Why Are Kong’s Developer Portals Essential for Enhancing API Management?
In the fast-paced digital landscape, developer portals play a major role in spotlighting our APIs on a global stage. They’re the engines driving business expansion. As businesses endeavour to optimize their API management workflows, tools such as Kong’s hosted and self-hosted developer portals provide tailored solutions to meet a wide range of organisational needs.
Kong Deployment Options:
Before we dig into the developer portal, let’s quickly look at various deployment options available for setting up the Kong API Management platform. Kong offers three deployment options, summarized below:
(leaving out service mesh in this list, intentionally as it is primarily for large-scale microservices deployment with security and governance on East-West traffic i.e internal traffic),
Konnect (Hosted Control Plane):
- Kong hosts the control plane (CP) and related applications (Dev Portal, Gateway Manager, etc.).
- You deploy your own data plane (DP) nodes to handle traffic.
- Fastest way to get started, no need to manage your own CP.
- Ideal for teams wanting a fully managed solution.
Hybrid : [A.K.A Kong Enterprise]
- You deploy and manage both CP and DP nodes.
- Offers more control and flexibility compared to Kong Konnect.
- Suitable for organizations with specific infrastructure requirements
SaaS Cloud Gateway:
- Fully Managed: Kong handles all aspects of gateway maintenance, including updates, security patches, and scaling.
- Ease of Use: Get started quickly with a streamlined setup process and intuitive UI.
- Global Availability: Deploy your gateway in multiple regions for optimal performance and resilience.
- Enterprise-Grade Features: Access advanced features like traffic control, analytics, and developer portal.
- Integration with Kong's Ecosystem: Seamlessly integrate with other Kong products and plugins.
Kong Developer Portal Options
- Konnect Cloud-Hosted Portal: Kong Konnect offers a cloud-hosted developer portal with predefined themes, providing convenience and ease of setup.
- Konnect Self-Hosted Portal: Kong Konnect also offers a self-hosted developer portal, which allows businesses to deploy and customize the portal according to their requirements, offering greater control and customization options.
Why Choose a Self-Hosted Portal for Kong Konnect?
The self-hosted portal for Kong Konnect empowers organisations with the ability to personalize every aspect of the developer journey. Here’s why it stands out from the Kong Konnect hosted portal :
- Customization at Scale: With Kong's self-hosted portal, you have the flexibility to enhance both its appearance and functionality to suit your specific requirements.
- For example, you can improve the sign-up and log-in experience by adding custom fields such as a mandatory phone number, country/region details, and preferred contact method (e.g., phone or email).
- Additionally, for enhanced customization, you can include checkboxes for agreeing to the privacy policy and subscribing to the newsletters, etc.
These personalized touches improve user interaction and provide a seamless integration with your brand identity.
- Enhancing the Developer Onboarding Process: In addition to extensive customization options, we can significantly enhance the developer onboarding process by providing personalized prompt messages during their onboarding to the Kong Konnect portal. The onboarding of a partner or developer can be tailored to specific customer needs.
- Tailored Content: In Kong's self-hosted portal, we have the flexibility to create a variety of pages tailored to our business needs.
- For instance, we can add essential pages such as Terms of Service, Support Guides, Pricing or Subscription Details, FAQs, and many more.
- These pages play a crucial role in delivering clear information about a company's policies, offering support to customers, detailing the company’s offered services, and addressing common questions.
- Handle Anonymous and Registered Users in a Single Portal: In Kong's self-hosted portal, we have the capability to customize the landing page, presenting an appealing introduction to our business and showcasing our products with brief descriptions.
- This feature stands out because it allows us to address both anonymous visitors and registered users effectively. Unlike Kong Konnect-hosted portals, where we have to choose between making the portal entirely public or completely private, our self-hosted solution provides the flexibility to manage both public and private access simultaneously.
- This allows us to control access levels and tailor the user experience according to our specific needs and audience preferences.
- Customize API Product and Plans: Kong Self-hosted portals allow organizations to implement and display distinct subscription plans (e.g., Free, Platinum, Gold). When developers register their applications for a product, they initially receive the 'Free' subscription plan. This information can then be displayed on their 'My Application' page, detailing which application is registered for which API product and the corresponding plan.
- For example, the 'Free plan' ensures that developers are aware of their current subscription tier.
This transparency fosters trust and empowers developers to make informed decisions. By clearly presenting which plan each application is subscribed to, developers can easily identify when it may be beneficial to upgrade their plan. This enhances the developer journey, providing a clear understanding of available options and the advantages of each plan, ultimately encouraging engagement and satisfaction.
- Developer Feedback Mechanisms: Unlike Kong Konnect-hosted, Kong self-hosted portals enable Feedback forms embedded within the portal to enable developers to share insights and suggestions directly through the portal. This iterative process fosters continuous improvement and strengthens developer relationships.
- Real-time Support: Unlike Kong Konnect-hosted, self-hosted portals also integrate chatbots which enables developers to seek immediate clarification on API functionalities and troubleshooting queries. This real-time assistance streamlines support and enhances user satisfaction. This will improve support and engagement.
- Effective API Management: Unlike developer portals hosted on Kong Konnect, where developers can create multiple applications without restriction, the self-hosted portal allows us to set limits on the number of applications a developer can create. This measure prevents abuse and promotes fair API usage during the trial phase, ensuring optimal performance and resource allocation. Additionally, it encourages developers to consider upgrading their plan if they exceed the limits of requests allowed under a free subscription.
How We Can Help
At NeosAlpha, we specialize in optimizing API management through Kong’s self-hosted portal solutions as well as Kong’s cloud-hosted portal solutions. Our expertise extends to:
- Custom Implementation: Tailoring portal features to align with your organization's specific requirements.
- Integration Support: Seamless integration of existing systems with Kong's self-hosted portal for minimal disruption.
- Training and Support: Empowering your team with the knowledge to maximize portal functionality and drive developer engagement.
In conclusion, leveraging Kong’s self-hosted portal for Kong Konnect not only enhances operational efficiency but also elevates developer satisfaction through personalized experiences and robust support mechanisms. As businesses navigate the complexities of API management, choosing the right portal solution sets the stage for long-term success and growth.
Contact us for more information on how our tailored solutions can transform your API strategy.
Explore our successful implementations and see how NeosAlpha has transformed API management for businesses with Kong’s self-hosted portals in our Kong Case Studies.
