What Do We Mean When We Say: Composable Applications
Back at the end of 2021, when tech talk turned to sussing out hot topics for the coming year, there was a fair amount of buzz about something called “composable applications.” In particular, business intelligence and IT consulting firm Gartner suggested that composable applications would make an impact on the IT industry in 2022.
According to Gartner, composable applications are built from business-centric modular components. In other words, composable applications are centralized around APIs — application programming interfaces, or software that enables communication between apps — and microservices to increase business efficiency.
In essence, you are taking reusable pieces and adding them to other parts of the business to maximize outputs and returns. In that sense, there is not a single overarching definition that captures what a “composable application” is — rather, we’re talking about a classification that covers a range of software tools.
The implementation of composable applications is definite a forward-looking trend, as more and more organizations seek the benefits of using digital transformation improve outcomes. Composable applications are the emerging development process that promises to make existing resource more elastic to meet a variety of constantly changing demands
What Is a Composable Application?
In a nutshell, composable applications are simply a development methodology where you reuse pieces of code from existing applications, bundled together, to improve other existing applications.
A composable application repurposes individual functional pieces of an application or process that can be separated from the entire application or process. This is done so that more capable applications with improved functionality and increased purpose can be developed across an entire organization.
A composable infrastructure that allows for easy reconfiguration allows for dynamic configuration and customization. You can use smaller pieces of applications on any larger application, no matter where you are in the company.
Businesses’ demands vary over time, which makes it incredibly useful to have modular, composable solutions that are innovative and adaptable. Composable applications help reduce the operational complexity of traditional workloads and increase the operational dynamism of next-generation services and applications.
When you can break down large application into configurable puzzle pieces, you can plug pieces in elsewhere to save time and money on software development. This facilitates efficiently developing new products and innovative solutions for enhanced productivity. It saves end-user time and streamlines development processes and timelines.
How Do Composable Applications Work?
Composable architecture is a mechanism for expanding storage, databases, networks, and computation functions with a high level of reliability and flexibility. APIs aid in the pliability and ecosystem supervision of composable architecture.
Businesses prepared for a digital-first future leverage composable architecture to rapidly extend and assemble their IT footprints. You can expand from a single application to an entire enterprise.
With the boom in cloud technology, businesses gain agility and dexterity. Businesses are increasingly attempting to replicate the same results using traditional IT infrastructure, such as the use of private data centers.
This has resulted in a surge in the use of composable architecture, allowing an increasing number of data centers and private servers to act as cloud providers. You simply make a small part of a large application and run it in your environment. This has led to a whole host of new components.
Components that make up a composable corporate architecture include a few well-known terms. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) describes a situation where each component of the IT infrastructure should be viewed as a separate entity. Applications may be thought of as code-based building pieces that are handled using APIs.
There is also Automation of Infrastructure, where you can break down tasks related to the upkeep of the architecture, even data. Data can be divided down into smaller chunks using a composable architecture, which can then be easily automated.
How Composable Applications are Affecting Businesses
More than likely, composable applications will affect the industry in a significant way. As businesses have transitioned to distributed teams over the past couple of years, they've realized the urgent need to migrate their tools to the cloud as well.
Furthermore, since distributed teams have become the norm, workers' capacity to complete tasks effectively and efficiently has become increasingly vital. It seems like almost every tool is now either reliant of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or cloud-based. You can even move your entire business model to be composable.
A composable business aids in the comprehension and application of technical solutions, making them easily adaptable to the changing business requirements. You could even make your entire enterprise composable. The company can operate freely as per the forces of the market with a high degree of adaptability to various devices.
The adaptability extends to other business operations also, as they are loosely paired and thus easy to reuse. Here, non-developers like marketers can operate solely as there is little or no code required, they don't have to rely on someone from the IT sector to assist them.
Every business carries out its operations to meet the requirements of its customers. Consumer experience is the top priority of any composable business. Business capabilities that can be reused are done to cater to consumer demands.
One of the best future applications of the composable technology is packaged business capabilities. Packaged business capabilities (PBCs) refer to software solutions developed around a particular business function. These are the collective applications with several data schemas, APIs, etc.
PBCs break down as per business needs. Companies are rapidly adopting digital transformation to improve their business efficiency and productivity drastically. PBCs come into play in such conditions; they enhance business processes' flexibility and help create a more streamlined and smoother workflow.
PBCs allow businesses and people to no longer get hemmed in by traditional application suites; instead, they can use the best modular technologies for eliminating any restrictions and issues of their application development processes.
Looking Ahead
The future is bright: The composable infrastructure and applications market is expected to grow 20.2 percent by 2028. The composable applications market was valued at $3.3 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow up to $14.4 billion by the end of 2028. This huge growth is expected in several segments such as IT, healthcare, and manufacturing, across the world.
Composable applications are known for delivering quality-based tools that can be reused and redeployed in no time. These applications can bring new and improved opportunities to enterprises if properly implemented in the business processes.
There is a high need for businesses to invest in composable applications and infrastructure in these times. They need to implement composable systems to improve their productivity and speed along with service delivery. I think the technology and certainly the term will grow legs and become of the most common items technology has to offer.
Nathan Kimpel is a seasoned information technology and operations executive with a diverse background in all areas of company functionality, and a keen focus on all aspects of IT operations and security. Over his 20 years in the industry, he has held every job in IT and currently serves as a Project Manager in the St. Louis (Missouri) area, overseeing 50-plus projects. He has years of success driving multi-million dollar improvements in technology, products and teams. His wide range of skills include finance, ERP and CRM systems. Certifications include PMP, CISSP, CEH, ITIL and Microsoft.
