Fast forward to the 21st century – Digital Transformation with IBM API Connect
By Isabella Morgan / October 11, 2023 / No Comments / IBM and Microsoft Exams, OneDrive for Business
As we fast forward to the 21st century, we can see how the Industrial Revolution changed businesses (even our fictional ones). These factories could employ hundreds and even thousands of workers who produced mass batches of blankets more cheaply than they could be produced in homes.
So, how does that all relate to digital transformation, and where does API-led digital transformation come into play? We’ll answer this question with some interesting correlations in the following sections.
Marketing mix – 4Ps
With the Industrial Revolution, it was inventions that drove increased productivity. Depending on the factory’s location, their products were limited to transporting the product and finding a place to sell it. Getting the word out about their product was done through storefront advertising so that growth was steady.
As time passed on, the Industrial Revolution continued to bring improvement. Transportation improved, telephones became prevalent, and even typewriters came to light. Eventually, along came the internet, and the possibilities exploded. So, what did these revolutions have in common and why is digital transformation key? It all revolves around marketing. Digital transformation has its roots in marketing.
In marketing, there is the concept of 4Ps:
- Product: This refers to goods or services that a company offers to customers. A product should be something that satisfies a customer’s need, want, or desire. A product could also be a new invention that generates a demand to have one. It’s important to note that a product has a shelf life. It may go through various cycles of reinvention to maintain demand. In subsequent chapters, you will learn how the product in API Connect is directly related.
- Price: Price is the cost consumers will pay for your product. This will be based on several factors, including the cost of the materials, how quickly the product can be produced, and how to transport the product. Product managers must determine the price of the product’s monetized value, but they may also consider various plans to support valued customers or try and buy scenarios. When you learn more about API Connect, you will learn how to monetize your API products.
- Place: How you market your product is critical when determining where to place your products. In the traditional sense, you often place your products where customers can see them. In a brick-and-mortar establishment, this placement can be near a checkout display or with highly visible advertisements.
More often than not, television shows, phones, kiosks, and web pages are the best way to attract attention to the product. API Connect allows you to showcase your APIs on the Consumer Developer Portal. You’ll learn more about that later.
- Promotion: Promotion is your chosen method of publicly advertising your product. This promotional strategy can be accomplished in various ways. The goal of promoting your product is to show the value of your product to consumers or business entities.
Note
Place and promotion are somewhat interconnected/dependent. In today’s environment, most promotion is online. You are probably not surprised that most promotion is done with social media (digital word-of-mouth).
In our fictional blanket entrepreneur example, you probably recall where the 4Ps were important. For instance, the product was the blankets. You saw that the price of the blankets was contingent on the cost of raw materials and the cost of creating the blankets. The store location was important as you wanted as many potential buyers to purchase your blankets. Other than breadboards and your shingle hanging outside your home, you didn’t have customers from outside of your town, but you were successful because you were the only store in town.
As you review the company today, there have been considerable improvements over the centuries that have been propelled by the second and third Industrial Revolutions. Inventions such as the telephone, engines, automobiles/trucks, and machine tools from the second Industrial Revolution greatly improved business ability. The advent of computers, telecommunications, and electronics in the third Industrial Revolution further advanced business processing. Factories got bigger, stores (brick and mortar) were replicated across the country, accountants were replaced with accounting software, and marketing continued to follow the 4Ps to grow business.
Best laid plans go astray
An interesting phenomenon occurred with the age of the internet, Service Oriented Architect (SOA), and Web 2.0+. As systems evolved, we have seen a great many implementations in silos. Enterprises went from centralization to decentralization and back again. SOA introduced the concept of Enterprise Service Buses (ESBs) and high governance (or assumed governance). Web Services APIs were introduced and Centers of Excellence and integration teams were formulated. The culmination of these factors and the siloed demarcations eventually led to hot projects oozing like lava. The 4Ps, while still applicable, were being hindered by a lack of agility and changing demographics and attitudes.
Adding more Ps to the 4Ps
As we progress toward API-led digital transformation in this chapter, you are probably aware the technology today has brought to light how people, processes, and passion (the new Ps) about products have changed the way marketing is strategized:
- Passion: Consumers today are passionate. They demand innovations, speed, and personalization. You may have been considered a “Best of Breed” before but in today’s markets, you can go from “Hero to Zero” in a heartbeat. Just consider the passionate responses on Yelp and other social media. As a part of your digital transformation, you have to take into account how passionate your consumers are. Doing so will gain the respect and loyalty of your customers.
- People: Being customer-focused is imperative. The more you know about your consumer and how they view your products or services, the better. You learned about passion and how it is paramount to manage expectations. When you consider adding people to our mix, you should also consider your internal people. They are the ones responsible for achieving your marketing goals. It will be these same people who will buy into your digital transformation and participate in making the transformation holistic and broad.
- Process: Process is the final consideration. It will be the process that ensures the delivery of your product to the customer. There will be policies and compliance aspects that will need to be considered. Failure to execute could be catastrophic to your goals. When you learn about the features of API Connect, you will be able to incorporate these processes into the life cycle of your products. Some of these processes will enable you to be more agile and deliver more in less time. You’ll learn more about this in detail in Chapter 11, API Management and Governance.