Uncertain times call for increased agility, efficiency and resilience. In order to achieve these objectives, organizations are increasingly embracing a new set of business-centric design principles known as the “composable enterprise.”

Coined by Gartner, a “composable enterprise” is used to describe a modular approach to digital service delivery and software development. In other words, a plug-in-play application architecture whereby the various components can be easily configured and reconfigured. It represents the transition away from monolithic technology suites and code-based software development towards service-and-composition-oriented architecture and interconnected ecosystems of multiple, interchangeable applications. 

The building blocks of compostable enterprises are Packaged Business Capabilities (PBCs): applications or software components developed around a particular business function. Independently deployable and small in scope, PBCs are, essentially, standalone applications that can be easily “consumed” by the end-user and serve as building blocks for larger user experiences. 

For example, e-commerce sites and mobile applications are made up of multiple customer-facing PBCs such as shopping carts, recommendation engines and chatbots. Instead of building these things from scratch, retailers use e-commerce platforms to mix-and-match existing, best-of-breed applications. 

Composable enterprises are also enabled by:

• Microservices. An approach to software development whereby pieces of an application work independently, but together. As defined by Microsoft, “Microservices describes the architectural process of building a distributed application from separately deployable services that perform specific business functions and communicate over web interfaces. DevOps teams enclose individual pieces of functionality in microservices and build larger systems by combining the microservices like building blocks.” PBCs are composed of microservices.
• Application Programming Interface (API). A software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other. Acting as an intermediary layer that processes data transfer between systems, APIs enable applications to easily and securely exchange data. As such, they’ve become an essential software development tool and the glue that holds together composable enterprises. 
• Low-code development platforms. Low-code development platforms help organizations rapidly and iteratively develop, test and refactor PBCs. Reusable code and modular software design principles are core elements of composable enterprises.
• Containers. A standard unit of software that packages up code and all its dependencies so the application runs quickly and reliably from one computing environment to another.

What are the benefits of the composable enterprise?

• Agility. Allows organizations to innovate and adapt to rapidly changing business conditions in real-time.
• Hyper-customization. As digital services are made up of numerous, individual components, organizations can more easily customize applications based on specific business needs and outcomes.
• Distributed ownership of business responsibilities. Enables organizations to embrace a cross-functional, assembly-line approach to software development. Low code tools also enable citizen developers to make changes and updates on their own.
• Built-in security and governance. As it relies on reusable code and modular software design principles, organizations are no longer reinventing the wheel every time they launch a new software development process. Security and governance are thus standardized in every building block.
• Innovation catalogs. Supports an open application ecosystem in which companies can pick and choose from established composable components. 

Additional Reading

• The Composable Enterprise: A Guide 
• What is Business Composability And Why it Matters to the Enterprise
• Step Aside, Monoliths: Meet the Composable Enterprise