Understanding the impact of composable infrastructure on software development

Highlights

You'll learn:

• How to optimize resources.
• How to speed software development and deployment.
• How to support for new and traditional applications.
• How to improve developer productivity.
• How to ensure suitability for dynamic environments.

Keep reading to learn more!

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In the fast-paced business environment, there is an urgent need to develop a scalable and adaptable IT infrastructure. For a long time, businesses have struggled with unresponsive and slow IT systems, which are complicated and lead to inefficient use of resources.

However, this is no longer true, as composable infrastructure allows developers to test, create, and deploy applications based on user requirements.

But what is composable infrastructure, and how does it benefit software development? 

Let’s explore!

What is composable infrastructure?

Composable infrastructure is a framework in which computing, storage, and networking resources are decoupled and composed virtually based on an application’s demands.

These resources work like unified services in composable infrastructure, providing maximum flexibility. This infrastructure creates a virtual environment where developers can compose and decompose resources. It enhances the use of hardware and enables a quicker response to changing user requirements

As the composable infrastructure market will reach $11.33 billion by 2028 from $4.79 billion, businesses must recognize the importance of going composable.

Drawing an analogy, composable infrastructure combines the strengths of the traditional environment with those of the cloud.

What differentiates traditional from composable infrastructure?

Traditional infrastructure works on a static model, where developers manually set up and adjust resources to meet application requirements. This model limits adaptability and flexibility as developers underutilize or over-supply its resources.

Modular infrastructure, however, advocates for a dynamic model. The physical computing, storage, and network fabric resources are abstracted. Computer programs are then developed to assemble and reuse those units according to real-time requirements.

This results in:

• Intelligent use of resources.

• Cost-reduction

• Accelerating the software development lifecycle (SDLC)

This increasing dependence indicates a shift towards an increasingly automated, reactive, and scalable IT infrastructure.

How does composable infrastructure work?

Composable infrastructure works by abstracting and pooling resources together so that a single API can manage them. For instance, when the IT team needs new software, the API creates the required infrastructure based on the business requirement using the existing component pools.

Composable architecture reduces the burden on development teams. Software engineers and developers must build the physical infrastructure to support new software without a composable system.

When the team members no longer require the software, they can reuse the components to build another one.

What roles does infrastructure-as-a-code play in composable infrastructure?

Infrastructure-as-code (IaC) is the cornerstone of composable infrastructure. IaC allows developers to automate the management and monitoring of resources instead of manually installing and configuring the operating systems, hardware devices, or resources they use. 

With the help of IaC, developers can transform static hardware into a flexible pool of resources. These resources are flexible depending on the business needs. As a result, developers can provision and script their technology stacks.

This makes IT operations agile, flexible, and scalable. Another reason why modern software development depends on IaC is that it offers rapid iterations and continuous integration and delivery.

What is the impact of composable infrastructure on software development?

Here's how composable infrastructure impacts the software development process:

Promotes sustainable IT practices

Composable infrastructure makes the application and software development process sustainable. This minimizes energy consumption, resulting in the total reduction in carbon footprints associated with IT operations. Businesses that adopt a composable approach promote greener and more responsible tech practices.

Impacts the software development lifecycle (SDLC)

With traditional approaches to software development, developers face numerous issues in the deployment stage. That’s where composable infrastructure comes in. 

A composable approach to infrastructure ensures dynamic resource allocation, assuring all business applications function properly. This strengthens the SDLC process while reducing the time to market for software products.

Facilitates DevOps practices

A composable approach to infrastructure aligns with DevOps principles to enhance the efficiency and continuous delivery of applications. It unites development and operations departments for a streamlined flow.

What are the benefits of composable infrastructure in software development?

Adopting composable infrastructure comes with many benefits, including:

Ease of use

Complex IT infrastructures are challenging for developers to implement and, even worse, to maintain. Developers shift to composable infrastructure because these traditional systems don’t offer efficiency or agility. 

With composable infrastructure, developers can manage all resources from a single location. 

Under such a setup, they don’t have to add hardware separately because they can compose required resources from other applications. After reusing the resources, developers can return them to the resource pool. 

