The document outlines an API operating model playbook aimed at guiding organizations in releasing value through digital ecosystems. It emphasizes the need for businesses to build targeted APIs, invest selectively in user experience, and adopt standards to drive efficiency and consistency in API development. Key strategies include articulating business drivers, creating a single cross-functional API product team, and automating processes to alleviate bottlenecks in API delivery.

1. The API Operating Model:
A Playbook for Value Release
1
Ronnie Mitra
ronnie.mitra@publicissapient.com
@mitraman
linkedin.com/in/ronniemitra/

2. OUR SCALE OUR CLIENTS
PUBLICIS GROUPE
20,000
Passionate People
50+
Offices Globally Connected
30
Years of Digital Pioneering
and Customer Innovation
YOU
We are the
Digital Business
Transformation
hub of Publicis
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Global Digital Business Transformation
Accelerators, Q1 2019
Publicis Sapient | Digital Business Transformation

3. About Me
Ronnie Mitra
API Strategy
Consultant & Author
@mitraman
linkedin.com/in/ronniemitra/

4. you
Your customers Your customers
4
The API Effect:
Digital value chains have shifted from a direct model to an ecosystem model.
How will you release value in this new world?
you
BEFORE APIs AFTER APIs

5. At the macro level, to succeed you’ll
need to manage two ecosystems:
An external ecosystem that lives
above the “waterline” of your
organization…
…and an internal ecosystem below
the waterline that drives your product
experiences.
API CHANNEL
INTERNAL ECOSYSTEM
SERVICE
PROVIDERS
OPEN
PLATFORMS
RELATIONSHIP
PARTNERS
YOUR
CHANNELS
Mobile
Apps
Web
Store
REGULATED
PARTNERS
EXTERNAL ECOSYSTEM
The “waterline”

6. The Ecosystem Value Release Playbook
Start with Why Invest in Experience SelectivelyBuild Value-Driven APIs
One API Product Team Scale with Standards Automate your Factory
PLAY #1:
Start with “why”
11
Reduce the cost of reaching your existing
customers across diverse touchpoints
CUSTOMER REACH
Increase ideation potential and reduce the cost of idea
execution and partnership with an API platform
PRODUCT INNOVATION
Generate direct revenue by charging customers to
use the API
REVENUE (API MONETIZATION)
Increase data acquisition for analysis and intelligence
through an API channel
DATA ACQUISITION
Increase growth of core products in other channels
by extending your offering through an API channel
PRODUCT GROWTH
Address regulatory requirements
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
What are
your
ecosystem
drivers?
SITUATION:
Initiating or improving your ecosystem strategy
THE PLAY:
Articulate your business drivers and prioritize them.
PLAY #2:
Build targeted APIs
11
SITUATION:
Building an API product catalog for the ecosystem
THE PLAY:
Map value from your drivers to the APIs you need to build
Needs, Stories, Journeys,
Pain relievers
Build targeted APIs for the developer journeys that unlock ecosystem value
Identify the “keystone”
developer communities unlock
ecosystem value based on our
drivers
Use ecosystem maps
to identify partners
and customers to
reach
Start with
your drivers
Find the interactions
that would best serve
these communities,
personas and developers
API
API
API
Build a backlog of APIs to
unlock ecosystem value
PLAY #3:
Invest in experience selectively
10
SITUATION:
Designing and building an API channel experience for the market
THE PLAY:
Adopt a value-centric approach to your DX investment
The Kano Model:
q Have you addressed your audience’s basic needs?
q Will more “performance” functions return value?
q Do you need to invest in ”delighters”?
Example: Testing Experience Features
Make simple API calls from my browser BASIC
Make simple API calls from my client software BASIC
Test/validate simple errors PERF
Control response messages, errors and latency PERF
Test security access and my credentials PERF
Manage my sandbox with an API DELIGHTER
See my message traces and analytics DELIGHTER
Manage the state of my test environment DELIGHTER
Test/validate business logic DELIGHTER
Download, deploy and run my test environment locally DELIGHTER
TRANSFORMTHEMARKET
Which features will unlock ecosystem value for you?
User
Satisfaction
Feature
Implementation
PLAY #6:
Automate your Factory
13
SITUATION:
Governance is creating bottlenecks in API delivery
THE PLAY:
Introduce automation and tooling to improve flow
Your Developers
Machine Interface Pipeline
Documentation Pipeline
Scoring
Governance Team
Interface
Lint
Docs
Lint
Security
Assessment
SDKs
Documentation
Templates
Product Pipeline
Tools help developers build
compliant APIs faster
Cookbooks
and User Guides
for Standards
Test Scripts
Automated pipelines remove validation
effort and improve quality
Gateway
Deployment
Catalog
Assesment
Dashboards and analytics help API teams
find problems sooner
Dashboards
PLAY #5:
Scale with Standards and Governance
12
SITUATION:
The product team can’t scale to meet backlog demand
THE PLAY:
Build a system of co-ordination through standardization
Build a platform of standards and governance to scale API product development – while
maintaining product consistency .
Interface Style
Standards can be defined for the entire API product
lifecycle
Deployment Model
Vocabularies
Design Process
Security
Message
Documentation
Quality Eng.
Deprecation and Migration
Cataloguing
Support
Model
Analytics
Versioning
Implement a standards pipeline and governance journey
DEFINE TEST PUBLISH
STANDARDSPIPELINE
CHALLENGE
DESIGN REVIEW PUBLISH
APIPIPELINE
APIAPI
PLAY #4:
Drive consistency with a single product team
10
SITUATION:
Building multiple APIs for the ecosystem
THE PLAY:
Create a single API product team for ecosystem APIs
Inconsistency kills the API developer experience because it multiplies interaction costs.
Drive consistency by forming a single, cross-functional API product team
A single team owns all API
experiences above the waterline.
APIAPI API
Each team offers their own API
product to the ecosystem
APIAPI API
USABILITY FRICTION!
CONSISTENT EXPERIENCE

