Developer portals are the window to B2B integrations. They help organize API catalogs, document core functionality, and provide a means to collaborate and share strategic digital services with partners. But a key overlooked benefit is their role in aggregating APIs hosted across multiple cloud service providers (CSPs).

It's well established that enterprises now span multiple clouds. Industry reports continually find that 80 to 90 percent of organizations are multicloud. The average enterprise is now spread across two or more hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure, with the majority now edging into alternative clouds as well.

This fracturing trickles into API management and governance, too. Nearly one-third of API publishers now use multiple gateways, found the 2024 State of the API Report. These tools range from lightweight gateways like Zuplo to lifecycle management platforms like Kong to API management centers integrated within the hyperscalers themselves, like Microsoft's Azure API Management and Google Cloud's Apigee.

Multicloud is a sound strategy for risk reduction, high availability, and utilizing the strong suits of independent clouds. However, it brings some significant challenges, especially in terms of API organization and accessibility. Below, we'll explore why a dedicated API portal is the solution: a decoupled layer to effectively aggregate, manage, and serve your APIs from any cloud.

The Status Quo: Integrated API Portals

IT business leaders often assume that API developer portals are cloud-specific — meaning, you host an API on Azure API Management and use their built-in documentation to expose APIs directly to the consumer, whether they're an internal developer or an external partner. But this is far from reality. 

While CSPs do offer integrated portals, their offerings are barebones, not intended for custom, enterprise-scale integration patterns. API management platforms from hyperscalers excel at route-level mechanics, like API design, rate limiting, routing, DDoS protection, object-level authorization, and so on, but they don't offer a robust frontend system for integrators.

For instance, a helpful developer portal requires content beyond static reference documentation. It needs usage guides, tutorials, and blog posts. However, standard portals lack an enterprise-grade content management system (CMS) with embedded role-based access control and CI/CD to effectively manage said content. Integrated cloud developer portals also lack good customization capabilities, hindering a tailored look and feel.

But, most importantly, cloud-integrated portals are by their nature not cloud-agnostic. They can't accommodate multiple API gateways, leading to workarounds that complicate API governance and security. If you have APIs sitting in various clouds (which most companies do) and want to aggregate and expose them in a single, coherent manner, an integrated portal will never get you there.

Why API Portals Should Be Multicloud

API developer portals need to be multicloud for a number of reasons. Namely, the move toward multiple clouds has created a landscape in which a single organization now wrestles with countless APIs, across various clouds, using disparate gateways. This is a recipe for sprawl conditions: poor documentation practices, discoverability issues that limit tech reuse, and shadow APIs that sit undetected.

A multicloud portal also provides a critical abstraction layer that separates your API experience from any single cloud provider. This helps future-proof your architecture against vendor lock-in and establishes a unified entry point for managing APIs across environments. That kind of consistency is increasingly important as your APIs span multiple sources — a trend that seems poised to continue.    

API economy analysts similarly describe the "unbundling" of large API management suites in favor of best-of-breed approaches. This includes utilizing third-party portals to complement hyperscalers. As Mark O'Neill, VP Distinguished Analyst and Chief of Research at Gartner, shares on LinkedIn: "Organizations are moving away from broad suites that cover API planning, API design, API testing, API gateway, API portal, and API lifecycle management. Instead, they are combining vendor tools."

Thankfully, adding a multicloud portal is easier than ever, given the industry's consensus on common interoperability formats, like the OpenAPI Specification, and the emergence of powerful third-party tools that work across clouds. For instance, a developer portal like Apiboost can easily support multiple clouds out of the box since it partners with two leading hyperscaler API management suites: GCP and Azure. Apiboost can be found in the Azure Marketplace and the Google Cloud Marketplace, making it easy to add to an existing project.

Benefits of a Multicloud API Portal

In summary, going beyond the integrated cloud providers with a multicloud-native API developer portal can unlock a number of benefits for your business:

• Better interoperability: Using a multicloud portal, you combine disparate vendors and styles, offering a single entryway for your consumers.

• Easier governance: By aggregating APIs from multiple clouds in a consolidated portal, you can keep track of them better and enforce universal policies.

• Forward-looking: An agnostic portal hedges your bets against future mergers and acquisitions, or new projects, which may loop in additional clouds and API gateways.

• Multi-tenancy and multi-org support: Portals like Apiboost let enterprises segment access and governance across business units, geographies, or partner ecosystems, without duplicating infrastructure.

• Enhanced developer experience: The result is an easier developer experience, given that you can accurately unify your catalog and effectively represent your APIs across multiple clouds.

• Best-of-breed components: API developer portal solutions like Apiboost bring their expertise to portal creation, providing built-in CMS, CI/CD abilities, portal customization, and more.

Key Takeaways For Enterprises

Although a multicloud strategy brings numerous benefits, it complicates matters for API-first organizations that hope to set company-wide standards for the integration points that power some of their most precious B2B partner relationships.

The developer portals integrated within the major clouds are a good starting point. But as adoption scales, most serious API providers realize these embedded portals only appeal to the lowest common denominator. Cloud-specific developer portals lack customization and advanced features. They keep you within their walled gardens, preventing multicloud support.

As such, reaping the full benefits of a multicloud strategy will entail decoupling your API documentation from the hyperscalers. In terms of implementation, there are two main options: going DIY or using an off-the-shelf portal. While building your own multi-cloud API developer portal is possible, it comes with big caveats: hidden costs, maintenance burdens, and deep specialization, to name a few. 

Off-the-shelf solutions like Apiboost continually win out on speed, scalability, and total cost of ownership. In this way, enterprises can unify their API offerings and turn multicloud complexity into a developer experience advantage.