You may have read about us in Forbes, or seen Gartner recognize us in a couple of their reports. You may have heard about one of the awards we’ve won, or seen our name listed as an official partner of Oracle, Ellucian, Hobsons, Macmillan Learning, Modo Labs, ACI or others.
You may recognize our name, but do you know what exactly we do here at N2N?
And more importantly, do you know what we can do for you?
But in a nutshell, we help organizations stop worrying about IT, start innovating more, and increase efficiency or boost their bottom lines in the process.
Can we get a show of hands from everyone who’s on board with that idea?
Yeah, it’s pretty much everyone.
The thing is, IT is crazy expensive, crazy time-consuming, and crazy complicated. And when any software or hardware changes mean having to hire programmers, or putting your in-house IT team to work for weeks or even months to integrate it all, it can definitely put a damper on innovation.
But unbridled innovation is key to growth.
So, do you pay a small fortune to take a step or two towards innovation, keeping your fingers crossed that it all works out and you didn’t make a mistake in choosing that particular new app?
Or do you play it safe, save your money, and just keep doing what you’ve always done – while everyone else begins to outpace you?
At N2N, we understand the Catch-22 situation you find yourself in. That’s why we created the Illuminate platform, a tool that allows organizations to innovate freely, without having to give a second thought to IT and data integration issues.
Illuminate is an API management platform. That means that it enables users to build little connectors between apps, programs, and databases in order to integrate them. But the reason Illuminate is so unique is that it doesn’t require any coding. Do you know how to code? Nope? That’s OK – you can use Illuminate. In fact, it was built with you in mind – business users, not IT staff.
The reason it’s so simple? Its wizard interface walks you through the creation of APIs with pre-made building blocks that you just snap together – in minutes. Want to try out a new app, but you’re not sure it’ll work with your existing systems the way you hope? No problem. Snap a few blocks together, get that bad boy integrated into your current system, and try it out. Don’t like it after all? Undo the connection, and try another one. No harm, no foul. You can do it all yourself in just a few minutes. After it’s set up, IT resources are not even a consideration, and even Illuminate’s installation is designed to be simple.
With innovation made quick and easy, organizations are free to experiment and find the best tools for their needs – which leads to growth.
So that’s what we do here at N2N – and that’s who we are. We have our sights set on the future, and we want to help you find your brightest future, as well. Contact us today – we’d love to chat.
Okay, okay, we know that title makes a pretty bold claim.
You may be saying to yourself, I don’t even know what an API is. My organization has gotten this far without messing around with API management, as far as I know – how on earth could it make or break us?
Or conversely, you might be thinking, hey, I don’t need to worry! My organization has a crack IT team that eats APIs for breakfast! We’ve got this.
But here’s the thing.
Tech is at a tipping point. Organizations that just keep on keeping on, doing the same old same old, aren’t going to be the organizations that survive the next few years, let alone pull ahead of the pack to become industry leaders.
2019 is the year to rethink your IT strategy, and put your organization in a position to evolve and grow along with tech, rather than being blindsided by it.
And a huge part of doing so lies in API management.
How?
Let’s take a look.
What is API Management?
First, we need to define some terms.
APIs are the little snippets of code that connect your organization’s apps, databases, and other programs so that they can communicate. They provide the pathways that allow you to automatically send data from an app to your database, for example, or vice versa.
API management gets into the way you create those connections – those APIs. Up until recently, most organizations have had to resort to custom coding – paying their IT teams, or outside programmers, to come in and spend weeks or even months writing custom code to connect each new app they want to add to every other app, database, and program they use. It’s an expensive, time-consuming, and inelegant process that results in a tangled web of connections that gets even more complex every time an addition is made.
However. As we said before, tech is at a tipping point. New apps and new devices are being developed every day. And some of those innovations will soon become necessary tools for your organization, just like the internet, the cloud, and mobile apps did.
Do you really want to have to spend huge amounts of time and money on coding every single time you need to use a new tool, only to add even more layers of complexity to an already unwieldy conglomeration of connections?
How Can API Management Make or Break My Organization?
So now we get to the big question. If you handle API management the old-fashioned way, you’ll be losing money, losing time – and losing your place in your industry to other organizations that are already prepared for the future.
But if you put one simple API management tool in place today, you can simplify the tangle, cut costs, and make adding new apps a snap.
N2N’s Illuminate is an API management platform that allows even laymen to create APIs in minutes, no coding necessary. It connects all your organization’s apps, databases, and programs in a simple, elegant way, allowing seamless data transfer without the hassle of individually connecting each one manually. It enables organizations to quickly and easily add new apps without having to hire programmers or eat up all their IT team’s valuable time.
