Gartner Research

Reference Model for API Management Solutions

Published: 27 March 2023

Summary

API management technologies must support the full life cycle of APIs, enable a well-governed API development process, meet distinct organizational needs and be adaptable. Software engineering leaders should use this reference model to guide their implementation choices.

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Overview

Key Findings
  • Organizations struggle to define and implement full life cycle API management solutions that adapt to evolving capability demands, due to absence of vendor-agnostic reference models to guide them.

  • There is a continuing increase of dedicated API management tools that offer compelling alternatives to the built-in capabilities of API management suites.

  • The OpenAPI Specification (OAS) for REST APIs, and emerging specifications for GraphQL and asynchronous APIs (AsyncAPI), increases interoperability potential of API management technologies and, in turn, improves opportunities to select candidates that best deliver required capabilities.

Recommendations

For software engineering leaders responsible for API management:

  • Evaluate your existing or targeted API management

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Analysts:

Paul Dumas

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