New! Crowdsource Integrations with a Third-Party Developer Portal

Introducing our out-of-the-box developer portal

We’re excited to announce the launch of our out-of-the-box developer portal — designed to help you crowdsource integrations from third-party developers.

Integrations are crucial for scaling SaaS platforms, but building them all in-house is unsustainable. Simply offering APIs isn’t enough; only 28% of APIs are fully leveraged by external developers. An open ecosystem needs the right systems, workflows, and resources to avoid being ignored by partners.

Our developer portal eliminates the need for complex custom systems. It allows third-party developers to log in, access resources, and start building integrations right away — just like the dev portals for Zapier and HubSpot. With this out-of-the-box solution, you can accelerate your integration ecosystem without the costly overhead.

We’re making it easier than ever to manage your ecosystem at scale.

First… a case study about scaling integrations

A few months ago co-founders Cody Sunkel, Kenny Browne, and I sat down with a Senior Product Manager at a prominent cybersecurity company. They had built a powerful ecosystem of over 800 integrations (and growing), and learned a lot of lessons along the way.

At first, they realized the value of their platform would increase significantly by adding more integrations. Not only did they reduce churn, but as a data company, the more sources of data they could bring in for customers, the higher ACVs got (not to mention their product grew incredibly sticky).

So they hired and dedicated 8 product teams to building integrations (with 1 product manager per team plus 5-10 engineers).

He didn’t tell us the actual number, but doing the math we estimated 48-88 heads on recurring payroll, or $7-13M annual cost. 

They were building dozens of integrations. But guess what: They figured out they really needed 1000s. They couldn’t cover the customer demand in-house.

So they built APIs, a open ecosystem strategy, a developer portal, and a marketplace — a process that took a couple of years.

This project was achievable for them, a publicly traded company with $2B ARR and ~5K employees. 

We made the decision that “opening up” shouldn’t have to be a big, expensive bet like this company made.

So we built an out-of-the-box developer portal

Partner Fleet already has an out-of-the-box marketplace for companies seeking to drive integration discovery & adoption as a part of their open ecosystem strategy. Now, we’ve built an out-of-the-box developer portal to fill in your marketplace: the infrastructure to manage third-party devs building apps and integrations for your company.

All at a price achievable to the majority of the B2B SaaS market.

Let’s take a step back – what is a third-party developer portal?

A third-party developer portal provides external developers—from other SaaS companies or development agencies—with everything they need to build integrations on your APIs.

While developer portals can vary, they generally include:

• APIs and docs: Clear access to your APIs, SDKs, technical documentation, and legal agreements.
• App submissions: A way for developers to submit their apps or integrations for review.
• App marketplace: The ability to create and submit listings for your public or in-app marketplace.
• Analytics & feedback: Insights into app usage and installations to help developers gauge integration performance.
• Developer management: Tools for program managers to track developers, manage workflows, and automate communication.

Until now, most developer portals were built entirely in-house or cobbled together with tools meant for different purposes. You can check out developer portals from ecosystems like HubSpot, Zoom, Box, and Dropbox to see how they work — but now, with Partner Fleet, you can have an out-of-the-box solution to streamline the entire process for your company.

Why would you need a developer portal for your ecosystem strategy?

Many companies make an assumption when pursuing an open ecosystem business model: They believe that building APIs and documentation is all that’s needed. 

Like most business strategies, a ton more needs to go into it in order to be successful.

Although it's just a slice of the overall pie, a developer portal is a crucial part – it organizes the way you interact with third-party developers. It gives them access to the resources and guidance they need, and offers a hands-off place to work.

Without a developer portal, you’ll find yourself in a sea of email requests for SDKs, guides, and questions. You’ll waste hours a week on unqualified opportunities. You’ll put off the best developer partners who aren’t interested in “jumping on a call.” In other words, you’re program will be mismanaged, inefficient, frustrating for all parties, and – ultimately – unscalable.

With Partner Fleet’s developer portal, we’re looking to fix all of these problems. But we also want to democratize access to this solution, so opening up your platform in an efficient and effective way isn’t an option just for companies with deep pockets.

How? By offering you a tool you can use to provide a streamlined experience for both developers and internal product teams. You can now set up a dev portal in a few days that provides:

• Quick developer access: Developers can instantly access your APIs, documentation, and resources without having to navigate multiple systems or emails.
• An easy way to submit integrations: Developers can submit their apps directly to your platform for review, without unnecessary back-and-forth.
• Progress tracking for your team: Track development progress using built-in kanban views to quickly identify bottlenecks or roadblocks.
• Scalable third-party developer management: Manage external developers at scale with minimal overhead, automating onboarding, review processes, and notifications.

