API Connector: exchange your business data in real time
You want to exchange your business documents in real time with your customers, suppliers and partners? Artéva implements an API connector to connect all the information systems and digital platforms involved in your B2B exchange project.
An API: what is it?
The acronym API stands for “Application Programme Interface”. As the name suggests, it is an interface that allows two software, information systems or applications to communicate via the Internet. Exchanges are in real time and automated
01
An interface role
APIs allow to facilitate access to the services of an application without having to develop a very complex program.
They act as interfaces through which queries and data pass.
02
Modern, low cost
This makes the API an effective, low-cost solution that is in keeping with the times. Indeed, production and integration costs are particularly interesting. APIs are quickly implemented, because they are relatively easy to program.
Your API project with Artemis
Collaborative digital platforms are increasingly popular among companies that want to exchange data in real time and communicate across borders. With the advent of these platforms, APIs (Application Programming Interface) have developed. They are the main exchange protocol used to connect platforms. Nowadays, we talk about “plateformisation” of exchanges: we are witnessing a strong expansion of the connectivity domains and web services.
Artéva is fully in line with this trend by offering you to take charge of your API project through Orchestrade®, a digital B2B platform that we have developed to meet your digital business needs.
How does an API connector work?
The API allows for the use of a program without having to look at the complex operation that an application can have. APIs can be used to obtain invoice data without knowing the software that created it. They are now found in operating systems, SaaS applications, software, CRM or ERP (including SAP for example), databases, graphics, open data…
The design of an API is generally based on web standards in order to be able to use the internet for remote interaction, and therefore usually on a different computer than the one that makes the request.
Client case
API connector for our industrial partners
Some of our industry customers need to be connected in real time to e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon, Cdiscount or Zalando… These marketplaces owe their success to the referencing of a large number of suppliers, which is made possible by the provision of standard API connectors.
The Orchestrade® platform allows our clients to communicate in a uniform way with all these APIs and to handle all exchange scenarios with marketplaces: flows, warehouses (stocks, expected receipt, movements…), order processing, invoicing.
The differences between EDI & API: our vision
We can think of APIs as a modern version of EDI. It is not the same technology and the expected benefits, but some projects can indeed go through API rather than traditional EDI. So what are the differences between these two exchange protocols?
EDI solution in SaaS mode
- 1 | One-way communication
- 2 | Batch communication (=lot) asynchronous
- 3 | Relatively long deployment times
- 4 | High integration cost
API connector
- 1 | Two-way communication (interactive)
- 2 | Synchronous communication through real-time data transfer and processing via the internet connection
- 3 | Fast installation
- 4 | Fairly low integration costs
Trade document exchange and API:
Entrust us with your project
We take into account the business processes that are specific to your company to offer you the API solution that corresponds to your real needs.
Depending on the types of connection expected by your partner platforms and your information system, we set up API connectors for your real-time business data exchanges.
You want to exchange with all your partners today, whether or not they have an information system, via APIs? Tell us about your project.
API Connector:
everything you need to know
Through this FAQ, explore all the essential questions that will guide you through the world of API connectors.
Un protocole a été développé pour standardiser les échanges d’informations, et c’est ainsi qu’est apparu le SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). Ces APIs utilisent un format de messages XML qui permet de standardiser les informations échangées entre connecteurs d’applications programmées dans des langages parfois différents. Un peu plus tard, une autre normalisation, plus simple, le REST (Representational State Transfer), est apparue. Les APIs qui l’utilisent sont plus nombreuses et sont dites RESTful, elles respectent généralement les contraintes suivantes : une architecture client-serveur, un serveur sans état, une mémoire cache, un système à couches, un code à la demande et une interface uniforme. La norme commune pour définir ces API est la spécification OpenAPI.
Même si les 2 peuvent servir de moyen de communication, un web service permet l’interaction entre deux ordinateurs connectés à un réseau, alors qu’une API sert d’interface entre deux applications différentes pour leur permettre de communiquer entre elles.
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