One recurring paid service API Evangelist provides is helping enterprises decide which API gateway to choose from out of the multiple waves of solutions available today. Most API gateways have common features, where others are pushing forward with new features that shape where this whole API gateway thing is going, and it is difficult to always know how to assess the landscape. Even before you begin doing any work assessing the most common features of APIs gateways, one of the first questions you should be asking is, can we see your API? API Evangelist is always looking to be able to automate the following.
- API Deployment - Automated deployment of APIs into any region.
- API Consumers - Automating the management of your customers.
- API Keys - Automating the management and rotation of API keys.
- API Plans - Adjusting, evolving, and enforcing rate limits and more.
If you can’t automate the deployment, consumption, authentication, as well as plans and rate limits via an easy to access and intuitive API, you do not want to be using an API gateway. An example of an API gateway that has an easy to use API out of the box, which is also front and center in their documentation is Zuplo, providing all of the basics, plus some more advanced features.
Asking to see the API for any service or tooling provider is always the first line of questioning, but it is extremely critical for any piece of infrastructure you are going to bake into your runtime. If you can’t manage your APIs using APIs, you won’t be able to automate, and if your API gateway doesn’t have an API front and center, they probably aren’t a gateway you will want to be putting to work within your enterprise.
