Vancouver-based Layer 7 Technologies has launched a lightweight, cloud-based version of its API manager.Apify.co is meant for business power-users who may have some expertise publishing APIs to the developer community, yet lack the technological means to do so, said the company’s co-founder and chief strategy officer, Dimitri Sirota.
“They have some knowledge of this space,” Sirota said. “What they don’t necessarily have is access to servers and infrastructure and all of these other kind of IT-class things. So, for them to get started, it’s a lot easier to get started with a service.”
Layer 7 says Apify provides a self-serve management platform for business leaders, easy access to developers and a host of reporting tools. A preview version is available now on Apify.co, with general release scheduled for 2013.
Up until now, Layer 7 has provided comprehensive enterprise API management tools that are mostly targeted at larger organizations (“Rogers is a client, as an example, the DoD is a client, Allstate is a client, Cisco is a client, Adobe is a client,” notes Sirota) with significant IT departments.
But with marketing departments getting in on the action in many other companies, he added, the Layer 7 felt it was the right time to offer a simplified alternative.
“It’s becoming a big deal because every enterprise, again, small and large, is thinking about how do they really tap this app economy. “
Sirota describes Apify as a “lightweight entry point” for non-IT users. This means that some organizations will eventually graduate to more heavy duty tools. “As those orgs mature in their usage of APIs… they can migrate to our enterprise solution, they can migrate to our IT-class, carrier-grade solution. So, we provide them a pathway—we don’t lock them in.
Founded in 2003, Layer 7 is a rapidly growing Canadian company with a significant customer base in both the private and public sector. It has focused its efforts on open API management, enterprise mobile strategies and cloud computing.
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