Monolithic systems are fading into the past as businesses confront the need to evolve continually against market pressures, technology innovations, and changing consumer needs. Rather than relying on massive, traditional configurations, companies are pivoting to flexible and scalable technology practices. Many agile solutions on the market today deploy Composable Architecture, but what is it, and why does it matter? This guide defines the concept, details the benefits, and explains when and how to implement Composable Architecture. 

What is Composable Architecture?

Composable Architecture is an assortment of services, applications, and features that act as independent building blocks and communicate through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). In this configuration, each digital experience is decoupled from the others. This modular approach allows developers to implement reusable components to build applications quickly and efficiently. It also allows developers to create flexible, best-of-breed functional stacks (for e.g. for eCommerce) where components can be modified or replaced without changing the entire system. 

Benefits of Composable Architecture

Composable architecture is an attractive choice over traditional, monolithic systems because it offers many benefits. Decoupling the various components makes it easier to scale, reduces costs, and is easy to maintain. Here is a closer look at the reasons why companies prefer Composable Architecture:  

Provides Flexibility and Scalability

One of the top benefits of Composable Architecture is that it provides immense flexibility and scalability. Composable architecture consists of modular components that can easily be assembled, configured, edited, and even removed. Enterprises can add new features and functionalities as their needs evolve and scale back by simply unplugging components if needed. Plus, Composable Architecture can easily run on any technology. These capabilities and more make Composable Architecture more agile than traditional infrastructures. 

Saves Time and Money

Another key benefit of Composable Architecture is that it improves the bottom line, saving companies time and money. Once again, the modular design approach makes it easy for developers to reuse code and programming components. The modular design also allows each stakeholder to access only the aspects they need. These capabilities reduce the time required to create, maintain, and grow a system and streamline the processes to develop, deploy, and maintain eCommerce systems. 

Easy to Update

Composable architecture is also beneficial because it is easy to update. In traditional systems, a single update is likely to affect everything - resulting in downtime or other gaps in performance. With Composable Architecture, professionals can integrate new features as they become available and change aspects without completely redoing the entire system. Plus, no downtime is required. 

When to Use Composable Architecture

Even though Composable Architecture offers appealing advantages, it can still be challenging to know whether or not to adopt such a system. An out-of-the-box, traditional system will likely suffice if a company only needs a simple blog or singular-channel website. But when should businesses use Composable Architecture? 

Composable architecture is ideal for businesses looking to deliver content across multiple channels. Long gone are the days of consuming content exclusively on a desktop computer. Now consumers use smartphones, smart watches, laptops, tablets, desktops, voice assistants, and other devices to shop, conduct business, and engage with brands. A monolithic suite is not ideal for this degree of complexity; however, a flexible, best-of-breed solution is up for the challenge. With a decoupled solution, businesses can address each facet and each channel individually. After all, separation of content and presentation comes naturally to Composable Architectures. 

When considering Composable Architecture, evaluate which parts of the solution need to be handled internally, what services are best required through a Software-as-a-Service model, and how integration will be executed. While Composable Architecture opens up many exciting possibilities, the solution is only as good as the implementation. 

How to Get Started with Composable Architecture

So, how do companies get started with Composable Architecture and ensure a successful implementation? For best results, partner with an expert who can provide thought leadership and expertise in Composable Architecture. 

Encora has a long history of delivering exceptional software engineering & product engineering services across a range of tech-enabled industries. Fast-growing tech companies partner with Encora to outsource product development and drive growth. We are deeply expert in the various disciplines, tools, and technologies that power the emerging economy, and this is one of the primary reasons that clients choose Encora over the many strategic alternatives that they have. Through our partnership with Microsoft Azure, clients gain access to engineering, service delivery excellence, and AI services expertise and the ability to build composable applications, leverage microservices architecture, and future-proof their infrastructures. 

Contact us to learn more about Composable Architecture and our advanced engineering services.