{"id":4373879,"date":"2022-08-16T14:14:21","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T12:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/insight\/building-an-api-ecosystem\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T13:40:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:40:24","slug":"building-an-api-ecosystem","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/en-in\/insight\/building-an-api-ecosystem\/","title":{"rendered":"Building an API ecosystem"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\n\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tBack to all articles\t\t<\/span>\n\t\n<\/button>\n\t\tBuilding an API ecosystem\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\n\t<\/div>
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\n\t\tJasper Steenweg\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t16 August 2022\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\n\t\t\tThe most successful companies see and use APIs as a way to accelerate business, reach new customers and innovate. Working within an API ecosystem gives them the opportunity to share their data with others or use data from third parties with minimal resources. But building a good API ecosystem requires more than just architecture and technology.\t<\/h2>\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n
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\n\t\t\n\t\tWeb services vs. APIs\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\tWeb services and APIs have more or less the same functionality within the application landscape, with data being exchanged via interfaces. However, there are differences that have a major impact on development and the way of working, especially in the current era of IT, where rapid application development is essential.

Web services are usually designed by architects with the intention of exchanging data between different internal applications. In contrast, APIs need to be built with the application developer in mind: they have to fit their needs and accelerate application development.

Other differences can be seen regarding costs: while web services focus on saving costs with integrations (IT), APIs are more sales-driven. Frontend applications are also increasingly connected directly to APIs and thus focus on generating revenue (business).\t<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t