What is API-led Integration?

API-led Integration is the process of connecting data and applications via APIs (application programming interfaces). It allows integration flows to be defined and reused by multiple parties inside and outside of the organization.

API-led integration is becoming an important integration strategy due to the increasing complexity of IT architectures that contain very different applications and data sources, that are hosted on-premises, in the cloud, and beyond . API-led integration forms a foundation for interoperability across an enterprise ecosystem that abstracts away the differences across information assets, so that API customers don’t have to understand the technical details of those assets. This approach accelerates the connectivity of information assets across the enterprise.

Traditionally, information assets have been connected together via enterprise service busses (ESBs). While these platforms still play a role in an enterprise, they don’t scale to connect cloud, SaaS, and IoT assets. An API-led approach creates a ‘pluggable’ approach to integration that helps break down information silos across the enterprise.