In a wide view of the program you need to build, Partner Fleet now solves for three major factors:

Want to learn more? Book a demo with our team.

Problems a Developer Portal Solves

According to our market research, any company looking to open their ecosystem will run into these issues as they build out there program. A developer portal – whether you use Partner Fleet’s or another solution – can solve them.

Let’s dive in.

Problem: Disorganized developer program

Solution: Clear developer workflow with pipelines

With Pipelines in Partner Fleet, set up sequential stages that move developers from one stage of the program process to the next. Allow them to flow through the process of building and deploying an app.

Problem: Developer is unclear about requirements & process to build app

Solution: Show developers the step-by-step journey

In the developer portal, they’ll see all the stages, actions, and steps needed to complete the project they’re working on. They’ll know in a glance whether anything is in review or what they need to do in order to move to the next stage, keeping things transparent and clear.

Problem: Scattered developer resources

Solution: A consolidated “hub” for developer resources

When someone wants to build an app, don’t make them request SDKs, guides, documentation, or anything else. You don’t want to dig those resources up each time anyway.

Consolidate all those resources into folders and a single hub. You can embed them or link out, and gate access based on stage.

Problem: Lack of visibility into developer progress (individually & program-wide)

Solution: See developer progress through stages in a snapshot

Your view of pipelines shows the progress of every developer through your program. Identify when one account is having some issues and see big-picture where there may be bottlenecks or large drop-offs in your program.

Problem: Development projects stall or fail

Solution: Get apps to the finish line

Use time delayed emails and webhook automations. Send nudges to developers stuck in certain stages for a period of time and offer to “unstick” them.

Problem: High-touch programs drown partner managers in manual work

Solution: Create self-serve & low-touch workflows

Set up automations to get developers through 90% of the process. Your partner managers and engineering review teams can focus their time on reviewing fully-built apps and listings.

Problem: Approval process for app submissions is manual and ad-hoc

Solution: Manage app review in one place

Use a multi-step app review and approval process. Get the app submission in front of the right team at the right time, without manual management or back-and-forth internal communication.

Big-picture: The developer self-service flow

When all set up in Partner Fleet, external developers should be able to go through your program’s steps in a self-service manner. Whatever your process looks like, it’ll be simple for third-parties to learn your program, get access to what they need, and build and submit apps and marketplace listings.

What’s inside Partner Fleet’s developer portal: Key features for your team

Partner Fleet’s developer portal comes packed with powerful features to help you scale integrations and manage external developers more efficiently:

• Applications: Developers can apply for access to your portal and the partner program via a direct link or through your marketplace.
• Stages & gates: Define access to resources and app submission based on developers' progress through the workflow.
• App development tracking: Use kanban boards to track third-party app development progress, helping you quickly identify where issues lie.
• Developer workflow: Set up step-by-step instructions to guide developers through legal requirements, API access, and submission processes.
• Automations & webhooks: Trigger actions and send notifications based on developer activity, such as submitting an app or completing a milestone.
• Developer resource repository: Centralize access to all relevant resources—APIs, documentation, SDKs, legal agreements, and more.
• App submissions & versioning: Developers can submit and version apps, with integrated tracking for communications, approvals, and feedback.
• Multi-step review process: Set up review workflows, allowing different teams to manage specific stages of the app approval process.
• App marketplace: An app marketplace to allow developers to easily list and promote their apps.

Dev portal: A surefire indicator of legitimacy

“When we launched our marketplace, that alone brought in more partners.” – A Partner Fleet customer

There’s one last thing to consider when creating a developer portal: The fact that it exists will give third-party developers more confidence in your program, your APIs, and your ability to offer value to them. 

If you’re looking for external companies to be the ones to build integrations – which is the only real way to scale your ecosystem program – a developer portal will offer legitimacy, confidence, and professionalism that attracts the partner developers that will make your program successful.

Ready to Get Started? Book a Demo and See How It Works

If you’re ready to streamline integration management and open your platform to third-party developers, Partner Fleet’s developer portal is here to help. Book a demo today and see how our out-of-the-box solution can drive growth, reduce friction, and scale your developer ecosystem.