Composable
Digital
Samantha Goble
Vice President, Digital
Why now is the right time to adopt composable
What is composable?
By now, you have likely heard the term Composable as it relates to digital technology. Simply put, it is a methodology that enables a flexible, quick-to-market approach to delivering and connecting technology and marketing solutions.
In 2020, Gartner defined composability as "creating an organization made from interchangeable building blocks. The modular setup enables a business to rearrange and reorient as needed depending on external (or internal) factors like a shift in customer values or sudden change in supply chain or materials:'
Composable Architecture uses a microservices approach to the tech stack which supports selecting and connecting reusable technologies via APIs. To the layperson, this means that you no longer have to choose a monolithic enterprise technology that can be like a Swiss Army knife: it has a lot of fancy tools, some of which may never or rarely be used.
In this way, Composable makes a lot of practical sense in that you are paying for and focusing on technology that drives your business and prepares you to take advantage of new opportunities when they arise.
What could composable do for your business?
In a June 2022 report, Gartner stated that by 2023, organizations that have adopted an intelligent composable approach will outpace competition by 80% in the speed of new feature implementation. Our experience with our clients supports this assertion, as well.
Companies that take a Composable approach typically advance their business goals much faster than those who are still trying to decide what to do next. The most common challenge we see is getting executive alignment on what step(s) to take first.
Our position is that companies can no longer afford to wait it out. Digital continues to advance—as do your competitors. The move from massive-scale projects to this more flexible method means that you can make this change incrementally, delivering value as you go.
Overall benefits of Composable:
- Connect the right tools at the right time
- Respond to business changes and market trends quickly
- Deliver value faster
- Increase marketer productivity and agility
- Reduce costs from legacy infrastructure, scaling overspend
- Avoid system and project risk and reduce tech dependencies
Is composable technology expensive?
Making the decision to adopt a Composable digital strategy naturally involves the evaluation of your existing technology as well as the consideration of additional platforms. But it doesn’t have to be expensive. Remember, one of the benefits is the iterative nature of how a solution evolves with this methodology.
The first step, getting executive alignment on the approach, is a critical precursor to creating your Composable roadmap.
Many companies we have worked with start their Composable journey by identifying ways to reduce their technical spend and the associated risk of maintaining legacy systems. They identify functional redundancies, move away from expensive, outdated, and risk-prone tech and reduce their hosting costs by optimizing infrastructure.
By identifying ways to reduce operating costs, makes it easier to consider adding new and better tooling to your solution—especially when the time to value of integrating the new tooling is usually 3 months or less.
Effective Management
Composable Tech involves a LOT of choices, but how can you effectively manage all of these decisions?
Each company’s roadmap is unique, but we find that there are certain technology needs that are common within business verticals. It can be overwhelming when a company is trying to evaluate every single potential piece of a Composable solution. It is helpful to have a foundational set of products that work together well. This helps manage the complexity of tech selection as well as the partner relationships needed to deliver.
XCentium has developed “recipes” for Financial Services, Healthcare, and CPG/RCG verticals that serve as a way to accelerate your decision-making and get you to implementation quickly. Think of the technology solution elements as the ingredients and XCentium as the chef who has the expertise to combine those ingredients to your company’s specific liking.
Once you start to prove the value of Composable tech modernization, you build momentum and secure ongoing support for your next steps along the roadmap.
How do you get started?
It’s an exciting time for companies ready to modernize. Working with a solution partner who has been through similar projects already—and who has the learning from a wide range of implementations — will help you confidently make the right choices for your business. It will also speed your time to market.
XCentium provides a free initial consultation to help you determine the right next steps for your business. You can find more information and connect with us here.