Being agile enough to adapt quickly, no matter what tech the future holds, is the key to success in 2019 and beyond. And API management is the key to that agility.
People in the world of IT toss around a lot of jargon that the uninitiated don’t always understand.
For example, most people have at least heard the term ‘API’ at some point, right?
But when it comes to understanding what APIs are, or what they do, that’s a different story.
And even if you do get APIs – what the heck is an API management platform? And why would you need something like that for your organization? It sounds extremely technical – intimidating, even.
Well, we’re here to tell you that it’s not.
Seriously.
In fact, at N2N, we’re all about making APIs simple for our customers. Let me explain.
So, first of all, APIs are basically just little connectors. If your organization’s databases and systems were a giant multi-cage hamster compound with those crazy tube passageways between each section, and your data was the hamster, then APIs would be the tubes connecting each section. They allow the hamster to run from one to the other – or, data to be communicated between 2 apps or databases or other programs.
In an organization, though, you don’t just need a single pathway through your hamster cage.
You need that main cage – your primary database – to be connected to every smaller section of the cage compound – your other apps – directly. And you also need each smaller cage to be connected to every other smaller cage directly. That hamster needs to be able to run directly from the main cage into his bedroom, or from the main cage into his playroom…or from his bedroom to his bathroom, or from his bedroom into his dining room – all rooms need that direct connection. That’s a lot of tubes, right?
1 – This is where API management platforms come into play.
You’ve got two choices for your hamster.
You can either pay an artisan hamster cage maker to custom create new tubes for you, each time you decide to add a new room to the compound, connecting that new room with every other room in the cage. It takes him weeks each time, and costs a fortune – but nothing’s too good for Hammy, right?
Or, you can buy a hamster cage tube kit that’s been created with future expansion in mind, and has pre-built components that makes it super simple to snap in a couple new tubes yourself, whenever there’s a new addition.
Can you guess which one is the API management platform?
Custom coding APIs is crazy expensive and crazy time-consuming. Our API management platform, Illuminate, has pre-built API building blocks that anyone can snap together in minutes to connect all their apps and systems – and it leaves the future wide open for easy additions.
2 – So why do you need an API management platform?
Well, if you want your organization to grow, you’re going to be handling more and more hamsters as time goes on…and that means more cages, and more tubes.
The more tubes and cages you have to have directly connected with each other, the more expensive – and convoluted and precarious – your cage set-up is going to be.
You may also want to try out new cage configurations in the future, adding innovative new rooms to improve little ol’ Hammy’s quality of life – but are you really willing to shell out the big bucks for that artisan hamster cage maker to build you the connections those new rooms will necessitate, only to discover a few weeks later that Hammy doesn’t like those new rooms after all?
An API Management Platform like Illuminate gives your organization the agility to freely scale, adapt, and experiment as needed, because it makes API creation – and thus, integration – quick, easy, and affordable.
Simple enough?
So if you want a happy hamster, call N2N today for more information or a free demo.
Most, if not all, problems that arise during and after implementation can be avoided by hashing out vital details beforehand.
And the donuts don’t hurt, either.
So grab a cuppa, and let’s take a look at the five burning questions you’ll need to address.
1-Does your business have an overarching mobility strategy?
A couple years ago, Forrester Research came out with a report describing the 4 stages of enterprise “mobile maturity.” The first entails simply applying current PC-based strategies to a smaller screen. The second puts mobile first, considering how your business can use the unique features of mobility to its advantage. The third considers how you can transform your customers’ experience via mobile, so mobile ceases to be a goal in and of itself, and the fourth has businesses developing new products, services, and business models that wouldn’t exist if not for mobile.
Depending on where your business lies in that spectrum, your strategy will differ, but the most important thing is that you have an overarching strategy. Trying to address mobility piecemeal will just make things more complicated for everyone involved, so take the time to make a truly comprehensive plan right from the start – and one that answers each of the following questions, as well.
2-How will you ensure data security?
This is an aspect of mobile integration that most departments don’t even seem to realize is an issue – but gets IT staff tearing their hair out at the slightest mention. Sure, it’s easy to download and start using an app on your phone – but if it hasn’t been securely integrated with your enterprise data, every mobile user could be putting your business at risk.
3-How will you integrate your mobile apps with your enterprise data?
Speaking of integration, how will you handle that? Monopolize your in-house IT team’s time for weeks as they work on custom coding? Hire some expensive developers to do the same? Or will you use an API management platform, like N2N’s Illuminate, that allows for secure mobile integration in minutes, no coding required?
