What Is Composable Technology and Why Is It Important?

Amid the turmoil of the modern world, businesses are becoming more vulnerable to rapid and often unexpected changes. Many business owners in search of tools that can make their companies flexible and adaptable, as well as help them keep afloat and grow under such challenging conditions, opt for composable technology. 

However, many organizations are still uncertain of the potential of composable technology and its implications for the future. In this article, we’ll explore the power of this new concept and explain why it matters for businesses today.

What Is Composable Technology, and Why Is It Important in Today’s Digital World?

Composable technology is a rapidly-evolving, brand-new approach to constructing and managing software solutions for businesses. It is revolutionizing the way small companies and big enterprises operate by enabling them to compose their systems from loosely-coupled, modular components. An unlimited number of component combinations pushes the limits and provides unprecedented business agility, flexibility, and scalability. 

Composable technology has come a long way since its initial conception in the early 2000s. Its first iteration was focused on modularity and component-based architectures. Over time, the idea of composability has evolved to include the concept of dynamic composition, which enables organizations to construct solutions on the fly.

At its core, today’s composable technology is also a digital transformation model based on the ecosystem of individual architectural elements from different vendors. Organizations can integrate these elements into best-in-class end-to-end applications, services, and systems. This is also known as the BYOE (build your own experience) approach. 

Unlike traditional monolithic software solutions, which are rigid and inflexible due to a predefined set of capabilities, composable solutions are modular and easy to customize. This enables organizations to rapidly build, deploy, and manage software according to current business needs. Companies that leverage composability are likely to develop and grow, while those that don’t are more likely to get mired in difficulties and eventually fail.

The Core Principles and Key Components of Composable Technology 

If you are planning to create a composable business, you should understand the core principles of the technology: 

• Modularity — focus on breaking down complex systems into smaller, reusable building blocks, such as microservices and APIs, that can be easily assembled and reassembled to create new applications.
• Abstraction — separate developers from the complexity of the underlying infrastructure, allowing them to concentrate on building applications instead.
• Automation — rely on automation to simplify and streamline the process of building, testing, and deploying software components. This will help you reduce the risk of errors and improve the speed and reliability of software delivery.
• Openness — allow different components to work together seamlessly regardless of the technology stack or vendor.

Also, pay attention to the key components of the composable approach that you’ll have to integrate into your software infrastructure.

APIs

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) play a critical role in composable tech because they provide a standardized way for software components to communicate with each other and exchange data regardless of the programming language, platform, or hardware. This standardized communication allows developers to mix and match components from different sources without worrying about the technology stack or vendor and build new composable applications quickly and effortlessly.

APIs also enable organizations to open their software functionality to external developers, partners, and customers, creating new business opportunities and driving innovation. By building APIs that are easy to integrate with, organizations can unlock the value of their data and services and create new revenue streams.

Microservices

Modularity, as the basis of the composable architecture, is achieved with the help of microservices — small, independently deployable services that work together to create a larger application. Each microservice performs a specific task and communicates with other microservices through APIs.

When complex systems are broken down into smaller, decoupled microservices, developers can build and deploy software more quickly and efficiently. Microservices also make it easier to update and scale individual software elements without having to update the entire system. This approach can lead to faster time to market, improved quality, and better alignment with business needs.

Containers

Containers provide a lightweight and portable way to package and deploy software components. Each containerized piece of software runs independently, but can also communicate with other ones through APIs. This enables quick building and deployment of microservices, allows applications to run consistently across different environments and scale up or down, depending on changing business requirements. Containers also make it easier to manage and secure software components and can reduce the risk of conflicts between different software versions.

Virtualization

Virtual environments are indispensable for composable infrastructure. The essence is that multiple virtual machines (VMs) run on a single physical server, each with its own operating system, applications, and data. This makes it possible to use hardware resources more efficiently and run different software components on the same hardware without them interfering with each other.

Virtualization is used to create development and test environments that closely resemble production environments.  It can also simplify disaster recovery and testing, as virtual machines can be easily backed up, restored, and duplicated.

