The API Quick Guide for Non-Techies
You don’t have to be an IT professional to select or manage the implementation of new association management software (AMS). We see people from all kinds of non-technical backgrounds in charge of successful AMS projects. But if you’ve never been involved with a system implementation, you might run into some unwelcome when integrating the AMS with other systems you use.
- You didn’t count on integration taking so much time and costing so much money.
- You didn’t realize you’d be charged for every API call—more on what that means in a minute.
- You didn’t know data might only flow one way in an integration.
These problems are completely preventable if you choose an AMS with a bi-directional, open API.
When a conversation turns to API, it doesn’t take long before non-techies, like me, feel lost. I’ve been learning what all this means so I can share it with you in plain English. By the time we’re done here, you too will keep up when the technical types talk about integration and API.
What the heck is an API?
API stands for application programming interface, words that mean nothing to me, so I’ll explain it with an analogy. Someone described API to me like a restaurant server who takes your order, brings it to the kitchen, and then returns with your food. API is the code that gives systems and apps the ability to communicate with each other and share data. It’s like a messenger behind the scenes, relaying requests and responses back and forth between systems.
Each one of these requests is an API call— now you can see how that can get expensive if you’re charged for them. That’s why you should double check with your AMS vendors to see if there are fees associated with using the open API.
When discussing API with technical colleagues and partners, you might hear references to SOAP and REST web services. These are sets of rules for exchanging messages between systems. Honestly, that’s as far as I’m going on that topic, any further and my eyes glaze over. Rest assured, the MemberSuite open API supports both SOAP and REST.
A software’s API provides a better experience for users behind their screens and staff behind the scenes. Let’s use an LMS as an example. The AMS API will push data into the LMS through its API, like member profile data of volunteer leaders who are assigned to take a board orientation class. Later, the AMS API can be used to pull engagement data from the LMS through its API back into the member profile.
You also experience an API whenever you use single sign-on (SSO). When members are signed into the member portal, they will be able to access information from different integrated systems, like an event platform or your LMS. Credentials are passed along behind the scenes by the API to other systems when you want to use them. For the user, the entire association is at their fingertips because of the API.
Open for business with an open API
An AMS with an open API opens your organization up to creating a best-of-breed technology ecosystem. For example, MemberSuite’s open API makes it easy for other systems to integrate with our AMS, which allows associations to access and manage the latest data from multiple sources in one centralized database.
Additionally, with an open API, developers have to write less code to make software programs play nicely together. As a result, the integration phase of implementation is easier, quicker, and less expensive.
Our API documentation, the scripts used to automate integration with other systems, is openly available so any system vendor or consultant can easily figure out how to make the integration magic happen. This type of universal access is a characteristic of open API.
Bi-directional API, the only way to flow
Once you understand the job of the open API, it’s important to understand the “bi-directional” concept. Data flows both ways. You’d think bi-directional would be the API standard, but it isn’t. Some AMS only have a bi-directional API with other platforms owned by their company. So, if you want to integrate with platforms outside their “family,” you have to pay developers to write that integration code—and that’s a project.
Why a bi-directional open API is so much better than the alternative
Now that we’ve covered the two API keywords you should be looking for in your next AMS (“open” and “bi-directional”), it’s time to think about why these are critical to your organization, staff, and members.
- An AMS with a bi-directional open API gives you access to the latest data from any integrated system so you can get a full picture of a member’s or customer’s activities and see the latest engagement trends and patterns.
- With the latest data in a centralized database, your staff can provide a better user experience to members.
- Because your AMS reports can include data you need from other integrated systems, you save staff time and have more complete information for data analytics and decision-making.
- When data flows both ways, staff time is freed up. You no longer need to manually update systems with the same data—and you reduce the possibility of human error.
- As your association’s needs change or as new technology becomes available, an AMS with an open API gives you the flexibility to easily integrate with specialized best-of-breed systems.
Are you curious if an AMS with a bi-directional open API like ours fits your budget? Find out by requesting a quote.