‘Digitisation and Digitalisation’ has emerged as a hot topic. Why is this relevant to APIs?
With so much legacy technology in the Banking Industry generally, APIs open up opportunities to leverage it more effectively. They offer the ability to connect legacy data into new, more powerful software and systems. Such interoperability means that sponsors can maintain that legacy data’s usefulness and leverage fresh, new processing capabilities.
APIs can ‘consume’ i.e. pull in live – or legacy – data which can then be processed by the functionality of a new application. This is hugely attractive to Banks where significant sunk cost might otherwise be just that – sunk. An API can extend the life of legacy data until such point that either the legacy data is no longer useful, or a new application can be used to replace the legacy context altogether.
APIs do not transform data; they are a standardised interface that is implemented and through which an application provides access to its resources. Examples of how we have been using APIs for many years now, include integration with core account systems at several Clients and integration with an external account opening system, to create (post), get (get) and subsequently update (put) accounts in MYRIAD, as part of that Client’s account opening process. The same API is also integrated with automated testing tools, as part of the Bank’s deployment pipeline.
APIs represent a significant part of the industry’s new landscape. They are one way to mitigate the risk – and cost – associated with updating old technology, while preserving the usefulness of the data warehoused in old technology. Adoption of an API strategy could radically de-risk migration from old technology, as well as underpinning the value of the ‘new’. De-risking includes faster time-to-market, adoption of best-of-breed technology, a move away from in-house development and all-round lower cost.
Two things remain paramount: a shift in mind-set to move on from a reliance on the I.T. department to a much more Dev Ops approach. There is a cost, resource, standardisation, simplification and integration angle to the adoption of APIs, all of which need to be considered.
Integration is key and should be the priority: Dev Ops are far better placed to leverage third-party software and platforms, optimising modern technology and the interoperability between old and new data; Dev Ops’ focus should be specification, refinement, integration and ultimately execution on projects. APIs are one way of doing this and this is a much more cost-effective use of resource.
The second aspect brings this commentary full circle – the success of APIs and their adoption is contingent upon the digitisation of data, the digitalisation of the processes surrounding the digitised data, and the safe storage of that data in a highly secure context that is interfaced by, potentially, multiple APIs. This is the route to substantial cost saving, greater efficiency and significant value-added future returns on investment.
Simon Shepherd
CEO,
MYRIAD Group Technologies Limited
