By Greg Bellinger, Microsoft

The term API, or Application Programming Interface, normally conjures thoughts of social media apps or cloud-based software, not your refrigerator!  And yet, the idea of your icebox reminding you to pick up a quart of milk on your way home may not be as far-fetched as it first seems.

As the name implies, an API facilitates the communication between software programs.  To focus this broad and often technical topic on the commercial space, I have found the following definition useful: an API is any software interface, or process, that allows outside users to interact with internal programs or capabilities.  At one end of this spectrum are custom interfaces, perhaps built to automate data transfers with a single partner.  The opposite end includes publicly available interfaces with support for as many users that want, or are willing to pay, for access. While API’s have been around for many years, they have taken on a more prominent role with the rise of cloud computing and the proliferation of smart phones. Now a multitude of devices can easily communicate and interact with an equally diverse set of other devices, programs or proprietary IT infrastructure.  To underscore the value of API’s, Fortune magazine reported that last year Salesforce.com received over half its $2.3 billion in revenue from its API’s.

Why are API’s so valuable?  Two of the driving forces behind the adoption of APIs are customers and data. In today’s networked and data intensive business environment, APIs can help you or better manage your relationship with current customers and help you add new customers.  They enable tighter, timely, integration with marketing partners, or help a firm achieve scale by enabling others to easily build targeted apps on top of a robust, but relatively generic infrastructure.

APIs will only become more important. We are on the cusp of a new wave of networking, the inclusion of non-traditional objects and appliances in home and commercial networks (think vending machines and automobiles). Often called the Internet of Things, this transition promises to bring tremendous opportunities to companies large and small.  Look around. In your home or office, notice how many items now have Bluetooth, are sporting a 4G wireless connection, or are Wi-Fi enabled.  Many devices now have all three. There is a growing expectation that a wireless connection must be available in every room of our homes, in almost every aspect of our daily lives.  With near constant network availability, it is no stretch of the imagination to see that household appliances will find their way onto the network.  Why not have an alarm clock that replaces the traditional AM/FM radio with music streamed from the internet via a Wi-Fi connection?

Before we enjoy these new conveniences, new standards must be adopted across the home network, standards for device management and software applications communicate with each other.  This is where APIs come in. The developer of home network management software doesn’t want to write an interface for each brand of refrigerator. A more efficient approach is to write an API for refrigerator related functions and let the appliance manufacture write software which will provide answers to answer critical questions, such as “Do I need more milk?”

This may seem like science fiction, but last year the cutting edge design company Quirky unveiled a smart milk container.  Called the Milkmaid, this modern jug holds a quart of milk, includes a pH sensor and rests on a 4G wireless, programmable base. When the jug is almost empty or the milk starts to sour, it sends a text message to the owner. This is the beginning. Applications similar to this will bundle nicely as part of more comprehensive software program for managing appliances within a single-family home.

More devices and more data leads to more sophisticated customer management. It’s a virtuous cycle made possible in large part by APIs. No single company could hope to understand all the technology and customer behavior needed to deliver a compelling solution such as a programmable refrigerator.  APIs will enable partners of all shapes and sizes to work together to deliver amazing customer experiences.

Greg Bellinger is cloud evangelist and veteran technologist who is currently at Microsoft working on cloud service licensing.  Find him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @saascloudguy