From APIOps to API Management as Code

One of the challenges I had when writing my book was using the term “APIOps“ in the title. APIOps is about automating the deployment and configuration of APIs using GitOps principles, and I originally wanted the book to be called “APIOps In Action“. But, in A/B style tests the editors ran with target readers, we found that potential readers found the term opaque. It begged the question: what is APIOps and should I care about it? Working with the editors, we ended up with a different title that readers preferred - “Automating API Delivery“. In my Ikenna Delivery Canvas (IDC), I opted for the term “GitOps-based API config deployment“, but admittedly, that is a mouthful. But I think I have now found a better term..

At the 2024 Austin API Summit, Traefik Labs’ Sudeep Goswami discussed API management as code in his talk on the Five Critical Pillars of API Management. I like the term API management as code because I think it better captures the essence of the idea. Sudeep also mentions API management as code as one of the key components of a Unified API Architecture in his recent post - Beyond the AI Gateway. Hugo Guerrero recently wrote about API Management as Code, which essentially describes APIOps.

However, one thing I like about APIOps is that the term better emphasises the relationship between automated API deployments and GitOps. And APIOps is a bit shorter to write, too 🙂 .

In conclusion, I think I like the new term better. In my IDC, I have updated the entry in the CI/Cd box from “GitOps-based API config deployment“ to “APIOps/API-mgt-as-code“.

I guess this is just a discussion about words, but do you have a preference?