PCS Digital Business HUB and API Economy

What is PCS Digital Business HUB?

Pacific Controls (PCS), a leading provider of Internet of Things (IoT) managed services solutions globally and Middle East’s largest Tier 3 secure data center / cloud services provider, has collaborated with WSO2.Telco, creator of a ground breaking digital enablement platform, to launch Middle East’s first Digital Business Hub. The Digital Business Hub will also contribute towards the acceleration of the on-going transformation of Dubai into the world’s most advanced and connected Digital Marketplace. 

The PCS Digital Business HUB is a ground breaking digital enablement platform, which is designed to enable enterprises, MNOs(Mobile Network Operators), government and individuals to transform the way they engage and partner in digital ecosystem by removing many of the barriers by providing API and Identity as a service hence positively affect an organizations profitability (API Economy). This platform provides a single point of integration, creating a simple, agile, monetizable digital service echo system aimed at connecting government services, enterprises and consumers across Middle East Region.

What is API Economy ? 

                   

API economy is a general term that describes the way application programming interfaces (APIs) can positively affect an organization's profitability. Today, business leaders are aware of the financial impact APIs can have and companies are generating revenue by exposing APIs as business building blocks for third party applications. In the API economy, application programming interfaces (APIs) act as the digital glue that links services, applications and systems. This allows businesses to make the most of their data to create compelling customer experiences and open new revenue channels.

There is disruption happening in global business world over. For example, 50% of business-to-business collaboration will take place through Web APIs by 2017, and by next year 75% of Fortune 1000 firms will offer public Web APIs, according to IT research firm Gartner Inc.

This economy is not separate from the overall global economy, but represents a growing slice of the global economic pie:

Mobile and cloud in particular are pushing increasing amounts of economic transactions from the existing HTML web over to API-driven interactions, even as both continue to grow.

B2B supplier relationships in the form of APIs are also accelerating rapidly, replacing human web-based flows or even older fax/phone-based procurement models.

Multi-channel plays in retail, content and other sectors are all tending towards API-style implementations with many interface points feeding a single transaction process.

For this reason, it is best not to imagine that joining the API Economy would be similar to joining a new economic system. Rather, think of it as maximizing your growth potential in what is likely to become the most important component of the economy.

Life cycle of API Economy

API optimization is continuous based on insights from new customers and usage of APIs. Apps and APIs continuously improve. Product management emerges for APIs as digital products.

API management backbone

API management is the process of publishing, promoting and overseeing application programming interfaces (APIs) in a secure, scalable environment. It also includes the creation of end user support resources that define and document the API.

Technology teams striving for speed and quality needs to invest on a rock solid API management backbone that is, a platform to:

• Create, govern, and deploy APIs: versioning, discoverability, and clarity of scope and purpose

• Secure, monitor, and optimize usage: access control, security policy enforcement, routing, caching, throttling (rate limits and quotas), instrumentation, and analytics

• Market, support, and monetize assets: manage sales, pricing, metering, billing, and key or token provisioning

Your approach joining the API Economy

• Start by understanding your business context
• Understand your firm’s role within the open Web
• Factor in your goals for delivering mobile apps
• If you will provide APIs, then develop your API design strategy
• Choose your API management platform
• Design and deliver APIs consistent with your design strategy

How PCS Digital Business HUB helps you joining the API Economy?

The PCS Digital Business HUB provides enterprises and developers a single point of integration, creating a simple, agile, monetizable digital service echo system aimed at connecting government services, enterprises and consumers across Middle East Region.

HUB Enables multi-operator aggregation, discovery, routing and interconnectivity of services. Aggregates services exposed by other hubs, by gateways, and via direct connections from MNOs. Provides a single point of integration for enterprises and service providers. Comprehensive administration, rating and reporting.

It can also be used to provide hosted Mobile Connect functionality for a Telco group or for a whole country.

Key features and benefits of Digital Business HUB

• Highly secured API manager
• API based services will be launched in quick time
• Single point of integration exposing simple REST APIs
• Secure layer independent of your core business systems
• Rapid on-boarding of services and publishing of APIs
• Choose to publish APIs privately (for internal use), for trusted partnerships or for wider public developer ecosystem
• Cost effective Opex model using PCS' end-to-end managed cloud delivery infrastructure
• Easy future migration to dedicated instance with no re-engineering
• New revenue opportunities for the government and other ecosystem partners/players
• Governance and policy framework with government engagement to a wider and global audience