Connect your systems
with APIs

Why this matters now

What strikes me is that integration is often the underestimated foundation. When systems really talk, teams move faster and decisions improve. And, not unimportant, errors disappear quietly.

Our perspective

In practice you often see that “quickly connecting” grows into a strategic theme: security, operations, lifecycle, ownership. So we tackle it end-to-end — from API design and governance to monitoring and version control.

Immediate impact

Less double work, consistent data and room to experiment with new services. Because those who integrate properly can innovate faster without piling up technical debt.

Key benefits at a glance:

• faster data flow through real system integrations

• fewer errors thanks to clear contracts and validation

• scalable via gateway, caching and asynchronous patterns

• more secure through policies, authentication and auditing

• future-proof with versioning and solid documentation

Apply it concretely in your landscape, step by step

Start small, prove value fast. Pick one process that costs lots of manual effort (for example customer data synchronisation). Create a neat API or webhook flow for it, including logging. You will see the benefit immediately and build support.

Technical choices that often work

• choose REST when resources are central; GraphQL when clients need selective data

• use OpenAPI/JSON Schema for validation and mocking

• deploy an API gateway for policies, rate limiting and observability

• remember: async with queues or event streaming for decoupling and peaks

Documentation and discoverability

• make APIs discoverable via an Exchange or developer portal

• publish examples and Postman collections

• document breaking changes and versions explicitly

• make error codes human: provide context, correlation IDs and clear remedy

Security and privacy

• OAuth2/OIDC with scopes is often the standard

• store no secrets in code, use a secrets manager

• log enough for audit, but mask PII

• run a permission audit periodically: who really has access?

Sometimes a simple file transfer is better (really)

Not every integration needs a real-time API. For batch reports or nightly synchronisations a file (CSV/Parquet) via secure transfer is still fine. Fewer moving parts, less maintenance. That said, APIs often become more convenient later for near real-time insights.

Avoid unnecessary complexity

• using an iPaaS for one simple link is overkill

• microservices without clear boundaries create more integration work

• do not start with five authentication variants; keep it consistent

• beware “integration by exception” — standardise where possible

Vendor lock-in and exit strategy

• abstract platform-specific features in your integration layer

• define contracts in open standards

• ensure data export and key rotation are scriptable

• write the document “how do we ever migrate away from this?” before going live

Integrate with events, APIs as the gateway

We see a clear shift to event-driven architectures. Systems publish events, others react asynchronously. APIs remain important as façade and for commands, but events decouple and scale more elegantly. Your landscape becomes more resilient and easier to adapt.

What this means in practice

• combine REST/GraphQL for queries with events for mutations and notifications

• use a schema registry and version your events

• add idempotency and retries to avoid duplicates

• enable end-to-end observability: tracing, metrics and structured logs

AI and integrations

• AI-driven mapping and data enrichment are becoming normal

• policy and governance around LLM APIs need extra attention (rate limits, PII)

• apply a gateway policy set to LLM endpoints just like your core APIs

• measure continuously: latency, cost, error profiles — keep iterating