SPEAKER: Hello, welcome to the session
on building the right API team.
As part of this video, we'll talk you
through our recommendations when it
comes to forming your API team, the responsibilities,
and the various roles involved.
So to start things off, let's take a look
at the digital value chain.
You might have seen this diagram before.
But to briefly explain, the digital value chain
shows the relationship between the various teams
and technologies from the aimed consumer
all the way down to the back end systems.
For this session, will be focusing specifically
on the API team shown here in the chain.
The API team builds, yep, you guessed it, the APIs.
This is the team that will be working directly with your API
platform to create lovable APIs for your app developers.
In terms of responsibility, the API team owns 5 core areas.
First is building highly consumable APIs.
The keyword here is consumable.
We recommend approaching API design and implementation
from the outside in, rather than the inside out.
What this means is that the API team will always
need to keep the end consumer in mind when approaching APIs
in the case of our digital value chain,
this is the app developer.
The API team should always be asking itself,
if I were an app developer, what type of APIs what
I want to consume?
Second is learning and applying best practices to the APIs
that they will be building.
We promote a variety of industry best practices
when it comes to the design, development, and the deployment
of your APIs.
Please refer to the Docs page or a self-service training
on Kyocera for additional details.
Third is engagement.
Similar to our focus on consumable APIs,
the API team should be engaged with all the players
in the digital value chain.
This includes back end system teams,
which the APIs will front, to the app developer,
in order to gain valuable insights to unearth areas
to further iterate on and to enhance your existing services.
Scalability is also very important
when it comes to your API program.
Oftentimes, we see that the API team starts small, but grows
rapidly as more and more demand comes down the pipeline.
In these scenarios, federation becomes very important.
The API team owns the creation and the management
of materials that allows for the entire organization
to rapidly scale.
This includes things like the API playbook, automated test
suites, and more.
Finally, API should always be improving.
By leveraging capabilities of the platforms,
such as analytics, the API team can gain valuable insight into
who's using the APIs and how.
This information allows the API team
to find areas of improvement and enhancements based on real data
that they are seeing.
Remember our focus on consumability?
This information can help a lot with that we strongly
believe in the fast and iterative approach
to development.
Market shifts happen, rapidly and your API team
needs to be able to adapt and be flexible in its delivery
approach.
As a result, we recommend a methodology
such as agile for your program.
Similarly, the API team is composed in a similar fashion
to a standard scrum team.
A diverse set of perspectives is also very important,
which we'll cover more detail when we talk about roles.
Having different viewpoints that encompass the business,
technical, and operational views,
will streamline your API development process.
So now that we've covered the basics,
let's jump into the individual roles of an API team.
There are 5 main roles when it comes to a good API team.
They are the API team leader, the architect,
the API developers, the evangelists,
and the extended team.
Let's spend the next few minutes going over each one.
The API team leader is essentially a product owner.
Now note that I said product owner and not project manager.
As mentioned before, the API team we're suggesting
is based off the standard scrum model.
So the API team leader is essentially
your product owner in scrum.
As such, the team leader should be
aligned with both the business and the IT,
and have a good understanding of the needs of the consumer,
for example, the app developer.
The team leader also helps create, refine, and prioritize
the scope for the API team.
When it comes down to it, the team leader
will be the one that makes the call if trade offs are needed
in the event that the API team doesn't have the bandwidth
to complete all the items.
The architect is critical to the API team.
Not only do they bridge the gap between the API team
leader and the API developers, they also
establish and enforce API best practices
and keep a common design cadence.
Their approach to the API design is
consumer focused and educates the wider API team on how
to leverage the API Platform.
In summary, they're part designer, part teacher,
and part enforcer.
The API developers is your core development group.
At the end of the day, these are the folks that
are going to get the job done.
The API developers will look to the API team
leader for guidance on the scope and the architect
for their design principles.
They will then take those inputs and build out the actual APIs.
As you would expect, the API developers
should be very familiar with the API Platform.
Without the API developers, nothing
will get built, so be sure you're nice them.
The evangelist's is the mascot for the API program.
They're responsible for not only outreaching to your API
consumers, but also creating and nurturing
a developer community.
They can provide valuable feedback
from the field, which can then directly
impact the direction of the API program.
A good evangelist will be critical in expanding
the audience of your APIs, both within
and outside of your organization.
The extended team is also very important in getting your APIs
out to production.
The extended team covers organizations such as security,
QA, operations, and others.
The extended team and their processes
may vary depending on how your organization is set up.
But the key takeaway is that these teams
should support rather than obstruct your time to market.
So before we wrap up, let's cover some common attributes
that all successful API teams have.
First, a successful API team should have the support
of an executive sponsor.
Chances are, the API team will continue
to push the envelope of innovation
within your organization.
So having a strong executive sponsor
can help clear any of those roadblocks
that they may face when challenging the status quo.
Second, the API teams should be solely focused on APIs.
We often see API teams consist of developers who are also
shared with other projects.
This not only can lead to issues with resourcing and bandwidth,
but also affect the direction of your APIs,
such as cutting corners and striving away
from best practices.
Third, there must be a willingness to train others
within the organization.
As your API program grows, so will the demand.
This in turn can lead to an influx of APIs that will
need to be created or enhanced.
Chances are the API team that you start off with will expand,
and as new members are brought in,
they need to be trained on the foundational design
philosophies you've already established.
In the world of APIs and the consumer focused approach,
a consistent API experience is key.
Fourth, the API team should have a direct line to the business.
There shouldn't be any silos between the business
and technical teams.
Makes sense, right?
If the API team has a better understanding of the business
vision and the impacts to the end consumers,
the better the APIs will be, since they
will ensure that the business vision is properly achieved.
Finally, the API team should be free
from pre-existing constraints.
As we mentioned before, the API team
should strive on innovation and not
be constrained by outdated governance models or processes.
In the world of APIs, time to market
is critical, so welcome change rather than
trying to fit it within an insufficient process.
In closing we totally understand of the concept discussed
in this video may seem a little challenging, especially if you
already have a governance or delivery
structure in place today.
Remember that the start always requires the greatest effort,
but if you can overcome these challenges
and embrace the ideas we just covered,
you have a more robust and innovative API team.
Thank you.