What is API orchestration?

A simple way to think about orchestration is that it presents a single API (the orchestration layer) that manages other APIs. It enables a client to call on one API to access a workflow that encompasses multiple services and resources, each with their own API.

By adding an API orchestration layer between clients and APIs, an organization can coordinate multiple services and applications to create a single, fluid system.

Many organizations rely on a complex web of APIs working together to complete business tasks. These APIs work busily behind the scenes; to work efficiently, they need to communicate both with clients making API requests and with other applications and services. API orchestration adds a layer of functionality on top of existing services that enables these services to all work in concert with each other. This provides the user with a smooth front-end experience while the backend is busily working.

API orchestration is especially important when an organization is going through a digital transformation and has both legacy and newer systems and services in the same computing environment. Legacy systems often use a mixture of API types and coordinating communication between SaaS applications and on-prem systems and databases can be achieved through an orchestration layer.

API orchestration is also important in a microservices architecture, where an application’s functionality depends on the communication between many individual components. These components communicate through APIs and orchestration manages and coordinates these individual components to enable the delivery of a larger service.

API orchestration helps manage and route complex workflows by coordinating multiple APIs into a single system. Such workflows often require access to multiple services or resources, each accessed through a different API. An orchestration layer presents a single point of contact for applications and services that otherwise would need to call on each individual API.

Consider an example use case in an e-commerce workflow: when a customer makes a purchase on an e-commerce platform, many services and calls to multiple endpoints are required to complete that order. There might be a call to one API to check inventory, another to pull specific items, access payment platforms, pull data from CRM software,  send the package to the shipping carrier and more.

For such business processes to work in real-time (as is the expectation), all these actions must occur in the correct order. An orchestration layer puts all these calls into a consistent logical workflow, streamlining what is otherwise a complex sequence of events.

API orchestration coordinates the communication between these different services, facilitating the execution of various tasks in a workflow to achieve a specific goal. Orchestration acts like a conductor, coordinating multiple APIs to create a unified system accessed through a single front-end API.

While API orchestration and API integration are different concepts, they are related. API integration helps facilitate API orchestration.

API integration is the process through which different software applications, systems and platforms connect to each other and exchange data. API integration is about using APIs to expose integration flows and enable applications and systems—whether legacy or new—to exchange data and share services.

API orchestration is the process of coordinating multiple APIs, some of which might already be used to connect enterprise systems and integration flows, to perform specific tasks. API orchestration can arrange these integrated applications, systems and databases in valuable workflows.

In short, API integration refers to the use of APIs to expose integration flows and connect enterprise systems and workflows; API orchestration combines multiple APIs to create a single system.

API gateways and API orchestration can perform similar tasks. While a gateway can run some orchestration functions and enable orchestration, API orchestration goes beyond the capabilities of a gateway.

An API gateway is an API management tool. It acts as a single point of entry for API calls and directs calls from the client to backend resources. It can perform functions similar to API orchestration, such as caching, error monitoring and data transformation. API gateways can also perform essential functions such as rate limiting.

The main difference is that API gateways provide a single entry point for API requests and manages the flow of those requests. API orchestration coordinates multiple APIs to complete a specific task.

Microservices, or microservices architecture, is a cloud-native architectural approach in which a single application is composed of many loosely coupled and independently deployable smaller components or services. These independent parts communicate through APIs and microservice orchestration helps coordinate these microservices to create coherent larger applications.

A microservices architecture can only work as intended when communication between all the components is coordinated and consistent—and orchestration facilitates that coordination. Orchestration also adds service discovery, workflow control and error handling and enables an organization to integrate microservices with their legacy systems.

An orchestration layer performs several vital functions that improve the efficiency of an organization’s APIs. These functions include:

• Integration
• Data transformation
• Logical workflows
• Automation
• Error notifications
• Retries
• Authentication and API security
• Caching

These functions are key in streamlining an organization’s API workflows and reducing the amount of human intervention necessary in complex business processes.

Integration: Organizations often use a mixture of API types, styles and languages such as GraphQL, RPC, WebSocket and REST APIs for different use cases. In addition, organizations might have a mix of new and legacy systems in the same computing environment. An orchestration layer helps normalize data structures between systems and coordinates communication between these various types of APIs

Data transformation: When a client application submits an API call, the format for both the call and the response depends on the protocol, language or architectural style of the API. If a workflow requires that these APIs communicate and share data with each other, then the response from one API needs to be turned into a legible format to send to the next API.

Orchestration introduces a standardized call format that meets both the requirements of the client making the call and the backend API responding to it.

Logical workflows: When a digital workflow involves multiple APIs, it’s often important that these APIs are called in a specific sequence. API orchestration tools can refine this complicated series of call and response processes through tools like visual workflow design.

Automation: Automation is a crucial aspect of streamlining digital workflows. API orchestration tools offer features such as no-code connectors that enable users to build and automate interactions between different services.

Error notifications: API orchestration tools help monitor and flag errors in the orchestration layer, reducing the need to check every app and microservice if an error occurs.

Retries: Communication between APIs can fail on occasion and API orchestration tools can retry these failed communications, keeping data flowing despite momentary interruptions.

Authentication and API security: API security is important, but authentication workflows can sometimes slow down communication between APIs. Additionally, organizations might have APIs that use various API authentication measures to grant permissions, such as API keys, OAuth and API tokens. API orchestration tools can automate the authentication pipeline, keeping sensitive data secure without interrupting the flow of data.

Caching: To help keep API workflows efficient, API orchestration tools support data caching, storing frequently referenced data in a cache so that it can be accessed without an API call and response process.

API orchestration can help optimize an organization’s API environment. Key API orchestration benefits include:

• Streamlined infrastructure
• Scalability
• Improved customer experience

API orchestration can simplify complex digital workflows and ease the flow of data. This is particularly helpful for organizations that use a mixture of API types, or are currently integrating legacy systems and applications into a new computing environment.

API orchestration facilitates data flow and API communication, creating more flexible API ecosystems. This flexibility makes environments more scalable and makes it easier to add new APIs, applications and services without disrupting existing systems.

API orchestration offers a unified front-end API for interacting with a complex web of apps and services. This simplifies the process for end-users and helps processes move more quickly. On the backend, implementing an orchestration layer improves the efficiency of request handling without the need for employee intervention.