Synthetic Monitoring
API TESTING SERIES
Application Program Interface (API) performance will be more important than ever going into 2017. For starters, more devices are utilizing the technology, and at a higher frequency. APIs have grown considerably in both service and scope since Salesforce and eBay introduced the first ones in 2000. The proliferation of smartphones, tablets, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices has created a programming world in which a wide range of operating systems and platform interfaces rely on APIs to coexist.
Trends indicate that the use of APIs will continue to increase moving from 2016 into 2017. What does this mean for you? It’s simple: Businesses of all kinds will require strong API performance to keep up.
4 Important API Thoughts for 2017
- Increasing in Market Value
- Develop Products and Services Faster, & Creating New Business
- Growing Differently Than Expected
- IoT Devices
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Increasing in Market Value: API Testing is Mandatory
API growth is nothing new. For example, MailChimp’s API exploded in daily calls from 50 million at the beginning of 2015 to 80 million at the beginning of 2016, with no indications of slowing down. Additionally, an IDC study published in late 2015 found that the API market reached $333 million in value and projected 56 percent growth year-to-year. The takeaway here is that APIs are thriving, and businesses will only depend on them more as time goes on.
Because of this increase, existing server infrastructure needs to work harder than ever to keep up with demand, making services like API performance testing essential. The downside to rapid growth is that the user experience can take a hit if the hosting infrastructure can’t keep up.
Changing Work and Creating New Business Types
According to TechCrunch, APIs are being used to dramatically reduce redundancy in application programming. APIs enable businesses to produce software at a lower cost and bring it to market faster, enabling them to focus on the parts of the applications unique to the business. This way, they don’t have to reinvent features like maps or navigation interfaces over and over again.
Workflow change is responsible for creating new businesses like API testing. Growth rates can be extremely unpredictable in new businesses, making API testing an important measure for companies prioritizing the user experience. API testing is also helpful for catching issues early to maintain smooth performance.
API Testing for a Different Market Than Expected
Going into 2017, API performance will likely be more focused on monitoring the same APIs at higher user rates as opposed to a wider variety of APIs. The number of APIs in use is starting to level off, but the market is still growing in usage.
According to Nordic APIs, industry experts estimated API news source Programmableweb would be tracking over 30,000 active public APIs by 2016, but that estimate fell short. As of January 2017, Programmableweb was tracking over 16,600 active APIs–an increase of around 15,000 since May 2016 according to TechCrunch. However, these numbers only reflect public APIs and do not include private counterparts like Netflix (which switched from public to private).
API Testing for 18 Billion IoT Devices in 2020
The explosive growth in IoT device adoption is poised to push API performance in 2017. These devices essentially rely on APIs for their “smart” functionality. Consumers and businesses are adopting IoT devices so rapidly that in 2016 a major malware attack knocked out dozens of major websites by hijacking IoT devices. According to Statista projections, the total number of IoT devices jumped from 4.91 billion in 2015 to 6.39 billion in 2016. Based on this trend, we can project around 18 billion IoT devices in 2020. (To put this into perspective, remember that there were around two billion smartphone users worldwide in 2016.)
If your business is looking at increasing its API usage in the future, the experts at Apica are ready to help your business predict trends instead of reacting to them through API testing. Contact us today.
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