Currently, most organizations have a plurality of software platforms/solutions/applications, which are used for their internal activities or external activities. Internal activities may comprise of project management, time management, payroll management, leave policies and so on. External activities may comprise of client interactions, client servicing, business channel specific consumer interactions and so on. The organizations may also have a plurality of types of devices that may access their applications/platforms/solutions (either by their employees, clients, users and so on), wherein the devices may be at least one of a tablet, a computer, a laptop, a smart phone and so on. The devices may be using a plurality of Operating Systems (OS) such as Windows (8, 7, XP and so on), MacOS, Linux (Ubuntu, RedHat and so on), Android, IOS, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and so on. These software applications/platforms/solutions have to interact with each other and enable users with any type of device to use these applications/platforms/solutions to enable smooth and business relevant operations in the organization.
An API (Application Programming Interface) may be used to enable the various software applications/platforms/solutions to interact with each other. The APIs may also be used to enable the applications/platforms/solutions to interact with devices, irrespective of the type of device and OS (provided that an API has been provisioned to enable a device running an OS to access the platform/service). Creation of an API may comprise of a plurality of steps such as integration of backend functionalities, transformational exercise (from back end to front end) and device compliance. These steps require a large effort on part of the organization and the involved employees. The initial effort may be in terms of finding the right people to implement these steps in a suitable manner. Further effort may be in terms of time and a large code footprint generated. There are development environments which enable users to develop APIs in an integrated fashion. The APIs are created without much of an underlying plan, and thus the design of the system using the API is cobbled together based on short term gains.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds