Selling Energy Data: Adopting an API-as-a-Product Mindset

An API, or application programming interface, is a communication channel between two web-based applications, allowing the exchange of data without any connecting physical infrastructure. APIs have enormous potential to open companies up to new revenue streams, unlock new markets and extract value from existing assets. They are a crucial channel to exploit data which has in some cases previously been sitting unused or siloed. To harness and maximise the value of this data, the API must be viewed as a product in itself. To fully realise this potential, APIs need to be lifted out of the sole domain of the IT department and treated as a digital product in their own right. Adopting such an API-as-a-product mindset transforms APIs from a project-specific internal IT tool to the very cornerstone of digital transformation, relevant suddenly to wider business opportunities. If you have energy data, for example, you could be earning extra revenue by following a modern data monetisation strategy and marketing that data as a product.  

If APIs are to be considered as a digital product, they need features such as a product description, a usage licence and pricing model just like any other product brought to market as part of an overall business strategy. It certainly isn’t the case that all digital assets available through a company’s existing API are naturally of monetary value to a broad external audience. The initial commercial success of any product depends on whether there is a clearly defined market and customer need. As with any product, you need to look at the target audience and their specific needs – to whom would this data be of interest, for what pain point does it provide a solution and what value does it offer? Exclusivity in data and functionality is always a good place to start, but it is not essential if the offering still delivers value to a particular audience. As an example, an API providing a forecast of day-ahead electricity prices is obviously only relevant to industry players with short-term operations that enable or rely on them reacting quickly, not to largescale industrial consumers on three-year fixed price contracts. The key is to know and understand your audience and their requirements. It is also worth being aware that when it comes to defining the market for APIs, there is usually both an internal and external audience. Internally, an API can be used within an organisation to transform operational processes and integrate disparate systems. Externally, the developer community is most often the direct API user. APIs enable developers to leverage data to build new applications at pace and at scale by removing the need to write entirely new code. They are the building blocks used by the developer community to create other products, which will inevitably in turn evolve in line with end user need. Within the energy industry, APIs are key in facilitating the sharing of data which has previously been inaccessible and fragmented, opening collaboration and innovation across the entire energy value chain. User need for APIs will inevitably vary depending on the nature of the audience, so determining what features they require should be the first step in any product roadmap. By taking this approach with APIs, it is possible to transform what has previously been a technical asset used for short-term, finite internal projects into an agile digital product with long-term commercial value.  In return, API usage analytics then offer the provider a valuable source of insight into performance and can be used to update the product roadmap as necessary. API response times, number of calls and usage patterns, among other metrics, generate feedback which enables the API provider to better understand what the audience needs and adapt their product accordingly. 

On a final note, the success and value of an API will ultimately depend on customer experience and ease of use. Key considerations for APIs with external audiences include security – clear policies and protocols to protect and control the data – straightforward integration processes and access to relevant documentation. These all maximise productivity for developers and are easily handled by offering the well-designed API through a digital marketplace. This is where the re.alto API Marketplace comes in – it acts as a sales channel through which you can market your energy-related API to potential customers. Consumers can browse a variety of different APIs on our marketplace and then easily subscribe to the ones that interest them. These subscriptions are monitored, tracked and (if monetised) billed and settled by the re.alto platform, simplifying that side of the sale for the provider. The owner of the API retains full control over who has access to their product with re.alto simply acting as a billboard and sales channel for their data.