4-Will your mobile apps’ user experience ensure high adoption rates?
Custom coding gets the job done, but it leaves a convoluted web of connections behind – and one that will only get more complex as you add more apps in future. If there’s one thing Dad taught us, it was that the most complicated a car is, the more likely it is to break down – expensively. The back end of your mobile apps needs to be simply and elegantly integrated with your enterprise data by a platform like Illuminate in order to avoid any costly user experience snafus, and boost adoption.
5-Will your mobile integration strategy leave room for future agility, as apps, devices, platforms, and the Internet of Things evolve?
It’s one thing to get all your existing systems integrated with the mobile apps you’re using today. But what about the ones you’ll be using tomorrow? Or in 10 years? And that’s not even considering all the new devices and platforms that will be developed by then, too – and what about the IoT? You need to integrate using an API management platform like Illuminate, that makes future additions and changes simple and easy, so that you can stay ahead of the curve and take full advantage of every opportunity new tech presents.
You know what? You may not need both pots of coffee after all. This discussion is actually pretty simple when it comes down to it. Use Illuminate for your mobile integration, and you’ll be able to securely, quickly, and easily integrate all your enterprise data with your mobile apps without using up resources or risking UX glitches, while leaving the future wide open to pivot and adapt as needed.
So. Mobile integration. Nice to have in place. Definitely cool. But necessary?
Maybe it seems like something you can take care of in the future – something that isn’t urgent.
Maybe it doesn’t seem necessary at all – you’re getting along fine without it now, so why add one more project to your IT department’s workload?
Maybe you feel like you’re basically mobile already – a couple of the apps you and your team use for work can be accessed on your phone, and that’s enough to keep you going when you’re not in the office.
So why would mobile integration be a necessity for your enterprise?
Let’s take a look at your business goals and break it down from there.
Pretty much every company out there has the same basic goals, right? High productivity, low costs, and the ability to beat out the competition. That’s the path to success, right?
So when a tool is developed that helps enterprises significantly in achieving those goals, it quickly becomes standard in the business world – a necessity, truly, in order to keep up.
Just think how much apps like Basecamp, Trello, and Asana have improved project management processes – and how much of a disadvantage companies are at who don’t use a similar app.
Or what about Agile methodology? While it doesn’t work for everyone, for startups and tech companies, Agile is without question the way to get things done today.
The cloud is another example of something that many businesses were skeptical of at first – and now it’s the companies who don’t use the cloud in some capacity that are the odd ones out.
But how does mobile integration contribute to those basic business goals we mentioned above?
Let’s break that down, too:
1 – Productivity
Sure, you probably use some apps already that you can access from your phone no matter where you are. But not every enterprise application is accessible as a mobile app – especially not legacy systems with massive databases and labyrinthine webs of point-to-point connections with every other unwieldy application used. Wouldn’t it be great if they were? Full access to your company’s data and systems, anytime, anywhere – and a corresponding spike in productivity and possibilities.
That’s where mobile integration comes into play – and specifically, N2N’s Illuminate API Management Platform. Illuminate enables enterprises to quickly and easily build out APIs that can make that enterprise data available securely via mobile – no coding necessary.
2 – Cost Reduction
Wondering how much mobile integration is gonna cost you? You should be thinking about how much you’d be shelling out if you choose a different path to mobility. Starting over and building new mobile apps to replace legacy systems…painstakingly transferring data from old systems to new ones…custom coding APIs for every new incarnation of an app, for every new mobile device or operating system that’s developed in the future… It’s not for the faint of heart – or the pincher of pennies.
Mobile integration via Illuminate eliminates every single one of those issues – and their associated costs. No need to create new apps – just integrate the existing ones for seamless communication in minutes. Be prepared for any new device the future may hold, confident that you’ll be able to integrate it into your system in a snap. You’ll be saving yourself money both now and in the future.
3 – Competitiveness
When every other company is using computers, you don’t want to be the company stuck using a typewriter. Putting mobile integration into place now means that you’ll be prepared for the future, agile enough to pivot and adapt to any changing circumstances – and strategically take advantage of any innovations before your competition does.
Illuminate future-proofs your company by giving you the ability to integrate any future apps with your existing systems, quickly, easily, and affordably. While others struggle to catch up with mobility, or expend resources custom coding their way to integration, you’ll be no more than a few minutes away from a quick pivot that can mean the difference between being an industry leader…or an also-ran.
When you visit our Site, we collect identifiers about you, including your IP address, and use cookies to improve our website performance,
deliver a more personalized experience, and to analyze our traffic. By continuing to browse our site, you accept our Privacy Policy.OkPrivacy Policy
