The Fundamentals of Platform Strategy: Creating Genuine Value with

APIsSteven Willmott, @njyx, steve@3scale.net

@3scale @RedHatNews

Steven Willmott, @njyx, steve@3scale.net@3scale @RedHatNews

3scale now part of Red Hat Inc. - www.3scale.net

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Platforms: huge opportunity for value – and for wasted resource

MISSION CRITICALBIG INITIATIVES

GENUINE NEED

EXAMPLE:UBER

EXAMPLE: “APPLE TV-OS READY” IN 2 WEEKS

APIS DON’T WORKAPIS ARE NOT USED

TEAM ISN’T RESOURCED

THE VALUE OF PLATFORMS

“Jeff Bezos Moment” (thank you @frankarr)

)

Platform Value

• Individual APIs can have tremendous value• Underpin products, enable new business

channels, provide an abstraction layer• Core value almost always revolves

around: Agility

COMMON ERRORS

Common Errors in Platform Beginnings

• Try something peripheral and low risk• Replace multiple core systems at once• Have a platform team build everything• Top down design a uniform approach

TIMING & MOTIVATION ARE CRITICAL

Best time to begin

• When you have one or more driving initiatives• When IT teams are ready to rethink

some infrastructure• When the goal is not too abstract

THREE PRINCIPLES FOR SUCCESS

IDENTIFY YOUR TRUE USERS

FOCUS ON TRUE VALUE

SHARE THE BURDEN

#1: FOCUS ON TRUE VALUE

A Map of Expectations

Prohibited Design

Firedrill Innovation

Expected

Unexpected

DesirableUndesirable

Thor Mitchel, 2014

Questions to Ask

• Who is the customer?• Where is their value?• If we create this, will you use it?• What is the complete use case?

Walked th

rough

all major p

rocesses

Calculated co

st

benefit

EXAMPLE:MAPS CREDIT UNION

Loren Paulson, APIStrat, 2015

API for product listingBut not pricing or transacting

Almost null utilityEXAMPLE:MID-SIZED ECOMMERCE COMPANY

Key Strategy

Deliver value: one API and one use-case at a time

#2: FIND YOUR TRUE USERS

We have great developer experience … what happened?

Warning: Blasphemy Alert

Developer Experience is Overrated

Questions to Ask

• When Developer Experience is not enough • How do the APIs need to be consumed?• Who else might consume them? • Where do their effects propagate to? • What additional value can we add?

Web Ranking API

Realized plugins were

criticalPlugins now drive

majority of businessEXAMPLE:SIMILAR WEB

Noahm Schwartz, APIStrat, 2015

Millions of devices syncing

Robust libraries & dev

collaboration

Randomized back off

EXAMPLE:FITBIT

Jeremiah Lee, San Francisco, 2016

Amazon Alexa App

Query order is not

optimized for Voice

Secondary query rank in

client added EXAMPLE:CRUNCHBASE

Nicolas Greenie, San Francisco, 2015

Key Strategy

The API is not the key thing – the Value is the key thing

#3: SHARE THE BURDEN

Questions to Ask

• How to split Dev, Ops, Management?• What do we automate? • What do we monitor? • Which APIs do we focus on first?• How will we manage change?

Vicious Circle

Virtuous Cycle

Hairy Panic!

1-1 IT

Need for software innovation drives deep integrations

Inte

rnal

Sys

tem

s

Appl

icatio

ns

1-N IT

Governance and APIs create reusable anchor points

N-N IT

Common governance rules can apply to APIs from anywhere

Key Strategy

N-N >>>>> 1-N

Platform value is “co-creation” of value between providers and

consumers

(buyers & sellers)(you & partners / customers)

(mode 1 & mode 2)

Governance + Support must be Spread

e.g. tools, platforms, guides, design sages

BONUS #4: MEASURING IMPACT

• Very hard work• Unglamorous• It is not a big bang (big bet)• People get upset at rules and

restrictions • But … hugely rewarding

Recommendation:

Focus on Business(es) enabled (number, revenue)

TAKE AWAYS

Your company NEEDS your platform strategy to succeed

Even if you have a “Bezos Moment” – Keep focused on the value you

are delivering piece by piece

Try to empower both API creation and usage

API Owners Manual

http://www.3scale.net@njyx @3scale

http://bit.ly/APIOwners

Images (Copyright Authors)• Apple TV Image, Apple.com: https://

support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare/images/en_US/appletv/apple-tv-3gen-home-screen.jpg

• Amazon Echo: Amazon stock marketing image• Bay Bridge: https://unsplash.com/photos/0iAzHzjeYRk • Jeff Sheldon https://unsplash.com/photos/o6Y9E-DdG6w• Taras Perevarukha https://500px.com/photo/215416/-by-taras-perevarukha• Richard Bland https://

500px.com/photo/89775589/coming-for-you-by-richard-bland?ctx_page=2&from=search&ctx_q=platform&ctx_type=photos&ctx_sort=relevance

• Kaleb Nimz: https://unsplash.com/photos/-5rA4DRrEXU• Seabags Creative: https://unsplash.com/photos/U3m4_cKbUfc• Todd Quankenbush https://unsplash.com/photos/IClZBVw5W5A• Hairy Panic http://

theconversation.com/what-is-the-hairy-panic-tumbleweed-that-has-buried-a-small-australian-city-55074

• Welder: Uğur Gürcüoğlu https://unsplash.com/@sharkdesignstudio?photo=s1M0ncSl9l4 • TrainTracks: Redd Angelo: https://unsplash.com/@reddangelo16?photo=60fa9BMxvpE