DevOps and Automation

Successful implementation and operation of composable technology depend on DevOps and automation practices. DevOps emphasizes collaboration and communication between development and operations teams, which is necessary for the smooth coordination of modular services.

Automation is also crucial for any modular architecture because it allows for its seamless integration and scaling. With automation, teams can quickly spin up new services, integrate them into existing applications, and scale them up or down as needed. Automation can also help with testing and monitoring, allowing developers to identify issues before they become major problems. When combined, DevOps and automation help ensure that software is delivered quickly and reliably.

Cloud Computing

Composable businesses leverage cloud capabilities to eliminate the need to manage their own hardware and infrastructure. Cloud computing is an essential enabler of composable technology because it provides flexible, on-demand access to computing resources (networking, storage, automation tools), making it easier and more cost-effective to build and deploy modular applications. With cloud computing, developers can create complex, distributed systems that are highly scalable and resilient.

Advantages of Composable Technology 

With composable technology, changes no longer seem to be something frightening and entailing high risks and possible system breakdowns. On the contrary — changes become new opportunities, ensuring quick adjustment to shifting market conditions and customer needs. Let’s look at the key benefits composability can offer to your business. 

Increased Flexibility

Composable technology allows businesses to create custom software applications quickly and easily. By using pre-built components that are easily combined, businesses can create highly customized applications without having to start from scratch every time. This means that businesses can quickly respond to changes in the market and always meet their customers’ ever-shifting expectations.

Improved Efficiency and Minimized Downtime

Since composable technology consists of modular, interoperable components, it allows for quicker development and deployment of software solutions. This means that businesses can get new applications up and running faster, thus improving efficiency and minimizing downtime. Additionally, the modularity of infrastructures means that they can be updated or modified without disrupting the entire system.

Reduced Costs 

Composable technology also brings with it tremendous cost savings. By eliminating the need for costly and time-consuming re-architecting of software systems or developing them from scratch, organizations can save money and time. It also reduces the risk of expensive errors and delays.

Better Collaboration and Integration 

The composable approach implies the integration of various systems and applications into a cohesive IT environment that promotes information exchange and seamless collaboration between departments. Microservices also contribute to efficient co-operation, as they enable different teams to work on different parts of the application independently. They also make it easier to adopt new technologies and integrate with external services, leading to enhanced interoperability and reduced vendor lock-in.

Challenges of Implementing Composable Technology

Despite its many advantages, composable technology does have some challenges and limitations. Below, we list the major ones.

Lack of Standardization

Composable technology is still a relatively new concept and there are few standardization efforts in place. As a result, there is a risk of vendor interoperability issues and security breaches when integrating different components.

Integration Challenges

The possibility to integrate different software parts and components is one of the major perks of composability. However, combining software solutions from several vendors can result in integration issues because of different APIs, data formats, or communication protocols they use. 

Difficulties in Adapting Existing Systems

Although composability can provide organizations with significant cost savings, it can also be expensive to implement, since it requires a significant investment in new infrastructure and technologies. This is especially troublesome for organizations with legacy systems and architectures that are not easily adaptable.

Need for Specialized Skills

To implement composability in place, companies need experienced professionals in software engineering, cloud computing, and DevOps. The experts need to have a deep understanding of the underlying architecture and components, as well as a clear vision of the desired outcomes. Organizations may need to invest in training their employees, hiring new talent or search for a reliable vendor to successfully create and maintain composable systems.

Develop Your Composable Software with SaM Solutions

As a client-focused outsourcing company, SaM Solutions takes the time to understand your unique business needs and tailor software products to meet your specific requirements. We have a proven track record of successfully implementing projects for clients from every industry. Our developers are proficient in cloud computing, microservices, DevOps, Sitecore development, and other latest technologies. So if you’re looking for professionals to help you introduce composability to your business, SaM Solutions is ready to create scalable composable solutions and ensure the best outcomes for your organization.