API Management Platforms: How To Select The Right One

API management is developing and publishing web application programming interfaces, enforcing usage regulations, evaluating usage data, and reporting performance.

An organization can guarantee both public and internal APIs they create are secure and consumable through API management. Azure API management is a wholly managed API publishing, security, transformation, maintenance, and monitoring service. It serves as a connector for microservices built with server-less technologies like functions and logic apps.

Several cloud platforms in the market, such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google cloud. You can have an IT platform without having a single server within your organization. To know the suitable API management layer, you need to see if you consider on-premise, hybrid, and cloud environments. There are things you should consider before deciding, such include:

Open source or closed source

Open API is openly accessible to the public, so it has access restrictions and can be assessed anywhere on the internet. You can choose an open API since it is free, but the publisher may limit how you use the data. Closed API is a private API and not accessible openly on the internet, offering you tight control.

Deployment options

It is an essential requirement in API management selection. Most vendors provide you with cloud-based options; others do so during the early stages of your API, requiring you to move to an on-premise solution as the traffic increases.

Knowing the resources available to monitor and maintain the API management platform is most important to know at this stage.

It's wise to look for a vendor that offers a deployment method you need, either on-premise or managed cloud service. You can also select a vendor that provides a seamless transition from one to the other.

Installation process

The installation needs to be simple since your API management will reside within your cloud environment and data center and not be hosted. You should make sure the building will be accessible to stands up new environments and new instances.

Meet feature requirements

Also consider factors such as:

-Can your desired authorization meet your needs?

-Measure the performance before and after installation. As much as you should expect some reduction, it should not be so drastic that you need to add the server capacity.

-Conduct a security check to ensure the platform can conduct some attack vectors such as denial of service through rate limiting.

-will the management platform provide you with the information you need on a day-to-day basis?

Easy to upgrade

There is a need for an upgrade to keep up with the latest improvements, and available features. You should read the past release notes to know of the process you will take to upgrade. Contact the vendor directly if you do not find the upgrade notes or release via the customer portal.

The total cost of ownership

Also consider the financial aspect of the project. It includes not only the price of buying the license but also the cost of managing it.

Management

You need to choose a platform that offers secure, remote, and non-intrusive management of your APIs at run time and design time.

From the above information, it is not an easy task to choose an API management platform. The choice that you take will have a long-term effect on your organization. It may offer flexibility or limit your options in the future. You need to study well and evaluate the available platforms and choose that which best fits your needs.