# APIs are powering the acceleration in digital transformation Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2021-08-02 Category: TECHNOLOGY Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/technology Meta Title: COVID-19 Accelerated Digital Transformation in Organizations Meta Description: Discover how the pandemic has fast-tracked digital transformation, driving cloud adoption and the need for agile, data-driven strategies for organisations. URL: https://financedigest.com/apis-are-powering-the-acceleration-in-digital-transformationhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/graphicstock-wireless-connection-futuristic-conceptrogldodesx-sbi-3019848391-1736838087548-compressed.jpg) _By_ **_Eric Newcomer,_** _CTO, WSO2_ While organisations have publicly talked of the benefits of digital transformation for some time, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many to pull the trigger on those plans. The crisis accelerated the adoption of [digital technologies](https://www.financedigest.com/you-cant-get-faster-than-that-spring-statement-update-delivered-digitally-as-it-happens-with-app-driven-technology.html "‘You Can’t Get Faster Than That’ – Spring Statement Update Delivered Digitally As It Happens with App-driven technology") as organisations across almost every industry underwent huge changes to their operating models. Indeed, a [McKinsey executive survey](https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-covid-19-has-pushed-companies-over-the-technology-tipping-point-and-transformed-business-forever) notes that companies have accelerated the digitisation of their customer and supply-chain interactions and of their internal operations by three to four years. Moreover, the share of digital or digitally enabled products in their portfolios has accelerated by seven years. There are several reasons for this. Initially, there was the need to establish and equip a new remote workforce, with [55 percent of organisations increasing their cloud adoption](https://www.cloudindustryforum.org/content/digital-transformation-covid-era) as a direct result of COVID-19. Further, 88 percent expect their adoption of cloud services to increase in the next 12 months, with [more firms planning to allow employees to work from home post-pandemic](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-07-14-gartner-survey-reveals-82-percent-of-company-leaders-plan-to-allow-employees-to-work-remotely-some-of-the-time). With stores and [bank branches](https://www.financedigest.com/are-white-label-branches-the-future-for-retail-banking.html "Are white-label branches the future for retail banking?") shut, or with many people reluctant to venture out, all of a sudden, much more had to be accomplished online. Even beyond the current crisis, organisations recognise that moving to the cloud as a foundation for [digital transformation](https://www.financedigest.com/digital-transformation-for-the-world-of-finance-the-rise-in-collaboration-tools-and-saas-applications.html "Digital transformation for the world of finance: The rise in collaboration tools and SaaS applications ") can deliver a huge competitive advantage – whether that’s through its cost effectiveness, the ability to scale IT as per the customer’s requirements, the processing power to handle increasingly large amounts of data, or the ability to more rapidly push and measure the impact of application changes. The [pandemic also highlighted the need](https://www.financedigest.com/re-mortgaging-your-home-in-the-middle-of-a-pandemic-what-you-need-to-know.html "Re-Mortgaging Your Home In The Middle Of A Pandemic: What You Need To Know") for agility. With physical transactions off the table, consumers have turned to [digital experiences](https://www.financedigest.com/digitalisation-why-using-the-opportunity-of-fintechs-can-create-an-innovative-digital-client-experience.html "Digitalisation: why using the opportunity of Fintechs can create an innovative digital client experience"). This means organisations are now under greater pressure to digitise services quickly – and at scale – to meet [rising customer expectations of seamless customer service  and to preserve or create new revenue](https://www.financedigest.com/soccer-european-revenues-rise-10-in-2020-21-despite-covid.html "Soccer-European revenues rise 10% in 2020-21 despite COVID") streams. **[Developing digital](https://www.financedigest.com/going-cashless-the-developing-digital-economy.html "Going Cashless — The Developing Digital Economy") experiences** It has traditionally fallen on IT departments to deliver these outcomes. However, overstretched IT teams have [struggled to keep up with the demands](https://www.financedigest.com/oil-struggles-to-hold-gains-amid-mixed-demand-view.html "Oil struggles to hold gains amid mixed demand view") placed on them, even before COVID-19. They were faced with budgetary pressure, poorly connected systems, and a potential lack of skills within their teams. The pressure has intensified during the pandemic, with [many IT pros reassigned to help support the new distributed workforce](https://blog.isc2.org/isc2_blog/2020/04/survey-covid-19-response-sees-nearly-50-of-cybersecurity-workers-reassigned-to-it-tasks.html). Elsewhere, organisations realise that the ability to [harness the power](https://www.financedigest.com/trusting-your-gut-how-to-harness-the-power-of-your-business-instincts.html "Trusting your gut: how to harness the power of your business instincts") of data will be key to growth. As such, they are looking to unlock the data that exists within their organisations to gain valuable insights to give them a [competitive advantage](https://www.financedigest.com/turning-big-data-compliance-into-a-competitive-advantage.html "TURNING ‘BIG DATA’ COMPLIANCE INTO A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE"). However, many organisations struggle to standardize and unify data that is fragmented [across the business](https://www.financedigest.com/fintechs-support-of-ukraines-digital-businesses-can-be-used-as-blueprint-across-the-world.html "Fintech’s support of Ukraine’s digital businesses can be used as blueprint across the world"), hidden in different applications, or siloed in legacy systems. As a result, there has been a surge in demand for employees with specialist data skills – the call for data scientists and data engineers