function iPaaS will change the cloud integration landscape. Huge growth is expected for iPaaS (integration Platform as a Service) market, fueled by drivers like IoT, B2B, APIs and SaaS applications.  iPaaS vendors will incorporate capabilities allowing organizations to address ANY integration need, leading to the rise of multi-function iPaaS offerings to support traditional SaaS and on-premises application integration – as well as integrating IoT sensors and devices, B2B partners and suppliers,  API consumers and providers, Big Data integration and analytics.

  1. Whet your in-App(etite).

Embeddable iPaaS will enhance the in-app integration experience. As more SaaS applications and cloud offerings from organizations proliferate the need for integration will continue to grow exponentially – but end users of these applications will still expect a seamless in-app experience.  Enter the next generation of embeddable integration that is driven by an API-based “headless” iPaaS solution. 

  1. Will you Marry Me?

Engagement platforms will drive success of API ecosystems and create new ways to drive the API business by fostering a marketplace for developers and business to interact, ensuring success of the partnership. APIs are increasingly being developed and sold as products for organizations to generate new sources of revenue.  In order to start looking at APIs as products, organizations need to think like software companies and start looking through the lens of product management and marketing for how to better engage with prospective customers.  

  1. Block(chain) and Tackle B2B.

Blockchain will become the future for B2B networks. As iPaaS expands to incorporate B2B integration, B2B applications need to modernize their architecture to provide better transparency, reconciliation and security for the sensitive transactions that are being exchanged and in many cases archived for years for auditing and compliance reasons.  Enter Blockchain, or more specifically distributed ledger technology, which can eliminate mismatch and reconciliation problems and can provide greater visibility and traceability via smart contracts. 

  1. Smarty Pants.

Smart Integrations will help developers, while Smart APIs will protect developers.  Integration developers today expect a degree of automation and assistance like we have never seen before, therefore integrations need to be infused with intelligence and accelerate developer productivity.  However, developers will need smart APIs to protect them from new cyber threats as APIs are the new target for hackers.  AI models will continuously inspect and report on API activity and discover anomalous API behavior.  These will be deployed as bots protecting networks from cyber threats much like white blood cells which protect the body against diseases.

For more information on how Software makes integration cool – and APIs hot – please click below.