www.pwc.

com/techforecast

The business value of APIs

PwC Technology Forecast 2012,

Issue 2

December, 2012
Speakers

•  Moderator: Sam Ramji, Apigee

•  Bo Parker, Center for Technology & Innovation, PwC
§  The Business value of APIs
•  Scott Monson , Strategy Advisory, PwC
§  Getting Business Value from APIs

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 Cloud PwC Center for
computing Technology & Innovation
Enterprise http://www. pwc.com/cti
mobility
Enterprise
innovation

Social
technology

Sustainability

Advanced
analytics

Architecture
Infrastructure

Applications

Data

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Background

How should clients (CIOs) deal with the challenges from multiple
disruptive trends, Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud (SMAC) happening
together?

Challenges:
•  Pace of change in the marketplace
•  Demand for new apps, services, features
•  Customer power (Consumerization of IT)

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Interviews

David Zanca Jon Donovan

SVP of IT, Customer Access, Senior EVP
and Revenue Systems Technology & Network Ops
FedEx Services AT&T

Thomas Wicinski
Mark Noworolski
VP Digital Access Marketing
Chief Technology Officer
FedEx Services
Streetline

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Interviews
Laura Merling
SVP of Application Enablement
Sam Ramji
Alcatel-Lucent
VP Strategy
Apigee

Devon Biondi
VP Strategy Services John Musser
Mashery Founder Programmableweb
Alcatel-Lucent

Brian Katz
Director, head of mobility industrialization
& engineering group
Sanofi.

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How are leaders responding to the
SMAC challenge?

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How are successful enterprises strategically managing the
confluence of SMAC and related emerging trends?

They are rethinking their enterprise architectures and emphasizing three

fundamental changes:
1.  Shift in value driver: digitization of business ecosystem means
information content accounts for a faster rising proportion of the
overall value of any product or service.
2.  Shift in operating model: tapping into new drivers of value using a
digital operating model, a model attuned to participating in or
integrating with expanding digital ecosystems.
3.  Shift in architecture: adjusting their business and IT architectures
to take advantage of the rise of RESTful APIs to become a
permeable enterprise.

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 Case example: Streetline and Parking ecosystem

Business ecosystems are becoming more digitized, where information content

accounts for a rising proportion of the entire value of any product or service.
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Tapping rising value of linked information

“We were looking for something where we can assign a

value to each one of those bits of information.”

“We use this [parking spot availability and payment]

information to create a smart parking ecosystem.”
—Mark Noworolski, Streetline

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Value drivers are shifting

A consequence of SMAC is that value from bits

PwC will rise faster than from atoms. 11
Case example: FedEx, a culture of valuing information

•  “information about package

as valuable as package”
•  All assets instrumented and
connected
•  Innovations on customer
access to information
•  Architecture for low cost
interactions in the ecosystem

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A culture of valuing information gives FedEx a
digital operating model

“Information about the package helps us run our business

better. That comes from a digital operating model where all
our assets are connected and surface information to increase
overall value to us and the customer.”
—David Zanca, FedEx Services

“Not only do our customers want more information about the

packages, but they also now want more interaction with
FedEx and expect us to react to changes and resolve
problems if they occur.”
—Thomas Wicinski, FedEx Services

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Why companies do not have a Digital operating model?

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Emerging use of APIs scale integrations
Use of external facing APIs to make connections in a digital ecosystem is rising

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Growth driven by REST style of APIs

REST connections are stateless, loosely coupled and use popular web protocols
Although not suitable in all cases, REST is simpler and scales easily
PwC Create permeability, promotes co-creation in digital ecosystems 16
AT&T: A permeable enterprise
AT&T’s API program:
•  key pillar of innovation strategy
•  an architecture to move at the
pace of change
•  future proofs existing assets
•  makes AT&T network into a
platform and addressable by
other innovators
•  creates permeability

“[The API program] is an

architectural choice one
makes for speed.”
—John Donovan, AT&T
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AT&T’s goal is to make its network the most
addressable network globally.

“If you have infrastructure assets and are going to

operate at a pace at which the external market is moving,
you have to take capabilities—industry-specific or not—
and make platforms from them.”
—John Donovan, AT&T

“We’re pivoting toward thinking about architecting

everything we do in a more API-centric way”
—Jacob Feinstein

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Open IT: CIO enabling the permeable enterprise

Open IT builds on prior SOA efforts to scale integrations and engage

internally and externally with digital ecosystems.
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Getting Business Value from APIs

Scott Monson
Director, Strategy Advisory
PwC US Advisory

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 SMAC: The power of the social enterprise
The forces of SMAC transform the way firms collaborate
with their stakeholders to unlock new value

1. Business Objectives
Employees
Legacy Business Processes

Trading Partners
2. Innovation Strategy
Markets

Stakeholders Operating Model Dimensions

3. Organization 7. Funding

4. Culture 8. Portfolio

5. Governance 9. Processes

6. Team/Resources 10. Ecosystem

11. Motivators & Metrics

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 Why APIs: Business Drivers
•  Agile, modernized environment
•  Partner friendly
Relevance •  Permeable

•  Low touch sales channels

•  Time to market
•  Self-service

Cost
Reduction API Innovation

•  Co-creation
•  Wisdom of the crowd

•  New distribution channels

•  New markets Revenue
•  New services and business models

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PwC CTI http://www.pwc.com/techforecast
Typical Engagement Elements ‘Whole Product’ Solution Life-Cycle

PwC 1 .Strategy

5. Developer
2. Productize
Program

4. API
Optimization
3. Expose
and Manage Apigee
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API Strategy – answer key questions related to program success by
using fundamentals to define, approach and plan

What data What can be Who is How well do Do you

What can be
and services made interested in you engage aggregate
monetized?
do you have? available? that data? them? APIs?