7. PLAY #1:
Start with “why”
7
Reduce the cost of reaching your existing
customers across diverse touchpoints
CUSTOMER REACH
Increase ideation potential and reduce the cost of idea
execution and partnership with an API platform
PRODUCT INNOVATION
Generate direct revenue by charging customers to
use the API
REVENUE (API MONETIZATION)
Increase data acquisition for analysis and intelligence
through an API channel
DATA ACQUISITION
Increase growth of core products in other channels
by extending your offering through an API channel
PRODUCT GROWTH
Address regulatory requirements
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
What are
your
ecosystem
drivers?
SITUATION:
Initiating or improving your ecosystem strategy
THE PLAY:
Articulate your business drivers, then prioritize and measure them

8. PLAY #2:
Build Value-Driven APIs
8
SITUATION:
Building an API product catalog for the ecosystem
THE PLAY:
Map value from your drivers to the APIs you need to build
Needs, Stories, Journeys
Build targeted APIs for the developer journeys that unlock ecosystem value
Identify the “keystone”
developer communities unlock
ecosystem value based on our
drivers
Use ecosystem maps
to identify partners
and customers to
reach
Start with
your drivers
Find the interactions
that would best serve
these communities,
personas and developers
API
API
API
Build a backlog of APIs and
value propositions to unlock
ecosystem value

9. PLAY #3:
Invest in experience selectively
9
SITUATION:
Designing and building an API channel experience for the market
THE PLAY:
Adopt a value-centric approach to your DX investment
The Kano Model:
q Have you addressed your audience’s basic needs?
q Will more “performance” functions return value?
q Do you need to invest in ”delighters”?
Example: Testing Experience Features
Make simple API calls from my browser BASIC
Make simple API calls from my client software BASIC
Test/validate simple errors PERF
Control response messages, errors and latency PERF
Test security access and my credentials PERF
Manage my sandbox with an API DELIGHTER
See my message traces and analytics DELIGHTER
Manage the state of my test environment DELIGHTER
Test/validate business logic DELIGHTER
Download, deploy and run my test environment locally DELIGHTER
TRANSFORMTHEMARKET
Which features will unlock ecosystem value for you?
User
Satisfaction
Feature
Implementation

10. PLAY #4:
Drive consistency with a single product team
10
SITUATION:
Building multiple APIs for the ecosystem
THE PLAY:
Create a single API product team for ecosystem APIs
Inconsistency kills the API developer experience because it multiplies interaction costs.
Drive consistency by forming a single, cross-functional API product team
A single team owns all API
experiences above the waterline.
APIAPI API
Each team offers their own API
product to the ecosystem
APIAPI API
USABILITY FRICTION!
CONSISTENT EXPERIENCE

11. PLAY #5:
Scale with Standards and Governance
11
SITUATION:
The product team can’t scale to meet backlog demand
THE PLAY:
Build a system of co-ordination through standardization
Build a platform of standards and governance to scale API product development – while
maintaining product consistency .
Interface Style
Standards can be defined for the entire API product
lifecycle
Deployment Model
Vocabularies
Design Process
Security
Message
Documentation
Quality Eng.
Deprecation and Migration
Cataloguing
Support
Model
Analytics
Versioning
Implement a standards pipeline and governance journey
DEFINE TEST PUBLISH
STANDARDSPIPELINE
CHALLENGE
DESIGN REVIEW PUBLISH
APIPIPELINE
APIAPI

