  Traditionally, software APIs (application programming interfaces) have been
viewed from a technical perspective, as a means to separate implementation from
functional calls, and as a way to define a contract of software functionality.
The technical benefits of APIs have been reported in numerous studies. Several
reports from industry offer useful practical design considerations for APIs,
including advice on collecting usage data, monetization strategies, and at what
point to open an API to external parties. Although this advice can be useful,
the focus is still often on the API, only without considering the role the API
plays in the wider organization or how it fits into an organizational strategy.
Our industrial experiences show that more information is needed about the
challenges and best practices of API design and management in an organizational
context. Furthermore, it has become apparent that APIs are able to play a key
role as part of a strategic business plan for software-intensive companies. In
this report, we present the results of our work with companies to build a
framework that synthesizes and summarizes API strategies from several
perspectives, including: strategic API lifecycle, lifecycle stage
characteristics, lifecycle use cases and transition points, API layered
architecture, BAPO, value modeling, ecosystem mapping with goal models, API
metrics, goal models with metrics, and API governance guidance. Our research
was carried out with an industry-academic collaboration. The framework was
developed iteratively through workshops and discussions with company partners.
We show how conceptual frameworks can be used to drive API strategy
development, drawing on our research with several companies in practice.
