Aside from the ongoing discussions surrounding AI, the other major conversation in the web community is the perennial question - which is best when it comes to your platform, monolithic suites or composable DXPs? And, to be honest, both have their plus-points and their negatives.
Here’s a quick overview of what they both are:
* Monolithic Suites – this is an all-in-one platform that includes all the technologies a business needs, such as some CRM functions, ecommerce, email campaign tools and CMS integrated into a single suite purchased from one vendor.
* Composable DXPs – this is a more flexible approach that allows companies to bolt on the best in breed digital solutions to suit their business.
If your business decides to sign up to composable architecture, you are not tied into a single all-in-one digital platform. It also means that if you have a solution you are used to as a business and works for you, such as your CRM or third-party analytics, you can continue using it.
A composable DXP – such as Umbraco - might also be a good choice if your business is in the launch phase; you can start small and scale up, adding functionality when you need it. There’s also the flexibility to swap out a function for one that more closely matches your changing requirements, as your business matures. It also feels cost appropriate for a small business, as you don’t have to make such a significant investment straightaway. After all, a basic car will get you to where you want to be safely – you don’t need a Rolls Royce to do that…
While we are on analogies, if you only need to make a cup of tea – you just need a kettle and perhaps a fridge to keep your milk in… you don’t require a full-blown fitted kitchen.
Composable infrastructure, such as from Umbraco, lets you pick best of breed tools and - as both are Danish brands - you could think of it as Lego, as you bolt on the pieces that work best for your business. Conversely, while the Monolithic Suite approach could seem too complex for your needs initially, you might feel more confident using all the same tools from one provider, as it can offer a more streamlined solution. But, rather like buying a complex food processor, the chances are that your business might never get round to using all the functions available.
If your business is fairly well developed, then opting for a Composable DXP approach means that your teams can stick with systems they are familiar with and can also bolt on applications which are the best available, built by firms which specialise in that business application.
However, it could be there is an overlap in your customer data, processes and systems? Perhaps your customer data is sitting in a few places, which can make compliance trickier.
You need to be sure that every function has a single point of truth. For example, with a Composable DXP, you might find you are holding onto four or five copies of customer data, as customers make alterations in different places. It makes sense, at that point, to decide which system is your single point of truth – such as your email platform – where customer data changes and preferences are noted and stored.
That said, Umbraco – which is a framework and not a boxed product - is putting a lot of effort into making connectors available for the various functions which a business wants to plug into its DXP and this makes the jigsaw puzzle much more efficient.
Umbraco will help you to bolt together the tools required for your business via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to deliver a customised digital experience.
You do need to make sure that everything that’s bolted in is done properly and you don’t end up with something that resembles spaghetti – and we can help you with this at Lake Solutions. If this isn’t executed efficiently, then you could end up with a messy integration and our team is experienced at utilising a micro-architecture approach.
Umbraco is designed to stay flexible, sustainable and developer-friendly, supporting its community to choose the architecture that suits them and adapting to it. As it looks to the future, the company is now on the verge of unveiling something new when it comes to Composable DXPs and explains:
For many, composability is a growing web of systems, integrations, and frontends that’s hard to reason about and even harder to scale. And when every connection is built custom, that concern is understandable.
But the real problem is fragmentation. When data lives in silos, and every experience needs its own integration, teams spend more time wiring systems together than delivering value. Composable becomes simpler when content and data are orchestrated into clean, reusable APIs across the ecosystem.
That’s the direction behind our upcoming product, Umbraco Compose. A managed content orchestration layer designed to reduce integration overhead and make composable architectures easier to build and evolve.
If you’d like to talk further about how a Composable DXP can benefit your business, call us at Lake Solutions on: 020 3397 3222.