MuleSoft Sets New Standard for Successful API Strategies With Next Major Release of Anypoint Platform

  • Infrastructure
  • 15.05.2019 02:03 pm

MuleSoft, provider of the leading platform for building application networks, today announced the next major release of Anypoint Platform™ with the launch of Anypoint API Community Manager and other significant advancements across the platform. API Community Manager uniquely combines a full-featured API portal and industry-leading digital experience capabilities, transforming how teams collaborate across the entire lifecycle of an API program. Until now, there has not been a single solution that brings together full lifecycle API management, personalization, forums, chat, support case management, and engagement analytics. For the first time, companies can easily build connected digital experiences for their API products with API Community Manager, empowering anyone to quickly begin collaborating and co-creating value with a broader ecosystem of developers, partners and employees.

To realize the full value of establishing this API ecosystem, companies not only need best-in-class technology capabilities in a single solution, but they also need an informed strategy for how they will engage their ecosystem to co-create value and drive business growth. An API program is a coordinated effort to manage the creation and usage of APIs in support of a broader digital business strategy. With this release, MuleSoft is also the first to productize how to build a successful API program by further extending MuleSoft Catalyst with Catalyst Mobilize, a packaged set of proven best practices and methodologies built on experience working with thousands of organizations across industries. Now any company can create and nurture a thriving API ecosystem in order to open new business channels, launch new business models and increase operational efficiency.

Digital transformation requires every company to create and nurture a thriving API ecosystem

APIs are now the standard way for an organization to expose business capabilities out to a broader ecosystem of developers, partners and employees to accelerate innovation and co-create value. However, creating and nurturing this API ecosystem requires a new set of capabilities that do not exist within most organizations.

“In this digital age, companies must shift their mindset around APIs from a technology to a strategic business approach to create value for their customers and get ahead of the competition. This requires an organization to understand its partners and developers and build API products that directly meet their needs. It also requires delivering digital experiences that turn developers into evangelists by providing them what they need to be successful,” said Mark Dao, chief product officer, MuleSoft. “This release represents an important moment in the industry – providing companies with both the product and organizational capabilities to easily build and engage API ecosystems so they can innovate faster and deliver business value together with their partners and developers.”

Setting the new standard for successful API strategies

Until now, customers have had to use a combination of technical content management solutions and generic social engagement tools to build developer portals and drive engagement. With the release of API Community Manager, companies can create customized digital experiences that promote API products, support API ecosystems and increase engagement between developers, partners and employees – all in a single product without writing any code.

API Community Manager extends MuleSoft’s Anypoint Exchange, allowing organizations to build on the assets that they already have and meet the expanded needs of a broader set of cross-functional stakeholders, including developers, partners, API product managers and other line-of-business users.

Anypoint API Community Manager includes the capabilities to:

  • Build API portals in minutes with out-of-the-box templates
  • Customize API portals to create engaging, pixel-perfect branded experiences
  • Personalize these branded experiences based on the API consumer's role and needs
  • Foster communities of partners and developers that ultimately drive API adoption
  • Auto-populate interactive API documentation from Anypoint Exchange
  • Increase developer engagement through forums, chat and case management
  • Measure ecosystem engagement and track API program business metrics, including cost savings, revenue generated and most popular APIs

MuleSoft is also the first to combine industry-leading digital experience capabilities with a packaged approach to defining an API strategy. MuleSoft Catalyst is a unique operating model that enables customers to adopt a methodical approach to integration known as API-led connectivity. With this release, Catalyst Mobilize is expanded to provide a guided approach to establishing an API strategy, from planning API programs and creating a foundation for a digital business to building a digital platform and measuring the value of integration and APIs. It includes proven best practices, playbooks, API program workshops, and API strategy blueprints based on MuleSoft’s expertise working with more than 1,600 customers globally.

Successful API strategies empower customers to innovate faster

With MuleSoft, customers across industries can create thriving API ecosystems as part of their API strategy. For example, banks can establish open banking platforms to connect digital services, retailers can securely expose inventory data to third parties to create new shopping experiences, and healthcare providers can develop partnerships to deliver better care.

“APIs allow us to be agile and innovate rapidly,” said Sheila Jordan, CIO, Symantec. “MuleSoft has helped us use APIs to standardize and accelerate integration of new technologies, as well as create new business models for continuous improvement. MuleSoft has also allowed us to improve how we operate with our extensive partner ecosystem.”

Damian Giuffre, chief digital officer, federal government agency IP Australia, said, “With almost 100% of our customer interactions taking place digitally, we needed to revamp our agency’s digital channels. IP Australia looked to MuleSoft to help modernize how we deliver digital services and communicate with customers using APIs to underpin our customer-facing systems. By building an application network, we’re able to expose APIs to help create digital marketplaces so that third-party software developers can build new applications around IP Australia’s data and services. With this API program, we’re able to jointly create value with our partners to deliver the best experience for our customers.”

Additional highlights from the Anypoint Platform May 2019 release

In addition to the launch of API Community Manager, MuleSoft has continued investing in driving depth in its core integration and API management capabilities.

The Anypoint Platform May 2019 release also includes additional advancements in API management:

  • Automated policies: secure any API with policies that can be automatically applied and audited for compliance
  • API products: simplify API consumption and management by grouping multiple APIs as products
  • Business operations dashboard: track how API products or individual APIs are contributing to the overall success of an API program through a customizable dashboard that tracks revenue, order volume, unique customers and more

Other significant enhancements include:

  • Anypoint Flow Designer: 10 new, prebuilt templates to automate common tasks across Salesforce, Slack, Box, Twilio and Google Drive
  • Anypoint Partner Manager: fully-integrated B2B solution that simplifies partner management through partner onboarding templates, transaction tracking, and monitoring across APIs and EDI transactions

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