Do you also prevent yourself from being double insured?

Date: 2024-09-06 19:19

Fun skiing, but not without danger

I have been going skiing in Austria for a week every year for about five years. I can now say it is a very technical and also quite dangerous sport. Given my age, the question is whether I will still be able to master the technique. So you may wonder whether it is wise. On the other hand, there are beautiful views, and even if you slide down at a modest 25 kilometers per hour, it feels great. But in any case, let me insure myself properly with winter sports insurance. Not cheap, but that feels a bit 'safer'. Later I wondered 'I have significant additional insurance, to what extent do I now have double insurance? So just read the policies carefully and call the Zilveren Kruis. As it turned out, with winter sports insurance I am double insured except for one thing: I really have to pay for the banana that takes me down after a serious accident myself, if necessary. After more research, I discover that I can insure myself for this for 20 euros from the supplier of the ski pass.

Managing APIs is not easy either

When the number of APIs in an organization grows and they are used more and more, the organization cannot avoid formally organizing the management of the APIs. The aim is that they are correctly configured (so that performance and availability requirements are met), deployed, versioned and there is insight into runtime usage. In addition, it is also desirable that a developer does not create an API that is actually already available. To support the organization with this, an API management tool can be purchased. The choice is great^.

Do I even need this?

Content

A good overview of the APIs is the first step in setting up API Management. Most organizations often already have something for this. Confluence, Backstage (an Open Source solution from Spotify), or a mature system for functional design can offer a solution.

Runtime Management

Runtime management tools are a given when hosting on a container platform. Tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, Kibana, Elasticsearch are often available to provide the DevOps Teams and System Teams with actionable metrics that are displayed in user-friendly dashboards.

Security

An API Gateway is a must for medium and large organizations that have APIs to manage. This can also be purchased separately.

Monetization

I have not yet had the opportunity to work for an organization that has customers who can subscribe to an API and charges money for usage.

To do or not to do?

For many people who go skiing, it will be wise to take out winter sports insurance. For many organizations it will be wise to purchase an API Management tool. But before that decision is made, it wouldn't hurt to assess whether most tools are already available in the organization or whether it would be better to purchase them separately.

^ Examples: AWS API Gateway, Azure API Management, Google Cloud API Gateway, Kong, Tyk, WSO2, MuleSoft, Apigee, Akana, Traefik, KrakenD.

Source: Arcitura, Service API and Management Course