An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a method by which applications can communicate with other systems and is just a technical term for “connector”.
With the connected nature of the internet, APIs are a way of allowing applications to connect and interact with one another in a controlled manner.
Examples of uses for APIs include connecting your website to a Marketing Automation platform or CRM so that when someone fills in a form on your site they automatically receive a welcome email or are created as a Contact.
Often times applications will have connectors of some sort pre-built so that users can easily install and connect to their system in order to leverage the provided functionality. Other times there may be a scenario where the system in question provides an API but there is no “plugin” which can just be installed and start working – instead it’s more like a translation manual that tells you how to connect to it but you still need to build the connection yourself. On the other side of the coin, sometimes you may have an application that you want to allow another system to connect to – in a secure and controlled manner.
These last 2 scenarios are where we come in. Whether you need to integrate with an outside system’s API (that may or may not have any real documentation – we’ve worked with it all), or extend your own in order to provide a secure, controlled method to allow outside systems to access specific data – our team can help get you connected!
