Page 5 - Issue 1 2023

SOFTWARE

Why CIOs are getting comfortable

with composable DXP

By Nick Durrant, CEO, Bluegrass Digital

growing number of CIOs are recognising the benefits of composable DXPs,
it enables their organisations to select and connect the most appropriate
A solutions to deliver localised content and personalised digital experiences to
end users. Composable DXP also underpins the omnichannel and international growth
strategies of their enterprise clients as they seek to future-proof their tech stack.
By taking a composable approach, they are no longer constrained by single-vendor
solutions and can introduce fresh tools that allow them to respond more quickly and
efficiently to customer requirements and market opportunities.
Digital experience platforms (DXP) emerged in response to customer demand for
streamlined, personalised interactions, that provide a consistent experience across
organisations’ websites, apps and other digital touchpoints. First to market were the
monolithic DXPs from Adobe, SAP, Salesforce and Oracle.
These platforms go beyond content management systems (CMS) to deliver CRM,
digital asset management (DAM), product information management (PIM), analytics
and reporting, within a comprehensive solution. Nick Durrant
However, users pay for the full DXP functionality even if they only require certain
elements. Delivering new business capabilities, in response to market changes and
opportunities, usually requires extensive customisation and integration work. effectively meet their current business
The impact on speed, cost and flexibility has led a growing percentage of and technical requirements.
companies to adopt composable DXPs. It allows them to select and connect a blend More importantly, APIs allow
of best-of-breed technologies that are optimised to deliver the required business individual DXP elements to be retired
capabilities, with the flexibility to add more, or different elements in response to and replaced, without requiring
changing business and customer demands. extensive integration or full migration
Composable architecture allows businesses to capitalise on market opportunities, to a new platform. This provides greater
rapidly deliver services across a range of digital touchpoints, and deliver premium user flexibility as businesses grow and adapt
experiences. to changing market demands. It also
According to Gartner, by 2023, 60% of mainstream organisations will list helps to ensure that all DXP elements
composable business as a strategic objective and will use an increasing number of are optimised to deliver the best user
packaged business capabilities (PBCs). Also, 60% of them will seek composability in experience (UX).
new application investments.
In the study titled ‘Adopt a Composable DXP Strategy to Future-Proof Your Which technologies are
Tech Stack’, it states that by 2023, organisations that have adopted an intelligent typically being combined?
composable approach will outpace competition by 80% in the speed of new feature Umbraco’s open-source CMS was
implementation. developed to make it simpler, faster,
and more intuitive to deliver content.
Why APIs underpin composable DXP strategies Because it’s open source, businesses can
DXP extends the functionality of a traditional CMS, going beyond traditional websites choose from thousands of community-
to integrate CRM, PIM, DAM and analytics for personalisation and localisation. This created CMS extensions to tailor the
could mean offering content in the right language; products in the correct currency; digital experience for their customers.
and payment gateways aligned with local preferences. This lies at the heart of our composable
Packaged business capabilities, connected by APIs that secure and exchange data DXP, which works with several best-of-
between modules, form the foundation of composable enterprises. API-connected breed integrations.
components allow businesses to select and combine the technologies that most To provide premium UX, maximum

EngineerIT | Issue 1 2023 | 5