In an age where so many B2C apps enjoy open API access, it was just a matter of time before open API access made its way to business applications. Any old API won’t do; it’s critical to ensure the API is setup to meet the needs of the clients. We’ve made dramatic improvements to our API to ensure our clients are able to access the data they need.

“It came to fruition after one of our largest clients wanted to do some analytics, and they wanted access to everything,” said Steve Chiou, Head of Product for Rhumbix. “This API upgrade appeals more to larger companies, like those in ENR magazine’s Top 200 list.”

In mid-February our more robust API became available for general use. The company introduced its first version of a public API several months ago.

Google, Amazon and other industry giants have made public API part of their business strategy. Construction industry companies also have seen the benefit in the more open approach. Rhumbix is now part of that trend of empowering customers by giving them more access to information.

The recent upgrade is in line with industry-wide efforts to build smoother cooperation between tech tools. AEC industry professionals have been calling for open standards for many years.

Since 2004, the Construction Open Standards Alliance has been working to create better collaboration between software tools–to facilitate business. That ethic of cooperation is spreading in the industry, perhaps in part out of need, but perhaps also because of technology advances.

“A lot of companies are looking for software to talk to each other. Now they’re all talking about how all their software should talk to each other,” Chiou said. “I think the ability to surf info from a public API is a powerful tool. You no longer have silent info and can understand the job’s effectiveness and how it’s progressing.”

It can save time, too. Rather than needing a specialized solution provided from a software company to solve an issue, for example, a public API can empower companies to make changes where they need, as fast as their employees can make them.

For Emmanuel Garcia, owner of CADaptix and also an adjunct professor of CAD for Architecture at LA Trade Tech College, the classes he took in coding years ago as a college student have helped him in his career. Those skills continue to be relevant for him, given trends in construction. “I’ve been able to make a living by using public API,” Garcia said. “I still love AutoCAD best, because of its open API.”

The use of public APIs is going to increase, Garcia said, because it makes tasks simpler, allowing some programming work to be not much more than assembling pre-designed components. “With public API, people with very little training can do very complex stuff,” he said.

With Rhumbix, companies take back the power of software, through faster capture of information, quick analysis of data, and time savings on workflows. And with an open API, small solutions can be implemented by customers, with no need to call a consultant.