Decoding the art of integrating microservices in composable DXP

Highlights

You'll learn about:

Integrating microservices in composable DXP:

• Recognize the role of microservices: In a composable DXP, each component is independent. Hence, you can update, change or manage them separately.
• Leverage APIs: Access integrated microservices via APIs in a cloud-native infrastructure.
• Adopt MACH strategy: Composable DXPs utilize the benefits of MACH architecture (microservices-based, API-first, cloud-native, headless solutions).

To ensure success in the dynamic digital world, consider integrating microservices within your composable DXP. Sign up for our free demo to get started.

Keep reading to learn more!

 As businesses evolve their digital strategy to deliver better customer experiences, one winning strategy is the integration of microservices in composable DXP. But what is a composable DXP solution, and how does the integration benefit your business?

This article explores the integration, its impact on digital transformation and the steps to execute it.

Introduction to composable DXP and microservices

A composable DXP is a set of tools that enable digital marketers to create, manage, and deliver digital experiences over time across multiple channels. These tools are connected by secure APIs. A microservices architecture is a development method where an application is broken down into a small collection of separate, autonomous services that interact via APIs. Composable DXPs benefit from microservices; hence, integrating is the right step for you.

Differences between microservices and composable architecture

Although similar, they are different in many ways. For instance, both allow you to reuse and interchange system units. However, microservices have a smaller scope. They focus on small business functions, while composable architectures are broader.

Microservices focus on splitting applications into smaller units, while a composable architecture builds applications from reusable units. Also, microservices focus on specific business needs, while composable DXPs focus on how you can assemble modular tools to meet unique business needs.

Differences between monolithic and composable DXP

A composable digital experience platform allows you to choose and integrate various system units based on your needs. They are not tightly coupled and do not run on one server like in monolithic applications. That makes them more flexible and scalable.

While a composable DXP is modular, a monolithic DXP is an integrated, all-in-one platform. Monoliths are limited in how they can integrate with other tools as they work within the platform. Composable DXPs do not have such issues. By design, they work with APIs and integrate with external tools and services.

Benefits of a composable digital experience platform

A composable digital experience platform integrates your tech stack and enables you to deploy fast. It promotes a flexible and scalable operation. It uses a “best-of-breed” approach to integrate the most suitable stack for your needs. So, you only choose the functions and software you need when you need it. 

Benefits of integrating microservices architecture in composable DXP

A composable digital experience platform uses a headless approach. They are built from various systems that interact through APIs and microservices. 

Integrating microservices in composable architecture enables you to deliver personalized customer experiences across multiple channels. It also enables you to scale separate and autonomous units of the system. You can also develop, test and deploy individual features, leading to faster time to market. 

As microservices are API-driven, they integrate well with third-party services. Hence, it gives you access to more tools and services to enrich the DXP ecosystem.

Steps to integrate microservices in composable DXP

Planning phase

Assess business needs: Assess your business needs and identify your goals. For instance, do you want to add new features or enhance user experience? Next, review your current system to know what it can or cannot do and what functions you can improve.

Define microservices: Next, decide on what services you may consider essential to your digital experience platform. Then, plan the user interface and how the services interact. Also, determine how they exchange data.

Plan for scaling: Plan for future growth and increase of traffic and data volume. Ensure that the system allows you to add, modify or update it to meet your business needs as you evolve.

Implementation phase

Develop and integrate microservices: You can either integrate existing microservices or build new ones. Ensure you use the chosen tech stack and adhere to the design and business logic. Next, configure the APIs to enable the services to interact with each other. 

Set up infrastructure: This part of the integration takes care of how you deploy. You may consider containers like Docker and cloud services. You may also look at orchestration tools like Kubernetes. Consider data storage and set up databases.

Security and compliance: Ensure you adhere to strict security measures and industry standards. Set up secure APIs and ways to validate and authorize users.

Testing phase

Functional testing: A unit and integration test ensures that the system works as it should and also tests API endpoints to make sure they are well set up. 

End-to-end testing: Test the system integration with your composable DXP and test user acceptance to see how users interact with the system. That way, you can get their feedback.

Load and performance testing: Finally, you want to test how the system works in reality. So, you can simulate high traffic to enable you to see how the system performs under stress. This test also enables you to know if the system can scale.

At the end of the three phases, you adopt an agile approach and monitor the system, get feedback from users, and improve it further if needed. 

Role of microservices scalability in digital transformation

Being able to scale microservices enables digital transformation in many ways. You can increase your speed to market, reduce development time and respond faster to market dynamics. As you can modify or update microservices on the go, it enables you to respond and adjust to new market demands. It also promotes agile development, enabling you to scale as user demands grow.

