What Is Composability?
In general, composability combines different components of a system into a larger structure with the output of one to be the input of another. The simplest example of a composable structure would be Lego, in which case every piece can connect to each other to create a bigger structure.
What’s A Composable Tech Stack?
Composable architecture was born from the need for flexibility, customizability, and scalability with technology solutions. The objective of having a composable tech stack is to ensure that each component connects each core tool within a system. It follows a modular approach allowing organizations to remain resilient and quickly pivot with the ever-changing digital landscape. A composable digital experience platform (DXP) is a modular solution that is agile, scalable, easy to implement, and allows you to future-proof your business from the extraordinary pace of digital change.
Monolithic Vs. Composable DXPs
It’s common for enterprise architecture to be comprised of multiple systems with different functions working together to deliver an end-to-end solution. The opposite approach to composability is a monolithic DXP.
A monolithic DXP is a single software suite that delivers several different functionalities. Some businesses prefer a monolithic DXP for their packaged business capabilities all under one roof. However, there are a few drawbacks to a monolithic approach such as:
Difficulty Integrating
Although monolithic DXPs can offer an end-to-end solution, they are typically restricted to a single vendor. This can act as a disadvantage when it comes to integrating with other software if the capability is not there.
Slow To React
Another drawback with a monolithic DXP is the prepackaged software is slow to change. Modernizing a monolithic application has added cost and complexity to be able to integrate or replace it.
High Learning Curve
The majority of monolithic DXPs require a specific team member or dedicated resource to be well-versed in its functionality. These trained team members are responsible for building and configuring the experiences your business needs, which can create bottlenecks or a gap if that individual were to leave the organization.
Why Do You Need A Composable Tech Stack?
According to Forbes, 74 percent of consumers are at least somewhat likely to buy based on experience alone
. PwC also cites that, customers are willing to pay a premium of 16% for a great experience
. Customer experience is becoming the differentiating factor to stand out from your competition.
Customer expectations are moving toward personalized experiences that consistently create memorable interactions, build brand loyalty, and increase customer satisfaction with your business. The ability to offer personalized customer experiences can be both persuasive and profitable for organizations willing to invest in the right technology.
Customer expectations have never been higher and the effects of the pandemic have caused a tremendous acceleration in digital. With an overwhelming amount of choice in the market, customers are unwilling to wait for businesses to get up to speed with their tech stacks – leading customers to find other solutions. The responsibility to deliver great customer experiences lies with organizations and their willingness to invest in the right technology. The dynamic and scalable structure of a composable tech stack allows businesses to make the most of their technology investment to deliver seamless, customer experiences in one unified platform.
The price of not implementing a composable tech stack means running the risk of having a segmented customer experience. Customer expectations go far beyond streamlined transactions and have evolved to demanding seamless, consistent, and connected experiences across multiple channels and devices.
Benefits Of A Composable Structure
There are many benefits to choosing a composable DXP structure, but each will be unique to your business. Here are some of the main reasons why choosing a composable tech stack can positively impact your organization:
Faster Time To Market
As customer needs evolve, your organization has the capabilities to be agile, scalable, and quickly pivot with a composable stack. Make swift changes and recoup investment costs sooner with a modular approach to your organization’s tech stack. Organizations can deliver new features and upgrades in a faster timeframe with a best-in-class composable stack. This allows their teams to constantly experiment, test, and optimize in ways that are not possible with a monolithic DXP.
Best-In-Class Tools
Tailor your composable DXP to include all the applications your organization needs to fill the gaps and connect siloed technology. The right composable DXP will feature best-in-class technology that seamlessly integrates with each other and gives you the option to choose the best technology available. Only choose the components that you need in order to keep your composable stack efficient and cost-effective.
Omnichannel Ready
A composable DXP is an integrated system of tools that allow you to create and optimize omnichannel marketing campaigns. The connectedness of a composable DXP enables a 360-degree view of your customers allowing you to develop cohesive and personalized experiences for every step of the customer journey.
Customer-Focused Experiences
Prioritize your customers at the centre of your composable DXP strategy with seamless, omnichannel experiences. Build customer loyalty, likeability, and trust by delivering consistent and personalized experiences across multiple channels and devices. Not only are you able to streamline every interaction, but you can also collect data across the entire customer journey and leverage it to optimize and adapt it accordingly.
