Shaking the Foundations: How to Move From a Corporate to an Open API Mindset

How do you go about launching and managing an open API program while navigating the challenges of a big corporation’s culture? When it comes to digital transformation, the WHY is easy to understand. It’s figuring out HOW to undergo that transformation, and how to move an entire organization into that direction, that is tricky.

No innovation comes without challenges, and opening APIs always raises concerns about security or intellectual property. So how can you strike a balance between delivering value to the innovators out there, and staying aligned with your organization’s strategy? Having provided APIs to large businesses for over two decades, last year we underwent a transformation to launch our open API program. Our journey required aligning business goals and getting the buy-in from numerous stakeholders, setting up the right program structure, and putting in place new business processes and governance models. This talk covers key learnings, common pitfalls to avoid, and useful tactics to lead the transition of your organization to a (truly) open API culture.

Transcript

1. Shaking foundations: How to move from a Corporate to an Open API mindset Maria Garcia Luengo The Platform Summit, Stockholm 23 October 2019
2. Brace yourselves Change is coming...
3. Resistance to change • Fear of the unknown • Threat to status quo • Skepticism about need for change • Ambiguity • Workload increase
4. “So life in the Shire goes on very much as it has this past Age. Full of its own comings and goings, with change coming slowly, if it comes at all. For things are made to endure in the Shire” (The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien)
5. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
6. Starting point: Research Internal (Stakeholders, products, business, tech capabilities, internal processes, etc.) External (Competition, customer needs, best practices)
7. Walking into meetings like...
8. We’re doing ok so far We’ve always done it this way It’s not a good time We don’t have the bandwidth It’s not in the budget We’re too busy We have other priorities It’s not our job Let’s not reinvent the wheel! It’s too risky
9. 8-Step Process for Leading Change 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sense of urgency Guiding coalition Vision Volunteer army Remove barriers Quick wins Build on change Anchor changes Create a climate for change Engage & enable the full organization Sustain change (Leading Change, Dr. John P. Kotter)
10. Save the Empire? I’m busy today... Chapter I: Creating a sense of urgency • Risk of not doing anything • Missed opportunities • Data, facts • Storytelling
11. 73% of companies consider leadership support the biggest enabler of innovation success Chapter II: Building a guiding coalition (Benchmarking Innovation Impact 2018, Innovation Leader)
12. Chapter III: Forming a strategic vision • Make the vision tangible • Help others see what you see • Prototyping • Concrete examples When a simple trick can open your mind
13. Ninjas Chapter IV: Enlisting a volunteer army Samurais • Agile • Highly adaptable, innovative • Experimentation. Learn and iterate • Ultrareliable • Predictable, proven standards • Strong Governance Gartner’s Bimodal IT
14. Internal discussions be like... 55% of corporations consider politics & lack of alignment the biggest obstacles to innovation (Benchmarking Innovation Impact 2018, Innovation Leader)
15. Chapter V: Enabling action by removing barriers The Open API road of trials: • Security risks • Data risks • Business risks • Legal risks
16. Intruders API Management Platform Security & Performance: With great power, comes great responsibility
17. Your internal FAQs: • What data can we open? How? • Will it threat our business? Answers: • Data Governance • API Design Governance • Pricing model validation • Centralized, cross-business- unit collaboration
18. I can’t read it... It seems to be written by a Lawyer
19. Show me the money!
20. Chapter VI: Generating short-term wins Every achievement counts. Communicate your success stories early and often From ROI to opportunities: • Customer reach • Partnerships • Identify trends, use cases • Products improvements • Processes efficiency • Time to market • Branding (innovation)
21. Chapter VII: Building on change Start small: • Simple use cases • Low-risk APIs (GET) • Minimum Viable Product Learn, iterate, and keep adding on capabilities Think Big. Prototype Small. Scale Fast
22. © Amadeus IT Group and its affiliates and subsidiaries 22 One API program to rule them all Chapter VIII: Anchoring changes • Masters of the 2 worlds (Private + Open) • Keep communicating • Continue role as Innovation advocate
23. Ask the community! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sense of urgency Guiding coalition Vision Volunteer army Remove barriers Quick wins Build on change Anchor changes
24. 24 Thank you! Maria Garcia Luengo developers.amadeus.com