12. PLAY #6:
Automate your Factory
12
SITUATION:
Governance is creating bottlenecks in API delivery
THE PLAY:
Introduce automation and tooling to improve flow
Your Developers
Machine Interface Pipeline
Documentation Pipeline
Scoring
Governance Team
Interface
Lint
Docs
Lint
Security
Assessment
SDKs
Documentation
Templates
Product Pipeline
Tools help developers build
compliant APIs faster
Cookbooks
and User Guides
for Standards
Test Scripts
Automated pipelines remove validation
effort and improve quality
Gateway
Deployment
Catalog
Assesment
Dashboards and analytics help API teams
find problems sooner
Dashboards

13. The Ecosystem Value Release Playbook
Start with Why Invest in Experience SelectivelyBuild Value-Driven APIs
One API Product Team Scale with Standards Automate your Factory
PLAY #1:
Start with “why”
11
Reduce the cost of reaching your existing
customers across diverse touchpoints
CUSTOMER REACH
Increase ideation potential and reduce the cost of idea
execution and partnership with an API platform
PRODUCT INNOVATION
Generate direct revenue by charging customers to
use the API
REVENUE (API MONETIZATION)
Increase data acquisition for analysis and intelligence
through an API channel
DATA ACQUISITION
Increase growth of core products in other channels
by extending your offering through an API channel
PRODUCT GROWTH
Address regulatory requirements
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
What are
your
ecosystem
drivers?
SITUATION:
Initiating or improving your ecosystem strategy
THE PLAY:
Articulate your business drivers and prioritize them.
PLAY #2:
Build targeted APIs
11
SITUATION:
Building an API product catalog for the ecosystem
THE PLAY:
Map value from your drivers to the APIs you need to build
Needs, Stories, Journeys,
Pain relievers
Build targeted APIs for the developer journeys that unlock ecosystem value
Identify the “keystone”
developer communities unlock
ecosystem value based on our
drivers
Use ecosystem maps
to identify partners
and customers to
reach
Start with
your drivers
Find the interactions
that would best serve
these communities,
personas and developers
API
API
API
Build a backlog of APIs to
unlock ecosystem value
PLAY #3:
Invest in experience selectively
10
SITUATION:
Designing and building an API channel experience for the market
THE PLAY:
Adopt a value-centric approach to your DX investment
The Kano Model:
q Have you addressed your audience’s basic needs?
q Will more “performance” functions return value?
q Do you need to invest in ”delighters”?
Example: Testing Experience Features
Make simple API calls from my browser BASIC
Make simple API calls from my client software BASIC
Test/validate simple errors PERF
Control response messages, errors and latency PERF
Test security access and my credentials PERF
Manage my sandbox with an API DELIGHTER
See my message traces and analytics DELIGHTER
Manage the state of my test environment DELIGHTER
Test/validate business logic DELIGHTER
Download, deploy and run my test environment locally DELIGHTER
TRANSFORMTHEMARKET
Which features will unlock ecosystem value for you?
User
Satisfaction
Feature
Implementation
PLAY #6:
Automate your Factory
13
SITUATION:
Governance is creating bottlenecks in API delivery
THE PLAY:
Introduce automation and tooling to improve flow
Your Developers
Machine Interface Pipeline
Documentation Pipeline
Scoring
Governance Team
Interface
Lint
Docs
Lint
Security
Assessment
SDKs
Documentation
Templates
Product Pipeline
Tools help developers build
compliant APIs faster
Cookbooks
and User Guides
for Standards
Test Scripts
Automated pipelines remove validation
effort and improve quality
Gateway
Deployment
Catalog
Assesment
Dashboards and analytics help API teams
find problems sooner
Dashboards
PLAY #5:
Scale with Standards and Governance
12
SITUATION:
The product team can’t scale to meet backlog demand
THE PLAY:
Build a system of co-ordination through standardization
Build a platform of standards and governance to scale API product development – while
maintaining product consistency .
Interface Style
Standards can be defined for the entire API product
lifecycle
Deployment Model
Vocabularies
Design Process
Security
Message
Documentation
Quality Eng.
Deprecation and Migration
Cataloguing
Support
Model
Analytics
Versioning
Implement a standards pipeline and governance journey
DEFINE TEST PUBLISH
STANDARDSPIPELINE
CHALLENGE
DESIGN REVIEW PUBLISH
APIPIPELINE
APIAPI
PLAY #4:
Drive consistency with a single product team
10
SITUATION:
Building multiple APIs for the ecosystem
THE PLAY:
Create a single API product team for ecosystem APIs
Inconsistency kills the API developer experience because it multiplies interaction costs.
Drive consistency by forming a single, cross-functional API product team
A single team owns all API
experiences above the waterline.
APIAPI API
Each team offers their own API
product to the ecosystem
APIAPI API
USABILITY FRICTION!
CONSISTENT EXPERIENCE

14. The API Operating Model:
A Playbook for Value Release
14
Ronnie Mitra
ronnie.mitra@publicissapient.com