He is the goofiest of the lot, and when I asked him for an interview, he smiled and asked me to get a cup of coffee first. A fair bargain, I think?15 minutes and 2 cups of coffee later, he sat with both his hands behind his head and smiled again. It’s now or never, I handed him the list of questions I had prepared. He looked at it for 2 seconds and kept it aside.‘Akansha, your first question is why I think API Marketplaces would lead the way to the API-led transformation in the future. Before that, let me start with the basics…As a Developer, I have found that APIMarketplaces are indispensable when it comes to API Adoption, here’s why-Let me start with saying what needs to be said- APIs are everywhere, so if there are people living under the rock who say that this doesn’t concern their companies or organisations, I’ll still forgive them. However, I’d implore them to go through my thoughts here.Before I go on and explain what is an APIMarketplace, let me explain why it is important, in that order. You’ll understand why, after I explain.

Why do you need a Marketplace?

For developing any app, digital services, or bringing any new feature to the market, it is important for the API Developers to be able to find and consume the relevant APIs. So what stops them from doing it?

• API complexities: if you are not able to find the right apis, or the valid documentation to understand them, or simply lack of well-defined developer journey to consume them, it is called API Complexity. It stops you from consuming the APIs the way you’d want to.
• API Sprawl, when you just can’t find the right APIs and then similar looking APIs are all over the place.

Without the right management tool or a platform things can get complicated fast. These lead to low API consumption, which can directly lead to delayed go-to-market for your product/services.For a developer, you need to have a constant and instant access to the right APIs anytime- the APIs that are developed, curated and productized, keeping consumption in mind and aligning with the business goals.Does that help you understand why you need a platform that would help you consume the APIs the right way?That is what is called an API Marketplace.’He waited, to assess whether all this made sense to me. It did.To be Contd…(If you want to know more about why or how API Marketplace could be a relevant solution for you, or simply know more about what our Developer has to say, feel free to reach out to marketing@digitalapicraft.com