Articles

Managing Complex API Migrations: Lessons from Schneider Electric’s API Shift

- Shyamala Rajan

Evolution is part of the API lifecycle. With a fast-evolving digital landscape, businesses rely heavily on APIs to enable seamless communication between applications, services and data. Every enterprise needs to be driven towards migrating to a better and more efficient version of APIs.

Schneider Electric’s (SE) recent transition from Apigee Edge to Apigee X provides valuable lessons on managing complex API migrations effectively. By leveraging automation, strategic planning, and partnership with Torry Harris Integration Solutions (THIS), Schneider navigated a complex migration process with minimal disruption and remarkable speed.

This article explores the key lessons from Schneider Electric’s API migration, offering insights into the challenges faced, the strategies deployed, and how organizations can successfully manage similar migrations.

Pain points

Schneider faced a pressing challenge as their existing API platform, Apigee Edge, reached its lifecycle conclusion, requiring a seamless transition to the more advanced Apigee X. The migration required moving 362 APIs without disrupting the services their consumers depend on, requiring a careful, strategic approach to maintain business continuity.

The solution entailed running both Apigee Edge and Apigee X in parallel during the migration phase to ensure robust performance validation and minimize potential risks. A key priority was maintaining uninterrupted access for developers subscribing to APIs throughout this transition. 

To optimize the developer experience and minimize friction, a targeted strategy was deployed to enhance the Developer Portal, ensuring consistent, reliable access and a smooth, seamless user journey throughout the migration process.

Digital transformation with Torry Harris

Schneider's collaboration with THIS resulted in an effective, automation-driven migration that produced outstanding outcomes. THIS expedited the entire process by using the Tekton+ accelerator, achieving the following results:

  • Successfully completed the migration in just 4 months, significantly reducing the typical implementation timeline of 8-12 months
  • Delivered approximately 45% reduction in effort across development, migration activities, and overall project duration through automation and streamlined processes
  • Migrated 362 APIs from Apigee Edge to Apigee X, while ensuring zero service disruption

Comprehensive testing was made possible by a parallel operation between Apigee Edge and Apigee X, guaranteeing system continuity and stability. Furthermore, Torry Harris strategically decommissioned the unsupported Apigee Edge platform in the timeframe Schneider requested, while putting in place a customer-focused solution for the Developer Portal to enable ongoing API subscriptions throughout the transition.

Lessons learned

1. Clear migration strategy is important

Migration projects are not simple, especially when they involve large-scale systems like APIs that serve as the backbone of enterprise communication. SE’s partnership with THIS enabled the former to develop a comprehensive migration strategy focused on ensuring seamless service continuity and system stability. The strategy involved defining clear migration goals, carefully mapping out each API and its dependencies, and establishing rigorous testing protocols to guarantee smooth execution. To mitigate risks and prevent disruptions, a parallel system was implemented to validate performance and identify potential bottlenecks early in the process, ensuring a smooth transition with minimal impact on operations.

2. Parallel running, minimizing disruption

One of the most significant challenges of any migration is ensuring that business operations continue without disruption. THIS tackled the migration challenge by implementing a parallel run of both Apigee Edge and Apigee X, allowing for seamless transition and risk reduction. This dual operation enabled thorough real-world performance testing of the new platform while minimizing potential disruptions, ensuring service continuity, and reducing downtime risks. Additionally, by maintaining uninterrupted developer access to APIs, THIS ensured that developers could continue their work without disruption, preventing any productivity loss during the migration process.

3. Efficiency is driven by automation

API migration is a resource-intensive process, involving not only the movement of data and configurations but also the testing and validation of each API. SE collaborated closely with THIS to leverage automation tools like Tekton+ to accelerate the migration process. This strategic use of automation delivered impressive results, including a 45% reduction in effort, significantly cutting down the workload and shortening the overall timeline.

Automation also facilitated faster testing and validation, enabling quicker identification of potential issues and ensuring that APIs functioned as expected in the new environment. Additionally, by streamlining workflows and minimizing manual errors, common in large-scale migrations, SE was able to further reduce delays and enhance the efficiency of the migration process.

4. Testing and validation: Cornerstone of migration success

APIs are integral to business operations; hence, it is vital to ensure that they work seamlessly after migration. SE understood that thorough testing and validation were essential to ensure Apigee X could handle the same, if not greater, volume and complexity of APIs as Apigee Edge. To achieve this, THIS implemented several key testing strategies, starting with load testing, to confirm that the new platform could manage API traffic at the same level or higher than before.

Functional testing was carried out to validate that all 362 APIs performed as expected, with no degradation in service or loss of features. Alongside, security validation was prioritized to ensure that security protocols and data integrity were maintained throughout the migration to Apigee X, safeguarding both performance and compliance.

Conclusion

Schneider Electric’s API migration from Apigee Edge to Apigee X is a prime example of how a well-executed migration can transform an organization’s digital ecosystem. By prioritizing a clear strategy, minimizing disruption through parallel running, leveraging automation, and focusing on developer experience, Schneider Electric successfully navigated the complexities of the migration process.

For organizations planning similar migrations, these lessons serve as a valuable roadmap. With the right tools, processes, and partnerships, businesses can not only manage complex migrations but also ensure that they emerge more agile, secure, and ready for the future.

To learn more about Schneider Electric’s migration journey and how Torry Harris played a pivotal role in this transformation, read the full case study here. 

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About the author

Shyamala Rajan

Manager – Content Strategy,

Torry Harris Integration Solutions