Manage API Users with MuleSoft Anypoint API Community Manager

Oktana is one of the first Salesforce consulting partners to work on MuleSoft Anypoint API Community Manager (“MuleSoft ACM”) integration projects. We are one of the few with experience on MuleSoft ACM. Our team is currently working on six different implementation projects having completed more than five already. These MuleSoft ACM integration projects have been across a wide range of industries. Such as aviation, financial services, healthcare, interior design, and high tech.

Why MuleSoft Anypoint Platform™?

Many organizations turn to the MuleSoft Anypoint Platform. Because it provides the tools to develop, deploy, manage and secure the APIs that help them run and extend their businesses.

Digital transformation in any industry brings challenges. How do you regulate and manage access to APIs while providing clear and open information to your developer community on usage? Security is exceptionally important. For example, when you’re creating a new digital ecosystem, you want third-party developers working with your systems to also be able to develop rapidly and effectively.  

Organizations that need to scale their network of partners and customers through expanded communities can now leverage MuleSoft ACM. Which essentially provides MuleSoft customers with the ability to manage their API users in a community. The community is based on the Salesforce Experience Cloud (previously known as Community Cloud). This enables them to improve communication and provide more context to their API users. Managing access and security and also providing detailed information on API usage is essential when exposing core information related to customers, accounts, transactions, payments, and credit cards. 

The length of each of these projects has varied based on the complexity of the organization’s requirements but generally takes 4-6 weeks. Obviously, it can take more time based on the number of customizations required. Customizations can include custom signup and approval processes, custom objects, special security and permissions configurations, and enabling custom domains. 

Aviation

The work done to integrate MuleSoft ACM for our aviation industry partner was complex. It required creating and integrating external objects. That had to then be shown in permanent categories in the MuleSoft Anypoint Platform ecosystem. Our team was able to integrate these external objects using Apex. 

Healthcare

Our partner, a healthcare provider, required a unique process for user approvals. They needed to add an additional step for the usage of specific APIs and the method by which API keys are distributed. MuleSoft provides solutions specifically for healthcare. Designed to streamline manual processes, enable cross-collaboration, and unlock healthcare data in a secure, reliable manner.

Financial

For this specific project, our team started with the implementation of MuleSoft ACM. Installation and configuration were followed by significant work managing additional security requirements. To allow efficient management of access to the APIs, we created a new self-service registration service for developer partners. The team use Apex, Aura Components, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS to create the registration service. Ensuring developer partners have managed registrations allows our customers to personalize partner pages and create a fully branded experience. MuleSoft ACM is able to leverage the Salesforce Content Management System (CMS). It publishes materials for each API, like documentation and marketing information. Also, MuleSoft allows them to manage access and provides developers the ability to test APIs without code.

Certainly, companies looking to improve how they manage their APIs will find MuleSoft has solutions specifically targeted to eight different industries. Financial Services, Government, Healthcare, Higher Education, Insurance, Manufacturing, Media & Telecom, and Retail. But, companies from other industries, like our Aviation partner, can also successfully leverage the platform to accelerate development. If you have an API strategy firmly established on the MuleSoft Anypoint Platform. It will be easier to enable developers (internally and externally) to use your APIs responsibly.

Read more about our MuleSoft Anypoint API Community Manager customers and other past projects.

Salesforce Direct Message API: the new way to communicate

APIs (application programming interfaces) make our professional life, as developers, much simpler. This feeling is more remarkable when it comes to IT messaging apps. APIs were always good allies. Today, we will share how the Salesforce Direct message API is helping us improve communication for our customers.

APIs: What are they for? 

Firstly, we want you to picture this: developers are normally running huge projects and need to create brilliant solutions in a short period of time. Therefore, we need to build bridges between different systems that, often, have never been related. In these situations, we need to be strategic and creative to meet our customer’s expectations and enhance the user experience. 

This is when APIs become our best friends. They are able to make two or more systems interact with one another. Oxford defines an API as: 

“A set of functions and procedures allowing the creation of applications that access the features or data of an operating system, application, or other services.”

This might sound difficult but the fact is, APIs are everywhere. Every time you use your phone, check your social media apps, share data within your company, or chat with your teammates, there are APIs working behind the scenes. 

Direct Message API, a whole new messaging experience in Salesforce

Chatter, the Salesforce enterprise collaboration tool, is no exception. Since Chatter is part of Salesforce, there are several Message APIs that make it possible to integrate this product with other solutions. 

For those who are not familiar with Chatter, we are talking about the product Salesforce built to provide a collaborative communication platform. All Salesforce employees, partners, and most customers interact, collaborate, and share information from within Salesforce using Chatter. Everything is available to your teammates and securely archived.

We started testing the new Direct Message API, and let us tell you, the experience is becoming way more flexible and enjoyable. 


Salesforce Direct Message API