{"id":1368,"date":"2022-07-21T22:31:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T02:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zayo1.burbledev.com\/?post_type=resources&#038;p=1368"},"modified":"2025-05-02T21:23:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T03:23:20","slug":"api-integration-is-easier-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/resources\/api-integration-is-easier-than-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"API Integration is Easier Than You Think"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If there\u2019s one lesson we\u2019re learning along our digital transformation journey, it\u2019s that automation breeds efficiency. The more we enable our systems to do our work, the less time we waste. You can easily automate key business functions like quoting and ordering services, managing your inventory, and creating trouble tickets using application programming interfaces (APIs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zayo\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/developer.zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">API developer portal<\/a>&nbsp;offers a library of API reference documentation for developers. In addition, we provide the means to explore, onboard, and live test with existing API offerings.&nbsp;APIs are coded, direct interactions between the applications you use and the systems your vendors use for these business functions. APIs allow your applications to pull information directly from your vendors\u2019 systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Establish APIs?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Currently, you\u2019re managing multiple vendors across multiple business functions. You\u2019re sending emails to one, logging into a customer portal for another, and texting or calling others. To make matters more complex, each vendor has its own process for you to comply with. This makes it difficult to present a congruent output across all vendors in the one system that matters:&nbsp;<strong>yours.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The good news is that this output is simply data, and data can be automated using APIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And there\u2019s&nbsp;<em>more<\/em>&nbsp;good news: Establishing APIs is not nearly as daunting as you might imagine. If you\u2019re working with a good vendor, it\u2019s easier than you think!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Imagine for a moment a world where you never have to leave your system in order to extract information from your vendors\u2019 systems. Envision a work day without swivel-chairing information from your vendors\u2019 systems to your applications. APIs make this possible, leaving you more time for productive tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1228\" height=\"703\" src=\"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1370\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-3.png 1228w, https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-3-960x550.png 960w, https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-3-768x440.png 768w, https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-3-480x275.png 480w, https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-3-640x366.png 640w, https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-3-720x412.png 720w, https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-3-1168x669.png 1168w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1228px) 100vw, 1228px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">With a single interface, they do the work for you. Here are the&nbsp;different APIs:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Direct APIs with your vendors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most vendors offer a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/developer.zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">developer portal to establish APIs with them directly<\/a>. You can complete the API integration within a matter of days depending on the complexity. You have complete control over the design and implementation of the API integration tools to ensure they fit your business needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Direct APIs benefit companies with massive volumes of highly transactional business with a particular vendor (such as hundreds of quote requests per day). Direct APIs are also ideal for companies with extensive business with a particular vendor (such as multiple circuits to manage across a vast geography). This is because direct APIs offer integration across the many business functions we discussed earlier: Network Discovery, Quoting and Ordering, Service Management, Maintenance, and Ticketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Network Discovery APIs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This family of APIs allows you to analyze how your vendors\u2019 services can power your business. A discovery API will show you which of your business locations, and which of your cloud service providers, your vendor can serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Building Validation API<\/strong>&nbsp;to see if your vendor can serve your site, no matter where in the world it\u2019s located<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Location Availability API<\/strong>&nbsp;to ensure your vendor serves your specific floor, room, and suite within a building with a specific product<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cloud Access API<\/strong>&nbsp;to validate hundreds of CSP locations from AWS, Google, Azure, IBM, Salesforce, etc. to see where hosted or dedicated connections can be offered. With Zayo\u2019s APIs, we can even show you what sites offer same-day provisioning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Quote and Order APIs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This family of APIs unites your systems with your vendors\u2019 systems in order to automate and simplify your transactional activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Product Catalog API.<\/strong>&nbsp;Establishing a product catalog API allows your team to become more familiar with your vendor\u2019s services and solution options. This can help to better inform your decisions on which vendor\u2019s solutions best meet your needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Quoting API.<\/strong>&nbsp;Accessing the information of the discovery and catalog APIs, your system can draw quotes directly from the vendor\u2019s quoting engine. You can compare price quotes from multiple vendors, side by side, without ever leaving your own system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ordering API.<\/strong>&nbsp;With a direct order API, you can place an order for a quoted service directly within your vendor\u2019s ordering engine, again, without leaving your own system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Service Management APIs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Service Management APIs seamlessly retrieve critical service information and connect it with the source of truth, get support for issues, and keep track of planned outages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Service Inventory API.<\/strong>&nbsp;Managing service inventory across multiple vendors should never require manual data inputs into spreadsheets hundreds of columns wide, thousands of rows long. Let your IT service management system do that work for you! With a service inventory API, your ITSM is connected directly to the \u201csource of truth\u201d of all active service data, with full sorting and filtering capabilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ticketing API.<\/strong>&nbsp;You can automate across your service management functions as well. Ticketing integration between your system and your vendors\u2019 allows you to view and submit trouble tickets for your services directly from your own service monitoring system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maintenance Case API.