Published on the 15/09/2015 | Written by Newsdesk

Enabling mobile applications, improving customer satisfaction and generating revenue among key drivers for API adoption…

With its 2015 API survey, MuleSoft has surveyed 127 IT industry professionals in Australia and New Zealand to assess how organisations in the region are implementing and planning for APIs.

The findings suggest that organisations understand the value of having a defined API strategy, with most respondents already having it in place. Of these organisations, almost two-thirds (64 percent) identify it as a way to accelerate growth through internal data sharing. At the same time, more than half (51 percent) see it as a method of driving customer satisfaction through shared services.

“The survey indicates Australian and New Zealand organisations have identified the business potential offered by APIs and are putting them to work. They spot clear benefits when it comes to improving customer satisfaction and boosting revenues,” said Jonathan Stern, MuleSoft regional VP ANZ.

Among the key results:

APIs Gaining Momentum
The survey found 87 percent of respondents have an API strategy in place. Of this group, 73 percent said their investment in APIs in the next six months is driven by the need to integrate new software with existing infrastructure. 50 percent identified enabling mobile applications as one of the reasons for leveraging APIs within this time frame.

Almost half (44 percent) of respondents said that their API strategy is helping them to grow their business by creating new revenue streams. More than a third (37 percent) said their API strategy is supporting business growth by enabling them to plug into digital value chains for extended market reach.

When asked to forecast when their API strategy would begin generating revenue, 45 percent confirmed they are already generating revenue or will do so within the next 12 months.

Success Factors for APIs
When asked to nominate the factors most critical for successful APIs, 85 percent of respondents identified security. This was followed by usability and simplicity (60 percent each) and management (54 percent).

In terms of the biggest issues faced when deploying APIs, 33 percent of those surveyed identified design. Other issues highlighted included visibility into API usage (18 percent), authentication and authorisation (16 percent) and threat protection (13 percent).

APIs and the Internet of Things
Organisations are embracing the Internet of Things (IoT) with 43 percent of respondents saying they are either already implementing IoT or plan to do so within the next five years.

Just 17 percent said they were not planning to implement IoT.

Stern added, “We’re seeing these trends among our customers who frequently tell us about their desire to extend to applications outside their walls and leverage new technologies, such as the IoT. The real business value comes from connecting these apps, data and devices together with existing assets; APIs playing a significant role in making this connectivity easier, enabling business agility.”