Composable technology is expected to grow at a rate of 20% by 2028. Originally introduced in the early 2000s, composable technology was built with the intention of being purely focused on component based architectures. Now the future of composable technology solutions has taken on a more dynamic digital approach. Composable technology solutions are digital transformation models based on the individual architectural needs of your business ecosystem.
The need for them now is based on the premise of what traditional software solutions are offering businesses. Right now traditional software solutions are more rigid and inflexible due to predefined capabilities. Composable technology is more modular, allowing businesses to rapidly build, deploy, and manage software according to the needs of their organization. Here you will learn more about composable technology solutions, the benefits, challenges, and future for these solutions.
Understanding Composable Technology Solutions
What is a composable technology solution? It is a rapidly evolving approach to constructing and managing software solutions. Implementation of such solutions means transforming the way your organization operates. The switch entails going from an inflexible predefined system to one composed of loosely coupled, modular components.
They enable quick development of complex applications. This is done by combining smaller services rather than creating them from the beginning, boosting the efficiency of your organization.
Adopting a composable approach means new opportunities for your business to ensure quick adjustments to shifting market conditions. Let’s look at the key benefits composable technology solutions can offer your business.
Increased Flexibility
You can quickly curate customer software applications due to pre-built components. This allows your business to quickly adapt to changes in the market and meet customers’ needs.
Improved Efficiency and Minimized Downtime
Composable solutions have modular components that lead to quicker development and deployment of software solutions. Applications get published faster without disrupting the entire system and element failures do not stop software functionality.
Reduced Costs
Composable solutions reduce the risk of expensive errors and delays, saving your business money and time. This is due to the modularity, so redesigning software systems is no longer consuming.
Better Collaboration and Integration
Allows for the integration of systems and applications into a cohesive environment. Information exchange and seamless collaboration makes it easier to adopt new technologies.
How Composable Technology Solutions Work
Digital experiences have now taken on the task of personalization at scale to meet customer expectations. Composable architecture centers around customer experience. Every component surrounding it can be replaced as the industry evolves with new needs and technologies.
Composable technology solutions consist of sets of modular components. These components can then be seamlessly assembled and configured to meet the needs of your business. When it comes to the composable architecture there are two key building blocks: APIs and MicroServices.
APIs are used to define the interfaces between each component, leading to the communication and exchange of data. They are the sets of protocols, routines, and tools for building software applications.
MicroServices are utilized to build out the individual components that make up the system. This allows your organization to create a more flexible and adaptable system that can be easily modified to meet changing requirements. This key building block is composed of independent units of functionality that can be developed, deployed, and maintained separately.
Implementing Composable Technology Solutions
When to implement composable technology solutions will depend on your company’s specific needs and goals. Here are a few situations to consider:
Building a New System From Scratch
Composable solutions can divide the system into small, independent parts. This creates a system that is both flexible and adaptable. It can be modified and updated easily over time.
Utilizing composable solutions is beneficial when modifying an existing system. It allows changes to be made more efficiently and effectively. This is achieved by breaking the system down into independent components.
Significantly Modifying an Existing System
Utilizing composable solutions is beneficial for making changes more efficiently and effectively. How? By breaking the system down into independent components. This allows for making small changes to individual components without affecting the rest of the system.
Integrate Multiple Systems
With a need to exchange data and functionality, using APIs and other tools within composable technology solution architecture helps create a more seamless and efficient integration.
Small Updates/Improvements to Existing Systems
In some cases, the cost and complexity of implementing a composable architecture may not be justified by the benefits.
If you’re interested in using composable architecture in your organization, here are the steps for successful implementation:
- Assessment of existing systems: Before implementation you need to understand the current state of your systems. What capabilities, technologies and processes are already built within your organization? Take that information and build a business capability map to break down the capabilities into the smallest units possible. Provide descriptions of functionality, any connections between components, and requirements/constraints.
- Designing a composable architecture: After forming a holistic picture of where your company is, expanding upon the business capabilities map is next. Provide descriptions of functionality, any connections between components, and requirements/constraints.
- Building reusable components: This is considered the build-and-repeat section where components are built and integrated until a minimum viable product is achieved.
- Integrating components into a cohesive system: Once components are built, combine with APIs. An Application Programming Interface communicates between components, transferring requests and information.
- Automating tests and validations: Test your software. Any composable architecture is only as strong as it is tested to be.
Challenges and Solutions with Composable Technology Solutions
If you’re thinking about implementing a composable solution, you need to consider the possible challenges with composable technology solutions. Here are the common challenges and the strategies to be utilized to overcome them:
Testing and QA
Composable solutions are dynamic and flexible in nature, making it tough to predict and test interactions between components. Each time a new configuration is created, make sure your teams implement rigorous testing practices. This includes test automation, continuous integration and delivery, and a robust monitoring and logging system.
Security
Composable solutions rely on multiple components from different sources. This means each component may have different security requirements/vulnerabilities. To mitigate risk, your team needs to develop a comprehensive security strategy. That includes end-to-end encryption, access controls, and data protection.
Complex Workflows
Having different components means varying interfaces, data center formats, and ad processing requirements. Create comprehensive documentation and training programs to ensure all team members understand the overall data governance framework. From there, management of systems can be done effectively.
Future of Composable Technology Solutions
It is estimated that by 2024, 70% of enterprises will have composability as a key criteria for new application planning and development. Companies no longer want to have to fit their processes and plans around prescribed functions of large software applications.
Many businesses are only using small components of software, but are still paying hefty software licenses for idle features. Now is the time to adopt composable solutions. By the end of 2028, the market is expected to grow from $3.29 billion to $14.35 billion,
Innovation happens quickly, and in the past few months, innovation for digital software has been full speed. As technology advances, more capabilities will become available to help companies compose their software solutions. That’s where composability will begin to grow and evolve, as the world becomes more digitally innovative.
Composable technology provides a flexible network, is cost effective, and can be operated anywhere with no physical limitations. This is all due to resources being unified in a single fluid flow, saving organizations both time and money. With it being more responsive and agile due to the creation of modular components, the software works strategically. This is done through intelligent software that can allocate resources, detect issues, and provide appropriate solutions.
As more companies go through digital transformations, the need to stay innovative is becoming more and more competitive. By integrating composable technology solutions, you are setting your business up for scalable growth now and in the future.
If you’re ready to implement composable technology solutions into your business operations, we can offer our expertise and support. Contact a team member here.
