Navigating API Hurdles - The Azure API Center Advantage
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Let's dive into how Azure API Center tackles common API integration challenges head-on. We'll explore how this tool simplifies the process of discovering, integrating, and managing APIs, offering clear, actionable examples along the way. Whether you’re a developer or an architect, you'll walk away with concrete strategies to turn API hurdles into stepping stones towards a more efficient digital ecosystem.
Navigating API Hurdles - The Azure API Center Advantage
- 1. Navigating API Hurdles: The Azure API Center Advantage Callon Campbell Microsoft MVP | Azure
- 2. Callon Campbell Azure Architect Microsoft MVP | Azure Adastra LinkedIn: @calloncampbell GitHub: @calloncampbell X: @Flying_Maverick https://TheFlyingMaverick.com
- 3. Agenda • What is Azure API Center? • What are some API Hurdles? • API Inventory • API Governance • API Discovery • Demos • Q&A
- 4. APIs are the backbone of digital transformation, modern apps, and AI interfaces.
- 5. In today’s API-first digital ecosystem, organizations are challenged with an ever-expanding network of APIs.
- 6. What is Azure API Center? Azure API Center provides a centralized API inventory for seamless API discovery, reuse, and governance regardless of API type, lifecycle stage, or deployment location.
- 7. Overcoming API Hurdles with Azure API Center Fragmented API Inventory Poor API Discoverability and Reuse Not all APIs are visible or managed Gartner’s 2022 security predictions: By 2025, less than 50% of enterprise APIs will be managed. Compliance and Security Risks Inconsistent API design plus inability to enforce policies consistently Shadow, Ungoverned APIs low-hanging fruit for attackers Salt API Security Trends 2023: API attacks increased 400% in the last six months of 2022. Reduced Efficiency and Productivity Difficulties in discovering relevant APIs across the organization Developers may resort to developing duplicate functionalities, contributing further to API sprawl
- 8. What is Azure API Management? Azure API Management (APIM) is a managed cloud service designed to streamline and secure the use of APIs.
- 9. Azure API Center vs Azure API Management • While both services are integral to the API ecosystem, they serve distinct purposes: • Azure API Management – Runtime API governance and observability, focusing on the operational aspects of API management, such as securing, publishing, and analyzing APIs in use. • Azure API Center – Design-time API governance, API inventory, and API discovery. • API Management and API Center are complementary services.
- 10. Azure API Center scenarios
- 11. Azure API Center feature areas API Inventory API Governance API Discovery
- 12. API inventory • Build a complete API inventory. • Integrate with API Management to accelerate your API catalog. • Maintain up-to-date API inventory through CI/CD pipelines in GitHub and Azure DevOps. • Supplement API Center built in metadata with your own custom metadata. • Search and filter the API catalog.
- 13. API governance • Enforce API design consistency across your organization with API Analysis. • Customize API design rules to ensure every API complies with your organization's specific standards and practices. • API developers can shift-left API design conformance checks into Visual Studio Code with integrated linting support and breaking change detection. • Download the Spectral extension for Visual Studio Code to run shift-left API Design conformity checks.
- 14. Azure API Center Extension for VS Code Download Azure API Center extension for Visual Studio Code
- 15. API Design-First with Azure API Center and Azure API Management 1 Generate OpenAPI Spec file 2 Check on API design governance 3 Deploy API to APIM 4 Check on API runtime governance 5 API Synchronization
- 16. Elevate discovery with API Center Portal API Center Portal is a web portal that allows developers and stakeholders to seamlessly discover and engage with APIs.
- 17. Comparing API Management and API Center portals Feature API Management developer portal API Center portal (preview) Search and filter API inventory API Management instance only All APIs View API details and definitions Yes Yes View API documentation Yes Yes Customize with branding Yes Name only Integrate with Microsoft Entra ID Yes Yes Add custom widgets Yes No Customize with WordPress Yes No Test APIs in test console Yes No Subscribe to APIs Yes No View API usage analytics Yes No
- 18. Demos API Inventory, Governance, and Discovery
- 19. In summary • Azure API Center provides great tools for API inventory, API governance, and API discovery. • Complementary with Azure API Management. • Azure API Center embraces an API-first strategy to innovation.
- 20. References • Documentation - https://aka.ms/apicenter • Workshop - https://aka.ms/apicenter/workshop • GitHub – https://aka.ms/apic/github • Azure API Center - Visual Studio Marketplace • Azure API Center and Azure API Management service limits, quotas, and constraints | Micr osoft Learn • Azure Integration Services Blog | Microsoft Community Hub
- 21. Callon Campbell Azure Architect Microsoft MVP | Azure LinkedIn: @calloncampbell GitHub: @calloncampbell X: @Flying_Maverick https://TheFlyingMaverick.com Thank you
Editor's Notes
- #2: 20 years enterprise development with Microsoft technologies – .NET (C#), Azure, ASP.NET, Desktop, SQL, and Mobile Passionate about serverless and cloud-native application development, with focus on app migration and modernization, app integration and data analytics Speaker at community events and meetups Organizer of “Canada’s Technology Triangle .NET User Group” in Kitchener, Ontario
- #4: APIs are the backbone of digital transformation, modern apps, and AI interfaces.
