I wrote an earlier article that basic API design guidelines are your first step towards API governance, but I wanted to introduce another first step you should be taking even before basic API design guides–cataloging all of your APIs. I’m regularly surprised by the number of companies I’m talking with who don’t even know where all of their APIs are. Sometimes, but not always, there is some sort of API directory or catalog in place, but often times it is out of date, and people just aren’t registering their APIs, or following any common approach to delivering APIs within an organization–hence the need for API governance.
My recommendation is that even before you start thinking about what your governance will look like, or even mention the word to anyone, you take inventory of what is already happening. Develop an org chart, and begin having conversations. Identify EVERYONE who is developing APIs, and start tracking how they are doing what they do. Sure, you want to get an inventory of all the APIs each individual or team is developing or operating, but you should also be documenting all the tooling, services, and processes they employ as part of their workflow. Ideally, there is some sort of continuous deployment workflow in place, but this isn’t a reality in many of the organizations I work with, so mapping out how things get done is often the first order of business. https://goo.gl/H1C9m7 #DataIntegration #ML
