Today’s lead article on Ars Technica talks about the importance of
protecting back-end resources in the context of mobile applications. The
article rightly stresses the importance of this security, talks about the
uptake in OAuth and cites API Gateway solutions as a popular option in this
space.
However, the article clearly misstates the capabilities of an API Management
solution founded on an API Gateway. I am going to assume that the author only
had exposure to API Gateways second hand or through a competitor of Layer 7.
Here are the misconceptions propagated by the article, along with some
corrections:
“These API gateway services can be prohibitively expensive for small-scale
applications… ‘You can replicate the API gateway by creating a set of
proxy services in their data center in an application container in their
DMZ.’”
Trying to create your own homegrown... (more)
I’ve been working with a number of companies lately on their API
strategies. People seem to recognize that having an API is modern day
necessity, but they’re not sure how to get started. Since APIs are viewed
as a technical innovations, responsibility for rolling them out is frequently
handed to IT groups.
Clearly, there is business value to be attained by companies who utilize an
API, and an accessible web API is a requirement for modern corporations.
For companies looking to launch an API, there is a temptation to focus on the
technological aspects of implementation. Good ... (more)
The hottest IT trends of 2012 are shaping up to be Cloud, mobile and “big
data”. The links between API management, Cloud and mobile are clear. The
links between API management and big data – a concept that creates
capabilities for capturing and analyzing previously unimaginable amounts of
unstructured data – are less obvious but no less significant. I see two key
areas of synergy…
First of all, in the three-tier architecture of the Web, the line was
typically blurry between the presentation and logic tiers and concrete
between logic and data. Big data now blurs the line between ... (more)
It’s April in Vancouver, which got me thinking about clouds. Although the
IT buzz in 2012 has been dominated by mobile and big data, Cloud computing is
still a hot topic, especially since it is an enabler for both.
In the public Cloud space, Google just launched Drive in the same week that
Microsoft updated SkyDrive. In the private Cloud domain, IBM recently
announced its PureSystems platform, which falls along similar lines as the
Exa- line from Oracle.
It will be interesting to see whether or not big enterprises buy into this
“21st century mainframe” concept but what’s clear is... (more)
Cloud Expo 2012 is almost here. This promises to be an incredible event, with
thousands of attendees and over 100 speakers. As previously mentioned, I’m
privileged to be presenting on Making Hybrid Cloud Safe & Reliable. I’m
particularly excited that I’ll be introducing attendees to the new concept
of API-Aware Traffic Management. It will also be great to be back in New York
City!
I recently read Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking Fast & Slow, a fascinating
study of how the human mind works. With the new capabilities offered by big
data and Cloud computing — the dual themes for nex... (more)
Matt McLarty is focused on customer success, providing implementation best practices and architectural guidance to ensure clients receive the maximum benefit from Layer 7’s products. Matt brings over 15 years of technology leadership to Layer 7, with a particular focus on enterprise architecture, strategy and integration. Prior to joining Layer 7, Matt led the global IBM technical sales organization responsible for application integration software and solutions, notably helping to grow the SOA Gateway business substantially over a five-year period. Before joining IBM, Matt worked as a Senior Director and Enterprise Architect focused on SOA, electronic payments and identity management. Follow him on Twitter at @MattMcLartyBC.
Derek Granath
Tom Flynn
Patrick Pushor
Bob Evans
