The Web Data Services Blog

There has been a lot of buzz around the increasing need for APIs, especially around “free” and “open” APIs.

As Dion Hinchcliffe writes in his latest blog on ebizQ, (Open APIs Mature Into a Next-Generation Business Model and Is the Future of SOA Open Source?), APIs (or the lack thereof) are the biggest obstacle for developing next-generation business applications and SOA interoperability.

Why?  First, the APIs have to be available, but they also need to be simpler (for example using REST) and easier to consume by BI tools, agile application environments and mashup builders.

Dion describes how more and more companies are providing open or free APIs to their data as an important part of their business model. These APIs are supplemented by a new line of companies, like StrikeIron and Xignite, who provide APIs to other’s data through an easy data-as-a-service (DaaS) model (check out this article in WSJ, The New Information Goldmine).

This is well aligned with the Open Government Initiative and the new US government data site data.gov where more and more government data will become available. You can read more about this initiative in this article about Digital Democracy.

But can we realistically wait for all relevant data to become “API enabled”?

With more than 5 billion websites today, there is a vast amount of growing, relevant data that is not going to have an API any time soon – if ever. Add to this data locked internally in legacy applications and at your business partners and you can see how unrealistic it is to have APIs for all this data.

This is where Web Data Services and a product like the Kapow Web Data Server become critical.

Web Data Services allow business analysts and agile application developers to instantly create APIs where none exist. The only prerequisite is that you can navigate to and see the data in a normal web browser like FireFox, IE or Safari. This even includes data behind secure, password protected sites, and data on very complex websites powered by AJAX and Flash.

With the powerful combination of open APIs, free government data and the ability to rapidly turn any web application into an API on-demand, we finally have access to any data we need.

This lays the foundation to a new way of working, where business analysts and other decision makers can spend their time building better algorithms, better data visualization, and better analysis because the most critical ingredient behind any business decision today, the data, has become so easily accessible.

By:  Stefan Andreasen

“In order for us to integrate with our SAP system, we need an SAP adapter.”

“In order to migrate content to our FileNet WCMS, we need a FileNet Adapter.”

I’m sure you’ve all heard this before.

The reasoning?  Whenever you need to perform data or content migration, you need an adapter.  Or do you?

Companies like iWay Software created a nice business proving the need for adapters to business applications and data/content management systems.

But as the number of data sources and applications multiply, this strategy is proving obsolete. There are simply too many systems in the market to build individual adapters for, and the requirements for each adapter vary more and more with each use case.

Fortunately there is a faster, better solution.

Over the last 5 years any relevant business application or CMS made their system accessible through a web browser.  You can log in and search, view and even enter data through web forms.

Using a Web Data Services product like the Kapow Web Data Server, developers can now leverage this web interface to create custom adapters quickly and easily whenever they need them, and even better, exactly the way they want them. No need to buy a library of adapters, read tons of documentation and then tweak your system to work with the adapter interface.

I visit prospects and customers as often as my schedule permits, and more and more frequently I hear, “We implemented yet another integration/SOA framework only to find it obsolete before it’s even finished”. Needless to say, customers are abandoning the adapter route and whole-heartedly adopting the much more pragmatic Web Data Services solution where they can create adapters “on the fly”.

Consider this – what would be the value to your organization if you could create adapters on demand without the need to recode existing systems or work through bureaucratic procedures to gain application access?  Huge, right?

Please drop me a note and I would be more than happy to share some real-life stories from real-life global 1000 companies who have done just this, giving them unprecedented business agility.  It’s no longer a matter of when and how much, but rather taking an on demand, “just do it” approach to driving business agility.

Learn more:

• Harvest and Serve Web Data from multiple web sources with no coding
• Content Migration Demo loading data into CMS without adapters

By:  Stefan Andreasen

Our “No Coding” tagline has resonated with many of you.  Thank you for the support and positive comments in the media and your blogs.  Disruptive technologies often have the opposite effect e.g. making people uncomfortable.  The Kapow Web Data Server is truly a paradigm shift – radically changing how traditionally complex migration of data between source and destination systems or turning applications into web services is done.

Many customers have described to me the “aha” moment they’ve had.  Across the board, our customers kept saying to us, “the amazing thing about the Web Data Server is that it requires no coding”.  It’s great when your customers do your marketing for you!

Two revolutionary inventions with the Kapow Web Data Server are key to our ability to eliminate traditional coding associated with Business Intelligence, Data Integration, and application integration projects:

1.    Existing applications can be easily accessed as-is through their HTML/AJAX front-end through our point-and-click visual development tool, eliminating the need to deal with proprietary APIs.  Even better, it’s done in the context of the content owner or business user (through what they see in their web browser), eliminating any misunderstandings that occur when explaining to coders what needs to be done i.e. translating business/ functional requirements to technical specs.

2.    Instant, visual feedback allows results to be seen on the spot – delivering high productivity and time to market improvements.

We have several videos on our website demonstrating how users easily access, enrich, and serve web data with “no coding”:

•    Harvest the web for pricing and market intelligence

•    Access and serve web data from Linkedin, Jigsaw and more with no coding

In fact, the tool is intuitive and easy enough that even our marketers have been known to build their own Kapow robots to harvest web data.

But programmers love our product even more.  Why?  It makes them more productive.  With a visual interface, real-time feedback, and 100% accuracy, programmers get more done in a lot less time.

All Content Migration, data warehouse ETL, data integration and application development projects require an iterative process, from first attempt until solved.

With traditional methods, each iteration can take weeks and even months to get it right.  This is cumbersome and frustrating for most.

The Kapow Web Data Server cuts down each iteration to 3 simple steps (measured in minutes):

1.    Visually instruct what you want (without coding), just like working with the data in a web browser (point and click).

2.    See the end result in real-time, right in the middle of instructing how and what to do.  (Since this happens real-time, step 1 and 2 are basically the same… but would you  believe me if I called it a 2 step process?)

3.    Modify instructions based on the instant, visual feedback, i.e. go back to step 1.

This extremely quick turn-around per iteration with the Kapow Web Data Server allows you to get to 100% of what you want.  100% accuracy in 1/10th the time.  And did I mention “no coding”?

Don’t just take my word for it, please check out what Intel and Audi had to say about Kapow.

Technology continues to evolve.  The market demands it.  Register for our free trial.  It really works.

By:  Stefan Andreasen

We received very nice coverage by Dana Gardner in his blog post “Web data gains some due respect as Kapow eases it into mission critical enterprise uses” at ZDNet.com.  Dana details the essential role web-based content plays in business intelligence (BI) and service-oriented and web-oriented applications (SOA/WOA), and also highlights the need for fast and easy integration of the data.  Great article, Dana!

By:  Stefan Andreasen