To Stay Relevant in a Multichannel World, APIs Are a Must [Blog]

While rushing to board her morning train, your customer finds time to scan the Twittersphere for daily top news stories on her mobile device. Upon arriving slightly late at work, she searches for hotel availability for an upcoming business trip on her desktop computer. Later at home, she cozies up with her tablet device to browse her favorite clothing store’s sale selection while watching her nightly sitcom on her laptop device. Consumers’ shift to multi-device usage has accelerated immensely over past years, and accordingly, multiscreen capability is now a prerequisite for brands in any industry.

Usablenet believes that providing an Application Programing Interface (API) platform is essential to build out the capability for brands to deliver unique client-focused experiences on every device. IT teams recognize that a services-based architecture enabled by APIs is a business imperative.

Brands first realized the importance of API development for mobile services through the explosion of native apps that combine user interface, tactile interaction, and integration with device features alongside data delivered via APIs. Unfortunately, options to deliver backend API services require years of planning and costs to perfect, leaving business teams with a conundrum: wait for API creation, or sacrifice multiscreen capability in a growing omnichannel world. Usablenet offers IT teams a faster and more affordable alternative. Leading expert Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm, explores the development of API services through the context of business growth and customer engagement. He writes that the majority of companies are not in the business of building APIs and therefore, businesses should use a platform to build and maintain APIs. Many agree with Moore and are searching for a platform that fits their multichannel plans. Usablenet advocates Moore’s approach and evolved its platform to enable brands to realize their multichannel strategies through services.

Usablenet, the leader in mobile technology with over 12 years of experience and 400 clients, offers patented technology that can deliver clients an API in less than 3 months. The Usablenet platform converts existing Web applications into APIs, leveraging existing IT investments in functionality, security and availability. With Usablenet API services, clients can provide the required service layer to their various marketing, business and third-party vendors to create unique experiences on mobile, in-store, and on tablet. Usablenet API Services can also model existing non-mobile friendly web services such as heavy SOAP-based services into RESTful services along with combining multi-web services from the growing social and mobile world. Usablenet’s platform enables front-end developers to focus on creating great user experiences for customers.

As a cloud based PaaS service, Usablenet API Services can be delivered as a managed service or as a platform for client IT team use. Therefore, API Services are ideal for companies that want to deliver multiscreen experiences quickly and cost-effectively utilizing Usablenet’s developer resources or using their own in-house resources. Usablenet makes it easy to provide robust API services to third-party or in-house developers for multichannel experiences such as apps. In this emerging API economy, Usablenet provides brands with agility, control, and the ability to leverage existing investments in infrastructure, security and business logic. With API capability, businesses have the control and flexibility to do whatever necessary to engage with customers, build their brand, and stay relevant in an increasingly multiscreen world.