All You Need To Know About Composable Architecture

Businesses today are relying on software tools more than ever. From project management to communication to customer relationships, this reliance on applications is an increasing trend. So much so that companies use an average of 371 applications per year & counting. As organizations deal with such high application overload, there arises a need for a flexible and modular approach. 

Organizations are in need of efficient tools that scale, integrate, and adapt to their technological infrastructure minus the burden of technical debt. Here’s where the role of composable architecture becomes crucial.

Let’s explore what composable architecture is, its benefits and associated challenges, and how it provides the perfect technological framework to manage the technological complexities of any business or organization.

What Exactly is Composable Architecture?

Composable architecture is an approach to software design where you assemble software systems by reusing and combining smaller, independent services or components, instead of building everything from scratch. To understand this better, let’s take an example. 

Let’s assume you’re building your dream car. Instead of building all the parts such as the engine, body, and wheels, you simply head to the supplier and get the most efficient engine, top-of-the-line brakes, wheels, etc., and other required parts. You assemble these and Bravo! You’ll have a full-fledged car with minimal effort and maximum customization. Now imagine doing the same but this time, it’s for your software applications. This is exactly what composable architecture is!

In other words, composable architecture is a modern approach to building software. It takes smaller building blocks/components and composes them into a customized application. These components can be anything from user interfaces (UI) and backend services to databases and APIs. 

The secret is in the ability to create customized solutions, by bringing together what already exists. The architecture is all about modularity i.e. building, scaling, and deploying parts of your system in an independent manner. Much like snapping Lego blocks together to create a bigger structure.

Let’s take another example: 

Think of a modern e-commerce site. Instead of building the entire platform in one go that includes inventory management, payment processing, product search, order fulfillment, etc., you break them down into various parts during the development process and decide to use different applications for each of them.

The payment system could be handled by Stripe, search functionality might come from Algolia, product inventory could be managed by third-party warehouse API, and so on.

Each of these services can work independently, but together, they form a complete shopping experience.

In a composable architecture, each part of your system is decoupled and self-contained, i.e. you can update one service (like changing your payment provider) without disrupting the rest of your application. Interesting, right?

Components of Composable Architecture

Composable architecture enables organizations to be agile, modular, and quick when responding to changing business needs. It is based on a new approach of building digital experiences called - MACH [Microservices, API-First, Cloud-Native, Headless].


Key components of a composable architecture are:

Microservices: Microservices are often termed as the foundational building blocks in composable architecture. They help organizations add or remove specific functionalities offering much-needed flexibility and scalability. Through detailed microservices consulting, organizations can optimize their composable architecture and enhance the overall agility of their software ecosystem.

API-First: API-First architecture helps to standardize the way components interact, and helps developers to easily integrate new features or replace outdated services. Our end-to-end API development services can help to build, modify, and integrate unique functionalities and ensure that every component of your composable architecture works seamlessly together.

Cloud-Native: Cloud infrastructure helps as a foundation on which composable components can run. Cloud-native development allows organizations to easily scale resources up or down and deploy new components or services as and when required.

Headless Systems: Headless systems facilitate displaying the data across multiple user interfaces, all without disrupting the core systems. This makes them a great fit for building omnichannel experiences and integrating different front-end interfaces with back-end services.

ALSO READ: What is Headless Content Management System (CMS)?

Benefits of Composable Architecture for Your Business: 

Composable architecture aligns perfectly with the demands of modern software development. It brings a number of significant benefits that traditional monolithic architectures can’t deliver.

1. Flexibility to Innovate Faster

The first and foremost benefit of composable architecture is that you are not locked into a single solution. Each component can be replaced or upgraded without affecting the rest of the system. This flexibility allows organizations the capability to innovate and iterate rapidly. 

Let’s assume you have a social media app and you wish to add a new feature such as an AI-powered content recommendation engine. In a monolithic architecture, you would have to redesign a large part of the app however, in composable architecture, you can simply integrate an existing AI service and connect it with your platform.

2. Scalability That’s Just Right

In monolithic application architecture whenever there’s a surge in application traffic, organizations need to scale the entire application. They do so by allocating more resources such as storage, servers, etc. to the entire system. This includes parts that don’t really need to scale or need extra resources necessarily. 

For example, if you’re handling an e-commerce website and witness a huge number of visitors on your platform during festive sales, you might need to scale the entire application - from the checkout page to product listings to content-only pages - which might not even get enough traffic. This is not only a costly affair but also highly inefficient. Result? Unnecessary overheads and wasted capacity. 

However, this will not be the case with composable architecture. In composable architecture, the e-commerce app can be scaled to handle the load without the need to upgrade the entire system. You can simply focus on scaling login pages & payments pages where maximum traffic lands. This way, the whole process becomes cost-effective and efficient.