Diagnosis
Customer •  Simplify the complexity by identifying
certain aspects of the situation as
critical.

Guiding Policy
•  The overall approach chosen to cope
Strategy with or overcome obstacles identified
Fundamentals in the diagnosis

Coherent Action Plan

•  Feasible, coordinated policies,
Cost Competition resource commitments, and actions
designed to carry out the guiding
policy.

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API Strategy: Cost - Monetization and Business Models

Direct Revenue •  Charge for access or usage of the API

•  Syndicate Content and Data

Distribution Channel •  Embed your API in other sites and apps – Google Maps

•  Expand awareness through 3rd party distribution

Marketing Channel
•  Measure API interactions and new traffic

•  Cheapest and Fastest way to build applications

Application Enablement
•  Enable all platforms with one set of APIs
•  Use to enhance existing software and platforms
Distribute Services •  Enhance internal and external use of data and
content
•  Address the long tail of markets and segments
3rd Party Innovation
•  Increase availability to innovation

Lock-In •  Integrated enterprise code tends not to change

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 API Strategy: Customer – Developer Segments

Commitment Development Marketing

Awareness (decision) (support) Certification (promotion)
Corporate
Partners

Business Core Managed Contract/

ROI
Development Membership Process Relationship

Most likely to have

business impact
Independents
Small /

Opportunity/ GM 50% Contract/

Marketing Distinguish
Interest Community 50% Self Marketed

Most likely to create

breakthrough innovation
Hobbyists

Word of
Mouth / Excitement Community Informal Word of Mouth
Marketing

Most likely to create excitement

& support the community

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API Strategy: Growth Scenarios “Foundry”
Design
Exclusive
Centers
member
programs

GM Specific
Business Benefits

Thought Events
Leadership

Sample App
Development

Partnership
Development
Developer
Increased Evangelists
Support
Staffing

Investment
Scenario 1 – Minimum
Community
Management
Event
Portal
Developer Marketing
Development
Support

2013 2014 2015

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API Optimization: Getting the Most Out of Your
Program

Developer
Partners
Community

Communication

§ Key metric management § Versioning / Deprecation

§ Performance measurement § Tweaks & feature updates
§ Usage patterns § New API’s
§ Standards § Business model updates
§ Competitive landscape § End of life

Analyze Optimize & Maintain

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Developer Program: Framework

[ Recruiting ]
Infrastructure

[ Community ]
[ Support ]
[ Promotion ]

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Developer Program: Recruiting - Getting
Developer’s Interested

Help developers solve real world problems

Increase
Build Skills Productivity
Solve
Problems

Promote Win - Win

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Developer Program: Recruiting - Venues for
creating program awareness

•  Business development
•  Established relationships
•  Trade shows •  Word of mouth
•  Trade shows •  Speaking at •  Contests
•  Speaking at conferences conferences •  Social media
•  Media •  Media •  Media

Corporate Small and/or

Hobbyists
partners independent

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Developer Program: Community - Three Forces of
Engagement

[ Substance ]

[ Opportunity ] [ Charm ]

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 Developer Program: Support

Info Resources: Documentation, Code Technical Resources: App lifecycle

samples, Forum, Blogs/Social management, Testing, Moderation, Certification

Certification / Membership Levels:

Program level Fee Support level

Hand
Core $$$$
holding
Some
Gold $$
support
Open
Community Free community
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Developer Program: Promote - Go to Market
Strategies for Developers

Co-branding Co-Marketing
Help developers bring apps to market

• App marketplace
• Co-sponsorship of • Leaderboard of • Community portal
trade shows popular apps where developers
• Co-branded • Periodic app can propose ideas
advertisements marketing and get voted on
campaigns
Corporate Small and/or
partners independent Hobbyists

User ratings Community voting

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Typical engagement elements

Measurable Value Opportunities

1.  API and Developer Program Strategy
2.  API Productization
3.  API Exposure and Management
4.  API Optimization
5.  Developer Program Execution

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Conclusion: Consumerization of APIs

•  APIs are becoming open and ubiquitous in digital

ecosystems
•  The ability to create, expose and consume these
interfaces is available to all (not just software or digital
native companies)
•  Abstracting business capabilities to programmable
interfaces provides a systematic method and
architecture to engage with SMAC and related
emerging trends
•  APIs are now strategic to all enterprises.

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Questions?

“APIs are the building blocks for the digital

economy.”

- Laura Merling, Alcatel-Lucent

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Disclaimer

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partnership. All rights reserved.

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