LEGACY REFACTORING – SERVICE ARCHITECTURE IMPLEMENTATION

project overview

We were approached by a multinational insurance company that offers a wide range of products via its network of B-Partners and resellers. To support this business model, the company provided integration options via APIs.

The problem was that the customer’s API offerings were outdated and lagging behind other competitors in the market. 

As a result, the number of available APIs was limited, and the integration process with new partners was slow and expensive. This presented the customer with a risk of losing existing partners and offered difficulties attracting new ones. As a result, the customer contacted us looking for expertise in providing improvements and advances to their API strategy.

Project details

First, we thoroughly analyzed the customer’s existing API technology and business capabilities. We then assessed all aspects of the current API model and identified the major business and technology issues. Our team then provided recommendations to the client on the future state of the customer’s API landscape and created a roadmap to achieve it.

The team also delivered the following:

• Analysis of the current API model with major business and technology pain points identified and described
• Migration highlights, together with proposed first steps and suggested activities
• Valuable insights regarding API Governance and API Management
• Detailed vision of the future Architecture
• The proposed future state of the API business in terms of API Coverage, API Architecture, API Authentication and Authorization, and Application Architecture
• Proposed API Governance process with clearly defined business and technology responsibilities and the API lifecycle

app functionality

While working on the project, our team focused on the four main problems the customer was facing. The expected deliverables were to answer them and resolve them in full:

challenges

The main problem addressed during the project was that almost all of the customer’s APIs were created to satisfy every possible use case for all B-partners. This approach made the API specification lengthy and hard to use, with all possible elements exposed to the partners.

First, the APIs were built into a single, large, and, in most cases, monolithic application. This meant making changes to the API’s functionality a lengthy and expensive exercise with extensive QA E2E testing required.

Second, some APIs were built to serve specific functionality but were also used to cover all lines of the business. This approach caused unnecessary complications concerning the service implementation, making it confusing and unimportant.

Proposed technical improvements

The following technology improvements were recommended:

• Expanding the usage of BFF (Back end for Front end) and Enterprise APIs to divide business logic and Front end support.
• Applying API Framework to cover common functionalities, including logging, reporting, error message control, data security, etc.
• Developing Microservice Architecture-based APIs to reduce time-to-market, cut engineering costs, use modern DevOps, and enable granular business ownership.
• Introducing an Event Streaming Platform (e.g., Kafka, Kinesis, or similar app) to decouple BFF from Enterprise APIs and Back end systems. This will also help to decouple Back end systems from each other and potentially improve SLA and overall system response times.

Project results

Once the project was accomplished, the customer found itself in the right position to:

• Implement far-reaching changes to its API strategy based on clear and detailed guidelines.

• Boost their brand awareness and client loyalty based on the new convenient and effective ecosystem

• Open new sales channels as a modern and flexible provider of APIs. Soon, the B-partners can simply buy tailored-fit APIs and embed them within their apps.