Scalable Integration
A composable DXP has the power to integrate with your current marketing stack. The beauty of a DXP’s components is the fact that they were purpose-built and can be deployed quickly. Your tech stack will benefit from the scalability composability can provide your organization. This increased connectivity allows users to move between multiple systems efficiently.
Custom Tailored Solutions
With a composable DXP, you only use the functionality you need. Create rich customer experiences and build your tech stack with your customers at the centre of it. The flexibility that comes with a composable stack, is you can scale up or down as your business requirements change. With a composable DXP architecture, there is the option to decompose any piece of it and replace it later when you outgrow that piece of functionality.
Flexible Technology
Today’s digital landscape has one constant, and that’s change. Channels are evolving and new ones are appearing, resulting in changing customer behaviours and expectations. With a composable DXP, you’re not locked in with any technology or vendor. Your tech stack has the freedom and capability to integrate technologies that improve your customer experience and optimize your processes.
Composable DXPs
Keep up with technology’s tremendous pace of change with a composable DXP solution. It’s agile, easy to use, and allows flexibility and scalability. An enterprise tech stack needs to be comprised of multiple systems with different functions. The issue is that not all of these systems work well together in a customer-centric approach. Instead, data is siloed and teams are forced to use these systems separately. A composable DXP unifies these core tools in a single end-to-end solution. This provides organizations with the foundation they need to:
- Drive ROI
- Decrease infrastructure overhead
- Increase speed to market
- Boost efficiency of marketing campaigns
- Increase flexibility, scalability, and customizations
With a composable DXP, brands can assemble a stack as they see fit. These best-in-class products should be standalone in your tech stack but work better together. Most importantly, these core tools need to deliver the best customer experience possible to excite and delight your customers.
Sitecore’s Composable Investment
Sitecore has invested a considerable amount into the flexibility composable architecture can bring their clients. Sitecore has committed over $1.2 billion dollars of investment to accelerate growth and has strategically acquired four different technologies to underpin their composable DXP:
- Sitecore Customer Data Platform (previously Boxever)
- Sitecore Content Hub (previously Stylelabs)
- Sitecore Discover (previously Reflektion)
- Sitecore OrderCloud (previously Four51)
Along with Sitecore’s acquisition strategy, they have invested in developing the industry’s first cloud-native SaaS-based content management system (CMS), Sitecore Experience Manager (XM) Cloud. XM Cloud evolved from Sitecore’s world-class and intuitive CMS, Sitecore Experience Manager (XM). This powerful platform empowers brands to easily create personalized experiences and manage multiple sites, locations, and languages across all channels and devices.
This pressure has caused some brands to start thinking about the flexibility of composable stacks, and Sitecore is leading the market change. The consistent need to evolve, transform, and accelerate their technology solutions is what helps Sitecore not only to keep pace within the industry but to leap forward as market leaders.
XM Cloud Composable Stack Structure
The core capabilities of a composable DXP revolve around flexibility and scalability. Sitecore’s investment in composability has yielded a next-generation DXP with best-in-class solutions to future-proof your tech stack.
At the heart of Sitecore’s composable DXP structure features XM Cloud, a no-compromise CMS with the ability to constantly evolve with your business, as the future of content management. The modern customer journey must deliver consistent, personalized experiences and connect interactions across all channels, devices, and touchpoints. Nurturing the customer journey is easier than ever with Sitecore XM Cloud, a fully integrated solution evolved from their industry-leading CMS.
Some of Sitecore XM Cloud’s features include:
- Simple, intuitive visual editing
- Visual front-end as a service
- An effortless global presence
- Optimized for faster performance
- Single point of access
- Combining a visual editor with headless CMS
- Modern JAMstack frontends for faster deploys
- Open APIs built for developers
- Powerful dev-ops tools
The Composable Components
XM Cloud can easily integrate with the different solutions of Sitecore’s composable DXP. Organizations assemble a composable stack as they choose, prioritizing the needs of their business when they need it. Sitecore’s XM Cloud solution provides best-in-class products that can be standalone in your tech stack but work better together and offer businesses a choice in how they want to build it. Sitecore is redefining what is possible with a composable DXP.
Wrap Up
The right composable DXP will ultimately help you understand your customers’ needs, through a collection of deep data and actionable insights to stay ahead of the curve. The flexibility and scalability of this modular solution can help integrate different systems with a cloud-native SaaS-based CMS. Combine cloud content management, marketing automation, commerce, and personalized customer experiences to deliver next-generation experiences for your customers.
