According to Gartner’s Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2022:
By 2024, the design mantra for new SaaS and custom applications will be “composable API-first or API-only,” rendering traditional SaaS and custom applications as “legacy.”
And they predict that:
By 2023, organisations that have adopted a Composable Commerce approach will outpace the competition by 80% in the speed of new feature implementation.
So, what is a Composable Application?
Composable Application is a digital development and operational approach of selecting the best components and combining them into a custom application built for specific business functions.
To a novice, like me, it sounds similar to microservices.
But there’s a difference.
A microservice is a collection of independent services communicating through APIs.
And a Packaged Business Capability (PBC) is a bundle of microservices, for example, a shopping cart and checkout, promotional emails, and campaigns designed for your ecommerce team.
A Composable Application is a collection of PBCs designed to perform specific functionalities.
Why are Composable Applications a strategic tech trend in 2022?
Digital Transformation and innovation is often slowed down by;
- clunky and outdated systems, and
- custom-built tech stacks with multiple vendors and services.
And PBCs and Composable Apps allow fusion teams to organise their projects and business capabilities so they can be developed, deployed, and managed independently.
This also means that you can utilise the best vendor or service for the job without getting stuck into a vendor lock or holding yourself back with a one-size-fits-all solution.
For a slow-moving enterprise, this means having the ability to maintain the digital agility of a start-up.
And this is where fusion teams come in.
What are Fusion Teams?
As Walkme explains:
“Fusion teams are groups of people with skills ranging from business to IT. This blend of skills and experience allows companies to adapt and meet consumer demands. Through regular collaboration, these teams can better achieve objectives, adapt to changing priorities, and learn new tools and processes more easily.
By not siloing these teams into their respective departments, decisions can be made and products delivered more quickly as all the necessary individuals are working together.”
In other words, it’s a Centre of Excellence.
Now you know what Composable Applications are. Next week, I will explore Composable Enterprise, extending this philosophy into enterprise operations.
A humble request: I learn the best through sharing. It helps me absorb information better. Another benefit is getting course-corrected by someone smarter and more knowledgeable than me. So, please share your insights in case I’ve misunderstood something. And I will share your wisdom forward.