Microservices also improve how you allocate resources. You can update or modify parts of the system without affecting the whole application, enabling you to focus your resources on where you need them the most. 

Microservices also promote continuous integration and deployment. Hence, you can release new products faster and also roll out updates and new features. That way, you can stay competitive.

Benefits of integrating microservices architecture in composable DXP

Improved resilience: Microservices excel in fault isolation. That ensures that if a single part of the DXP fails, it does not affect the entire system. The integration enables you to limit the impact of failure.

Enhances user experience: Integrating microservices in composable DXP gives you access to data on how customers interact with the system via each autonomous service. You can use that to deliver more personalized user experiences.

Smoother third-party integrations: Microservices are API-driven. So you can add more tools and integrations to your composable digital experience platform. That enables you to do more.

More flexible and scalable operations: Since services are decoupled, you can quickly update them or add new features. You can remove features that offer little or no impact to the DXP. You can also scale one or several parts of your composable DXP based on demand.

Challenges of integrating microservices architecture in composable DXP

Integration complexities: As services use separate resources, they have different life cycles and, at times, technology stacks. In the initial stages, you may find it hard to manage these complex arrangements.

Security concerns: Since every service is separate, it opens up more surface areas for potential attacks. It can also be hard to enact security strategies across services due to their complexity. 

Higher overheads: After integration, you have to deploy, scale and monitor each service. That could bump up your overhead compared to using a monolithic architecture. Although you can automate the process with CI/CD pipelines and container tools, they require extra setup time and resources.

Case studies

Burberry and Emma are two successful composable DXP integration examples.

Burberry

Despite extensive digital transformation, Burberry struggled with translation requirements and multiple collection demands. Their monolithic DXP could not handle these issues.

In response, they chose a MACH strategy. This enabled them to leverage microservices, API, cloud-native, and headless tech. Then, they integrated the Contentstack composable DXP, giving them access to a composable commerce framework and a headless CMS.

Hear from Sonia Latoracca, digital commerce content manager, “Creating content is quicker and easier with Contentstack. It’s a user-friendly tool making training and onboarding simpler. The integration with our translation and media systems means content can be created and published much quicker than before. The flexible, reuseable components allow us to complete new designs briefs without the need for constant development.”

Read more about Burberry’s success after integrating microservices with a composable DXP.

Emma

Emma, the sleep company, struggled to keep up with their growth. They had too many tickets to deal with, and their legacy system had too many bottlenecks.

They were able to overcome these issues by embracing MACH. Combined with Contentstack’s composable DXP, Emma increased the speed of the campaign launch eight times. Updates also became faster and did not require input from engineers like before.

Andreas Westendörpf, Chief Technology Officer, said. "The Contentstack user interface has really improved the developer work environment and we are beginning to see the creative teams develop wider experiences that should increase conversion."

Read more about Emma’s success story.

FAQ section

What is a composable DXP?

It is a digital experience platform (DXP) put together from various best-of-breed solutions that interact via APIs. It enables you to adapt the customer journey and create more engaging digital experiences based on available data.

What is a digital experience platform?

A digital experience platform (DXP) is a set of technologies that enable you to manage, organize and deliver optimized digital content across various digital channels.

How does microservices architecture contribute to composable DXP?

Microservices contribute to composable DXPs by enabling a flexible and scalable way for businesses to manage their digital experiences. It also adds new features to the setup, thus enhancing the composable DXP for digital experiences.

What are the key steps in integrating microservices architecture in composable DXP?

Understand your business needs and why you want to integrate, set up microservices and APIs, and test the system to ensure it works well. Make sure also to monitor it to ensure it continues to perform well.

What are the benefits of microservices integration in composable DXP?

It is flexible, so you can scale and create faster updates and new products. It adds more functions to your DXP. It also enhances your digital strategy as you can respond faster to market changes and new customer demands.

What challenges might I encounter when integrating microservices in Composable DXP, and how can I overcome them?

A new system can be hard to adjust to. Your overheads may go up, and you may find it complex since there are many services to manage. Yet, container tools like Docker help you manage deployment, while gRPC helps with latency issues.

Learn more

Integrating microservices in composable DXP offers you speed and the ability to scale. It is flexible, enabling you to take charge and deliver optimum digital experiences. It also enables you to plug into more services and tools that enrich your DXP.

If you want to jumpstart your digital strategy and become a leader in your industry, integrating both technologies is a good place to start. Sign up for our free demo to see how it works.