It’s no surprise that a critical tool for virtually every SaaS vendor is the application programming interface (API). Success for any SaaS vendor rides on not only how well their software functions but how well they can provide crucial “last-mile” integration for their customers. Without APIs, integrating their cloud-based products with enterprise IT infrastructures would be practically impossible.
APIs can mean the difference between success and failure for a SaaS vendor. How difficult are the APIs to work with for integration, data transfer, and implementation? How reliable are they? Are they expensive, one-off, custom builds? Do they make using the SaaS vendor’s product easier or more difficult for the customer?
One solution for SaaS vendors is to take the API and integration challenge off their shoulders with a third-party integration platform (such as Flowgear) designed to act as a single, comprehensive API, regardless of the software, platform, and IT infrastructure that need to be integrated.
By removing the need to write custom APIs and struggle with last-mile connectivity, SaaS vendors can:
- Eliminate the #1 barrier to SaaS sales
- Provide seamless integration as part of the value-added product offering
- Eliminate the need to develop, maintain, support, or troubleshoot custom integration code
- Turn integration from a headache into a recurring revenue stream
- Dramatically speed up implementation to gain a critical edge over competitors
So what should a SaaS vendor look for in a third-party API provider? Start with a reseller plan that provides a comprehensive, flexible, low-cost, highly-reusable interface that can be utilized by the vendor’s entire customer base, regardless of customers’ applications or IT environment. A high-quality third-party API can also reduce risk for SaaS vendors by providing a tested, proven interface that is already known to work well with a wide range of both premise and cloud apps and platforms.
Third party SaaS vendor API solutions should offer:
- Complete cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground integration, regardless of platforms and apps
- The simplest, most seamless SaaS integration with no need for custom patches or additional infrastructure
- Rich library of out-of-the-box cloud connectors to handle virtually any IT system and environment
- Secure, reliable, and scalable cloud platform
By utilizing a single, reliable, robust third-party API tool, SaaS vendors can add tremendous value to their product offering, making it easier and safer for their customers to use SaaS as well as integrate with legacy premise apps and transfer data faster and more reliably.