3. Faster Time-to-Market

Reusing components means you won’t have to build everything from scratch. If you need a payment gateway, you can simply plug in Stripe, PayPal, or any other solution that fits your needs. This drastically shortens the development time and helps you get your product to market faster.

4. Better Collaboration & Ownership

With independent components comes independent ownership. Teams can be separated based on expertise over specific components and focus on optimizing each piece at the same time. They can discuss the issues whenever they arise and keep working independently otherwise. This allows for faster development and encourages collaboration.

The tightly-coupled nature of monolithic architecture would rather be much more complex as even small changes can have a wide-scale impact. One mistake can lead to another and the entire application can be affected.

5. Cost Efficiency and Reduced Risk

With composable architecture, you pay for what you need. One component can go under change without affecting the other, which means that the cost will be focused on the component undergoing change instead of the entire application. Let’s say the payment provider is down, the product display and inventory management systems can still function and the application will still be operational.

ALSO READ: Monolithic vs. Microservices: Which is the Better Architecture for eCommerce App Development

Real-World Examples of Composable Architecture: 

Spotify: 

Spotify’s backend runs on a microservices model. Each service performs a specific task such as playing music, showcasing recommendations, managing playlists, etc. In case they wish to add a new feature such a podcast, they don’t need to turn down the entire platform. They simply add a new service that handles podcasts and integrate the same with the entire system.

Netflix: 

Microservices on Netflix handle various functions such as content delivery, billing and recommendations, billing, etc. Whenever a new show is released and the users flock to the platform, Netflix only scales the video streaming components while other services remain unchanged. This keeps the costs down and infrastructure optimized.  

Shopify: 

When users create a store on Shopify, they get options to compose various pre-built customizable components - such as shipping options, shopping cart, payment processing, etc. Merchants can launch their stores in hours instead of weeks or months.

Uber: 

Uber microservices manage services like payments, driver tracking, and ride booking. The engineering teams can work independently and enhance the parts of the platform without waiting for one team to finish the task.

Amazon:

If one service goes down on Amazon let’s say - video reviews, text reviews, recommendations, payments, images, etc. won’t be affected. This way Amazon stays highly resilient and users can still browse and shop for products or make a purchase without any hassle. Respective teams can just focus on fixing the isolated issue instead of shutting off the entire e-commerce platform.

Challenges of Composable Architecture

While composable architecture has many advantages, it does not come without its challenges. A few are discussed below:

Complexity in Management: With so many independent services, managing them can become a bit complicated. Every service will have its own configurations, versions, and dependencies, which can lead to lots of overhead and complexity.


Increased Latency: As so many services communicate with each other over APIs, all at the same time, there can be delays when information is passed through these components. This might affect the app’s performance.


Security Concerns: The more the number of services, the higher the chances of a potential cyber attack. Managing and ensuring data privacy across several components can be hard if not managed properly.

The Future of Composable Architecture

The future looks promising with composable architecture as it evolves alongside emerging technologies. Here are some trends that could shape its development: 

AI and Machine Learning Integration

As the reliance on AI increases, organizations looking to optimize their operations will see more of composable architecture - offering a perfect environment for integrating these technologies. These AI-driven components could seamlessly be integrated with other systems, improving areas such as fraud detection, personalization, and predictive analytics.

Autonomous Systems

In the future, we might see more of autonomous systems taking over an organization’s operations. This means certain parts of the applications could scale automatically, manage resources, and optimize performance without much human intervention. These systems could manage composable infrastructures as well.

Composable Enterprises

Composable business models could be a part of all sections of the organization such as HR, finance, operations, and customer service. As an example - an HR system could have components such as employee management, learning management, recruiting, etc. - all of them could be updated without affecting the other operations.

Is Composable Architecture Right for Your Organization?

While it isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, and not every company has the need to adopt it, it is still suitable for organizations that are looking to expand, scale, and rapidly innovate. 
Organizations looking to scale dynamically can pick composable architecture so there’s no need to start from the ground up. In short, the composable architecture gives your development team the flexibility to grow faster and focus on innovation. 

Closing Thoughts

As technologies evolve and user expectations grow, there is a need to stay ahead of the curve and - do so fast. Composable architecture gives you the flexibility to innovate without affecting the current systems and starting over. Whether you’re building an app for a startup where going live ‘fast’ is a major goal or an established organization that needs to add a new feature on their platform and uplift user experience - composable architecture is your go-to partner.

Just like your custom car that we built in the beginning, your software can run smoothly and more efficiently just by bringing the best parts together. So, next time you wish to design an app or plan a migration, think of it as a modular system ready to be composed.

Connect with our experts in a no-obligation consultation session today to deep dive into how you can utilize composable architecture for your business to enhance flexibility, scalability, and innovation - all at once!