If you’ve ever researched ERP software, you’ve encountered the acronym API. You may have read that APIs are essential to external data access. This is certainly a true statement. However, if you have questions as to why this is true, let’s begin by asking the following:
What is API and what does it mean to ERP?An Application Program Interface (API) defines the way software and external programs interact. In Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), APIs are necessary to ensuring that the ERP application data is accessible to other programs.
To put it another way, an API is the middleman between ERP and a program requesting data. The API receives the request and returns the specific data so long as the request has the appropriate permissions. The API also controls what data can be requested and how it is received.
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via API and ERP — What You Need to Know – NFDA – National Fastener Distributors Association.