- #5: In today’s API-first digital ecosystem, organizations are challenged with an ever-expanding network of APIs. Known as API sprawl, it poses significant challenges in API governance, security, compliance, and reuse. Without a centralized inventory, APIs can become isolated, leading to poor API reuse, lack of alignment with organizational API design and organizational processes, as well as increased vulnerability to security breaches.
- #6: Azure API Center provides a centralized API inventory for seamless API discovery, reuse, and governance regardless of API type, lifecycle stage, or deployment location. This addresses a critical need for centralized API inventory, ensuring that the extraordinary growth of APIs enhances rather than hinders the development process.
- #7: Build a complete and current catalog of all APIs. Enable API best practices at-scale and enforce API design rules across your organization to empower API developers to create APIs in line with these standards, ensuring quality and uniformity across all APIs produced. Foster reusability of your APIs by enabling API consumers to quickly discover and consume the right APIs. Improve API producer and consumer developer experience with our Visual Studio Code extension.
- #8: API Management is comprised of three parts: 1. Management Plane: Tools for administrators to manage API lifecycle, policies, and analytics. 2. API Gateway: Acts as a front door for APIs, handling all incoming requests and routing them to the appropriate backend services. 3. Developer Portal: A customizable portal for API consumers to discover, learn about, and use APIs.
- #9: Azure API Management is geared towards runtime API governance and observability, focusing on the operational aspects of API management, such as securing, publishing, and analyzing APIs in use. Azure API Center, in contrast, is tailored for design-time API governance, helping organizations to maintain a structured inventory of all APIs for better discovery and governance. API Management and API Center are complementary services that, when used together, provide a comprehensive API management solution from design to deployment
- #10: Scenario 1: Azure API Center serves as an API design governance tool for analyzing API definitions based on linting rules to check on API design consistency and quality. Scenario 2: Azure API Center serves as a centralized inventory solution for managing APIs across different API lifecycle stages (e.g. development, testing, production). Scenario 3: Azure API Center serves as a centralized inventory solution for managing APIs across different cloud platforms (e.g. Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud).
- #11: Build a complete and current catalog of all APIs. Enable API best practices at-scale and enforce API design rules across your organization to empower API developers to create APIs in line with these standards, ensuring quality and uniformity across all APIs produced. Foster reusability of your APIs by enabling API consumers to quickly discover and consume the right APIs. Improve API producer and consumer developer experience with our Visual Studio Code extension.
- #12: Build a complete API inventory tailored to organizational needs and requirements using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Visual Studio Code. Accelerate cataloging for APIs in Azure API Management with the capability to import from Azure API Management into API Center via a single CLI command. This enables the establishment of a centralized API Center across various distinct API Management services. Maintain an up-to-date API inventory aligned with API progression through CI/CD pipelines in GitHub and Azure DevOps. Supplement API Center's built-in metadata with additional custom metadata to monitor essential API information specific to the organization, including source control repositories, business units, or API process milestones like security reviews. Search and filter within the Azure portal’s API catalog to oversee the API inventory, details, and enforce governance rules (such as all preview APIs requiring completion of security review).
- #13: Azure API Center provides governance tooling that checks API consistency and compliance with design standards across all APIs. This includes automated reports on all your RESTful APIs, ensuring that your APIs adhere to best practices and industry standards. API Analysis performs a thorough analysis of all API definitions, identifying potential issues and suggesting improvements. This preemptive approach to API quality enhances the reliability of your API landscape.
- #14: Note: I’ve installed and switched to the Pre-Release version of this extension for my demos.
- #16: Enable enterprise developers and API program managers to discover APIs via an API Center portal. The API Center portal is currently in preview.
- #17: Both Azure API Management and Azure API Center provide API portal experiences for developers. The API Center portal can contain all APIs in your organization, including those managed in Azure API Management and other platforms, as well as unmanaged APIs and APIs under development.
- #21: 20 years enterprise development with Microsoft technologies – .NET (C#), Azure, ASP.NET, Desktop, SQL, and Mobile Passionate about serverless and cloud-native application development, with focus on app migration and modernization, app integration and data analytics Speaker at community events and meetups Organizer of “Canada’s Technology Triangle .NET User Group” in Kitchener, Ontario