has more than tripled in recent years, according to a [2019 Royal Society report](https://royalsociety.org/news/2019/05/data-science-skills-shortages/), creating “chronic supply issues”. This, combined with over-burdened IT teams, has seen organisations seek to empower employees and individual departments to develop [digital experiences to match](https://www.financedigest.com/matching-digital-adoption-with-cybersecurity-in-the-financial-services-industry.html "Matching digital adoption with cybersecurity in the financial services industry") increasingly sophisticated customer expectations. The goal is for employees to have the capabilities to integrate systems, unify data and [deliver personalised customer experiences](https://www.financedigest.com/how-partnerships-fuel-fintech-innovation-and-help-banks-deliver-a-better-customer-experience.html "How Partnerships Fuel Fintech Innovation and Help Banks Deliver a Better Customer Experience") – without needing to write any lines of code or possessing specialist skills. Aside from the skills shortage, a growing number of [business leaders also recognise that the power](https://www.financedigest.com/national-world-launches-new-ad-manager-platform-powered-by-danads-empowering-businesses-to-take-control-of-their-advertising.html "National World launches new ad manager platform, powered by DanAds, empowering businesses to take control of their advertising") of data analytics is, in many cases, best placed in the hands of those that are closest to the data. [Gartner](https://blogs.gartner.com/carlie-idoine/2018/05/13/citizen-data-scientists-and-why-they-matter/) describes these as “power users” who can perform both simple and moderately sophisticated analytical tasks that would previously have required more expertise. It is estimated that more than 65 percent of application development activity will be as a result of [low-code application development](https://www.gartner.com/doc/reprints?id=1-1FKNU1TK&ct=190711) by 2024. Therefore, enabling [innovation across the different lines-of-business will be a key priority for organisations](https://www.financedigest.com/innovation-is-the-path-to-revenue-how-financial-organisations-can-open-up-alternative-revenue-streams.html "Innovation is the path to revenue: How financial organisations can open up alternative revenue streams") for the rest of 2021. **The power of APIs.** This is where APIs come in. API-led connectivity helps [organisations unlock these data](https://www.financedigest.com/tackling-the-complexity-of-data-within-financial-organisations.html "Tackling the complexity of data within financial organisations") silos, providing a coherent view of all that is going on across the organisation, and connecting different systems to each other seamlessly and quickly. APIs also let customers, partners, and internal stakeholders build products that leverage the organisation’s functionality and data. APIs make various data sources discoverable and accessible to third parties, enabling their own information to be combined with that of others. APIs help create a seamless engagement for the customer – essential at a time when consumers are demanding an exceptional customer experience. This in [turn means organisations can accelerate business](https://www.financedigest.com/6-expert-tips-to-turn-your-photography-passion-into-a-business-2.html "6 Expert Tips to Turn Your Photography Passion into a Business") opportunities, create engaging customer experiences, and open new revenue streams. This will be even more important with the proliferation of [Internet of Things](https://www.financedigest.com/2017-the-year-of-the-internet-of-some-things.html "2017 – The year of the Internet of ‘SOME’ Things") (IoT) devices and data processing moving the edge of the network. 2021 will also see more organisations look to standardise their APIs and the interfaces across their application landscape, creating libraries and focusing on API governance. This will help to put the [building blocks in place to make it easier and faster for developers to create any new application or solution](https://www.financedigest.com/meet-tilak-joshi-the-fintech-ceo-building-modern-solutions-for-the-gig-economy.html "Meet Tilak Joshi: the fintech CEO building modern solutions for the gig economy") in the future. To this point, according to Gartner the need to get APIs right is paramount because for an organisation to rescale and reinvent an enterprise requires decomposition and re-composition of operating practices, and post pandemic [enterprises now have to compose their future](https://www.financedigest.com/enterprise-automation-is-the-future-of-finance.html "Enterprise automation is the future of finance").  Gartner states: “This is a task in which the role of an API platform is paramount, because it is hard to imagine any [technological environment within a midsize or larger business](https://www.financedigest.com/how-an-advanced-manufacturing-technology-can-make-your-business-more-3-dimensional.html "How an advanced manufacturing technology can make your business more 3-dimensional") that does not utilize APIs. Furthermore, their use is growing. Getting APIs right — and doing so quickly — therefore matters more than ever. The more effective an API program is, the more extensive the API platform will be — and the quicker and easier rescaling and reinventing can be accomplished.” Therefore, APIs will continue to form a [key part of any digital transformation](https://www.financedigest.com/world-class-finance-digital-transformation-and-analytics-based-decision-making-among-key-imperatives-for-creating-finance-agility.html "World-Class Finance: Digital Transformation and Analytics-Based Decision Making Among Key Imperatives for Creating Finance Agility") in 2021, with their ability to unlock data, connect systems and empower employees to create better experiences for customers. Counter to this, those who seek to cut [corners and implement only tactical](https://www.financedigest.com/double-and-triple-extortion-tactics-cornering-financial-services-organisations.html "Double and triple extortion tactics cornering financial services organisations ") solutions, will quickly find themselves at a competitive disadvantage compared to those able to put the right foundation of API led integration in place. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---