Software architecture can determine the winners as companies digitize

Companies around the world are expected to spend over $1 trillion this year on digital transformation, and more than double that by 2025. Today, it’s not just about digitizing physical and analog processes, but also adopting cloud-native architecture and microservices. It’s not cheap, and it certainly has never been easy, but it is necessary for any business that wants to thrive in today’s global and volatile market.

While some tech-focused organizations are leading the way, others — for example, the healthcare industry and government agencies — are still lagging behind in digital transformation.

The adoption of new technologies by companies went in overdrive in the past two years, as public health guidelines forced companies to find new ways to buy, sell and communicate with customers and colleagues. But the digitization of major industries started years earlier. For example, as consumer preferences and expectations changed, a company like Spotify was able to disrupt the old music delivery model, causing hundreds of radio stations to scramble to stay relevant. Airbnb used software to change the hospitality industry, and Uber’s technology changed the transportation industry forever.

We are in a new era of fundamental change, a time when technology is enabling brand new business models and making older ones obsolete. In response, companies must adapt and put technology first so they can stay competitive and grow. Software can no longer be considered an afterthought. Whatever industry you’re in, if you have a look to the future, it’s time to think of yourself as a software company.

New mentality

Today, technology is just as important to a retailer or restaurant chain as it is to a software company. All businesses should prioritize digital transformation and while the software may not be a physical, tangible project, businesses should invest in their technology like any other product.

One way to do this is by investing in a Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). APIs are a powerful tool that can keep businesses agile. Basically, APIs connect a company’s digital infrastructure, allowing them to share information with customers, partners and internally. APIs open up businesses to value through the automated exchange of information and services with others that can enrich experiences, add products, and even create new industries. If companies prioritize APIs within their technology tool stacks, it could change the way they do business, helping even small to medium-sized businesses remain competitive and agile.

With APIs, new integrations can be added that enable new experiences and value for customers – which will only become more important as time goes on – without additional time or cost. They can even help streamline internal processes.

By embracing APIs, those left behind in digital transformation can better serve people by gaining more flexibility and responsiveness, both of which are things they struggle with today.

Shifting the focus to APIs as a new and distinct discipline expands the digital offering, making it easy for businesses to adapt and become winners, just like Spotify. They won’t worry anymore if one software system can’t play well with another system in the schoolyard. APIs are like the teacher that makes them get along.

The most important thing for any business is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of current technology assets and then work towards a strategy that is coherent and collaborative across all relevant departments, from IT to business strategy. Software architecture strategy should become a focal point in your company’s digital evolution and should not be disconnected from the work and planning that takes place in other departments. It should sit alongside the other elements of your company’s roadmap.

Take a design-first approach to your software integration strategy

When developing the strategy, start by prioritizing APIs for software. Then turn a traditional concept on its head: instead of being “code first” or starting to create APIs with the required coding, try a design-first approach. This means that you need to create a comprehensive plan for what will be built before a line of code is written. This provides a better developer experience, more consistency, cost savings and even improved security. Think of the relationship between a blueprint and a finished building, and you can see how building something great starts with design, not laying the bricks.

Both humans and computers need to be able to understand and work with the API, and its design will advance the creation of any digital tool your company makes.

To get the maximum value, you need to involve every team in your company in the development of an API, from your developers to your security team and even your executives (executive buy-in to your API program is essential!). Even the least tech-savvy will have concerns and ideas that need to be considered before coding begins. When the entire team understands and appreciates the API, so will business partners and customers.

Create the API so that it provides maximum benefit to every stakeholder in your business, because the days when only tech giants and software innovators are “API companies” are long gone. Today, over 83% of all web traffic comes from some form of API and 90% of developers use APIs. If for any reason or on a regular basis your business needs to reach a digital audience, become an API company. If you want to be successful and stay competitive in this hyper-digital age, you need to think of yourself as an API company and follow the right strategy.

APIs are proliferating and any company that still considers them an afterthought is at risk of being left behind. Those who embrace them can remain flexible, expand their technology offerings and will no longer fear the future, but help shape it.

Steve Rodda is CEO of Stoplight.