It's often hard to reconcile what is being written vs. what APIs actually deliver to a business. Here are the top five reasons a business needs APIs.
Powering new business models
Pure-play API companies such as Twilio and Sendgrid have shown APIs can in fact be products in their own right – becoming the core offering for the company or a large business unit. While this does not apply to all companies, enabling and delivering a valuable service to third-party developers and partners has clear revenue potential. Furthermore, if successful, this strategy has the potential to become an element of core infrastructure for its users and hence create a strong, loyal following of partners, savvy developers experienced in the APIs, and an ecosystem of third-party tools.