<\/strong>&nbsp;Vendors maintain their networks through augmentations, grooming, rerouting, and updating hardware, and sometimes these maintenance activities result in pre-planned outages. This API allows your system to keep track of outages, including push notifications when the vendor updates the status of maintenance events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Any one of these direct vendor APIs will reduce the time your staff takes to collect, organize, transact with, and draw value from your many vendors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. APIs with Industry Integrators<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1113\" height=\"493\" src=\"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-4.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1371\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-4.png 1113w, https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-4-960x425.png 960w, https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-4-768x340.png 768w, https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-4-480x213.png 480w, https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-4-640x283.png 640w, https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-4-720x319.png 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1113px) 100vw, 1113px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Think of API Integrators as the industry\u2019s centralized marketplace for multi-vendor service quoting (and selling). When you establish an API with an integrator, you have instant access to the pricing engines of all vendors who have also developed APIs with the integrator. The list of integrators includes companies like Connectbase, Masterstream, NDA Corp, Last Mile Exchange (LMX), Miso3, and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">API Integrators work with customers to make the service quoting process easy. They offer single sign-on options for quote requests from multiple vendors directly from your own system or a single view of all of your vendors within their tool. Their offerings are getting more sophisticated and are expanding beyond quoting to offer network design and building location APIs as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you require a lot of quoting from multiple vendors, Integrators can help save you the time and effort of establishing APIs directly with each vendor. Use Integrators as a clearinghouse for quoting and, increasingly, network discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">API Standards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just as carriers\u2019 global networks must interoperate through development to global standards, their programming interfaces must also cooperate.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mef.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MEF<\/a>, the global standards body that certifies carrier <a href=\"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/services\/network-connectivity\/ethernet\/\">Ethernet<\/a>, IP, and SD-WAN services, has a vast program of standards-based inter-carrier automation as well. Look for vendors who participate in the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mef.net\/service-automation\/lso-apis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a0MEF API \u201cLifecycle Service Orchestration\u201d (LSO) program<\/a>. These vendors operate within MEF\u2019s global API standards for inter-provider and enterprise APIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zayo\u2019s Devon Holt recently&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=i2y98UYkQsg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sat down with MEF<\/a>&nbsp;to share Zayo\u2019s perspective on the importance of standardized APIs. As a buyer, for example, we are able to streamline quote and order APIs in our internal portal, enabling global infrastructure scale. As a seller, Zayo can instantly partner with the MEF community without a significant development lift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How easy is it to create an API?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Easier than you think! Vendors like Zayo offer an online&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/developer.zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">API marketplace<\/a>, a tool allowing companies interested in APIs the means to establish them. Using this API toolkit, software developers have all of the information they need to integrate with their vendors at their fingertips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An API Developer Portal takes a comprehensive, proprietary portfolio of APIs to the next level. It empowers customers to self-serve on one platform, replacing antiquated methods of communication and information gathering. Using a single, one-stop-shop online platform, customers can explore, on-board and test live with existing API offerings and stay informed about upcoming developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you don\u2019t have IT developers on staff, your vendor or Integrator will walk you through a straightforward process:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Determine which business processes would benefit most from API integration<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Determine if you\u2019d like to build a direct vendor API or build an API using an Integrator<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Meet with your vendor or integrator to discuss your process and system needs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The API team creates test credentials and sends them to you<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With vendor or integrator assistance, you develop the API<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Together with your vendor or integrator, the API is tested against its production credentials to ensure its secure operation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deploy the integration!&nbsp;Explore our new&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/developer.zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">API Developer Portal.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zayo&#8217;s API developer portal offers a streamlined business process to manage your organization, improve your customer experience, and accelerate your digital transformation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1369,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","resource-post-excerpt":"Zayo's API developer portal offers a streamlined business process to manage your organization, improve your customer experience, and accelerate your digital transformation.","footnotes":""},"resource-topics":[],"displayed":[],"resources-categories":[44],"industry":[],"services-amp-solutions":[],"class_list":["post-1368","resources","type-resources","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resources-categories-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/1368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resources"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/1368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15840,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/1368\/revisions\/15840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"resource-topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-topics?post=1368"},{"taxonomy":"displayed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/displayed?post=1368"},{"taxonomy":"resources-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources-categories?post=1368"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=1368"},{"taxonomy":"services-amp-solutions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/services-amp-solutions?post=1368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}