the b2b perspective :: apis and services for fleet management

Let’s drive business®

The B2B Perspective :: APIs and Services for

Fleet Management

APIs and B2B :: Session Agenda

27 March 2014 2

A Very Brief Introduction ::TomTom Business Solutions and the WEBFLEET® Fleet Management Platform

APIs for Fleet Management Overview and Drill Down :: API and Eco-System Details Focusing on the Productized WEBFLEET® APIs. Highlights on the Specifics of Making APIs in a B2B environment

The General View:: Useful API Management Features, Eco-System Benefits, Learnings and Experiences

From Fleet Platform to APIs to Generalizations

@ToralfRichter :: business.tomtom.com

The WEBFLEET® Platform :: In a Nutshell

27 March 2014 3

TomTom Business Solutions Fleet Management

customers

27,000 >

hours driving

1.3 M >

9.5 M

liters fuel

>

Data from 31st Oct 2013

50 M

km driving

>

375 M

positions

>

units online

330,000 >

composed of ~25 application deployables

engineered by a team of ~20 developers

run in 2 physically separate data centers, employing ~4 independent Internet uplinks, 2 independent power suppliers, and various, backup diesels and batteries

linked to 15+ major mobile network carriers for communication with vehicles

integrated with various TomTom Group and external APIs

Technical Facts


The Platform that Never Sleeps WEBFLEET® Installed Base GPS Traces Density Plot (Sept 2013)

27 March 2014 4 @ToralfRichter :: business.tomtom.com

API Portfolio :: Public and Fully Productized

27 March 2014 5

The WEBFLEET.connect API and LINK.connect Device Interface

● the API projects the platform product ● mostly indirect monetization ● protocol flavors: query-based ReSTish,

SOAP with MTOM ● public API for complete fleet platform

functionality ● resilient, carrier-grade ● free for developers ● mostly free to fleet customers

● projects the product + is the product ● indirect and direct monetization ● technical protocol: Bluetooth® SPP,

multiplexing over same channel ● in-vehicle black box interface for 3rd

party devices ● simple data sink / source ● free for developers ● requires fleet customer to sign-up

The productized APIs and Interfaces are built for distribution and external exposure, have developer access to open documentation, (semi-) open sign-up, managed life-cycle and compatibility guarantees. The .connect Partner Program and App Center help developers to promote their apps and solutions.

WEBFLEET.connect LINK.connect

Open Developer Eco-System :: Build any Operational Fleet Solution you Want


WEBFLEET.connect :: Key Characteristics

27 March 2014 6

B2B API Patterns that a Week Usage Statistics Demonstrates

Business Tool :: weekly work load pattern shows continuous replication work + application interaction driven work load during business days and hours

Resilience is Important :: Spikes (as on 6th in SOAP API) must not impact the platform or other customers

Quantity vs. Quality :: “Carrier Grade” over “Web Scale”, Real or near time,

business continuity

Protocol Flavors :: SOAP is not dead, but indeed it is visible that handling XML introduces a bit of a slowdown. ReSTish flavor is more popular, even in B2B.


A B2B Eco-System :: Characteristics

27 March 2014 7

External Eco-System around WEBFLEET® Productized APIs

Size :: the partner eco-system of the productized APIs is neither LSUD nor SSKD, but in in the middle

.connect Partner Program :: hundreds of API partners overall, presently 100+ reaching qualified (i.e. present App Center) or premier status (i.e. having licensed / deployed their applications to more than 10 fleet customers)

Half-Open :: Sign up is slower than in open consumer APIs

Clientele :: mostly are formalized (small) businesses with one or more software developers, due to LINK.connect not only pure software but also hardware and embedded partners

Sharing the Same Customer :: partners on (sometimes) long-term relationships with the customers they share with TomTom Business Solutions

High-Care :: sales engineers onboard partners, and connect partners and customers, groom the relationship, very helpful in our specific industry, BUT: Dunbar‘s number

“B2B Nature” :: often very slow when it comes to adopting certain changes and accepting life-cycle decisions (esp. removal), compatibility predictable changes often more valued than agility


Build the Structure :: API Management for B2B

27 March 2014 8

Recommended Picks from the API Management Menu

“if it is released to GA, it is bound to stay” patience and a lot of outbound communication customers and partners ask for continuity

Life Cycle Management

give some control of behavior to developers free / reduced price try-out solution accept who they are - this is why we kept SOAP

Developer Appreciation we tried both (add versions, stay compatible) overhead + cost of many versions “compatible evolution” is the better strategy

Versioning / Compatibility transform certain “morphology aspects” generalize as much as possible and specialize as little as necessary Example: UBI.connect

Orchestration Layer

stated fair use policy rate shaping and quota system sign terms & conditions recording, statistics

Platform Protection SSL (only) is a must IP white / black-listing, time control on credentials credentials + API Key BUT: OAuth is not common

Authentication + Security


In Retrospect :: Learnings and Experiences

27 March 2014 9

Good-Humored Hints for API Makers

“Generalize till it Hurts, Specialize till it Works”

Accept non-ReST API styles, as e.g. Query-Based and even SOAP has a point for certain cases

Try to be wise about your life-cycle choices. Make a careful picks regarding “Versioning” vs. “Compatible Evolution”. Think thoroughly before releasing anything to GA. You will have to support it.

API Engineers

Accept “Emergent Strategy”. Up-front big design has proven many times it can fail too

More than the fair share of Novelty Pains hit you if your product or service is relatively new to the market and requires explanation about its general nature

Be aware of the liability situation when sharing the same customer with your partners and developers.

API Strategists and Eco-System Managers

Any questions?

TomTom Business Solutions :: business.tomtom.com || Toralf Richter :: @ToralfRichter AppCenter :: integration.business.tomtom.com

the b2b perspective :: apis and services for fleet management

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