Today, developers can overlook their complicated data centers. This is because the composable environment simplifies the application development and deployment, and workload management. 

As a result, project managers receive accessible and scalable systems.

Increases efficiency

The dynamic allocation of resources reduces the time spent on manual provisioning. This results in faster SDLC and reduces the time to market for products.

Case study: How did Contentstack’s composable architecture help Bol.com?

To replace their decade-old CMS, bol.com, a leading e-commerce platform in the Netherlands and Belgium, partnered with Contentstack. They wanted a headless CMS to manage their website content and address the increasing content requirements of their mobile app.

So, bol.com chose Contentstack's composable infrastructure. Contentstack’s headless CMS delivered content across platforms, reducing the time required to create and update campaign pages.

With Contentstack, bol.com increased its click-through rate by up to 40% and improved its website performance.

What do our customers say?

“We give everyone the opportunity to fill fast, to create something, put it out in the open, check if it works, and then improve it as you go along. So we do focus on having experiments running with the content. We like Contentstack because it enables you to go to production fast, and change fast if you’d like to.”

Jan Willem Mathijssen, Project Lead at Bol.com

Click here to read the entire case study.

Eliminates workload-specific environments

Composable applications eliminate the need for workload‐specific environments. It provides a fluid set of resources that developers can combine to meet application requirements.

Provides greater flexibility

Developers can respond to constantly changing requirements by composing and decomposing resources. Such agility is paramount in a sector that constantly looks for new ideas and ways of improving.

Case study: How did LADbible Group improve its content management with Contentstack?

The LADbible Group used an in-house content system. They wanted a flexible and scalable solution to suit their dynamic content requirements. Their move to Contentstack’s headless CMS ensured flexibility in content creation. 

Using a composable infrastructure, LADbible experimented with new content types. Additionally, Contenstack’s developer tools helped them launch new content types rapidly and cost-effectively.

What do our customers say?

“What set Contentstack apart from other headless CMSes was the extension points built into the system. When it comes to fitting it in with your systems, the world’s your oyster.” 

Tom McGiveron, Lead Software Engineer at LADbible Group.

You can read the LADBible Group’s case study here.

Improves risk management

By allowing developers to adjust to changing requirements, composable systems give them the power to avert the risks related to software development. They can recognize problems and fix them to enhance the quality of final products.

Future of software development with composable infrastructure

Composable infrastructure will be crucial in software development in the coming years. Here’s how composable infrastructure and software development will go hand-in-hand:

Increased use of infrastructure-as-code (IaC)

As the adoption of DevOps practices increases, businesses will use IaC more. This will allow developers to provision and manage the IT infrastructure using definition files that are readable by virtual machines.

Expansion of hybrid cloud environments

A hybrid cloud environment in composable infrastructure will be standard. As a result, in the future, businesses can exchange resources between on-premise and cloud environments.

Growth of edge computing

Composable infrastructure will support resource management and provisioning as edge computing grows. It will increase the data processing speed, ensure fast decision-making, and enhance application performance.

FAQs

What are the critical components of composable infrastructure?

The critical components of a composable infrastructure are:

• Software-defined intelligence

• Unified application programming interface (API)

• Unified resources of computing, storage, and network fabric

How does composable infrastructure enhance developer productivity?

Composable Infrastructure significantly increases a developer’s productivity by making the resource management process simpler and more manageable. It removes the burden of manual provisioning, which is time-consuming and prone to errors.

What role does composable infrastructure play in digital transformation?

Composable infrastructure is crucial in digital transformation, making companies more agile, flexible, and responsive to business changes. With its flexible resource control feature, companies can respond swiftly to shifts in business demands.

How does composable infrastructure support both traditional and newer application development?

Composable infrastructure offers flexibility and efficiency that supports traditional and modern application development. For traditional applications, the ability to provision resources allows for efficient management of static workloads.

Go composable with confidence

Composable infrastructure will become more critical as more businesses recognize its value. A modular system promises enhanced productivity, flexibility, scalability, and adaptability, all contributing to a streamlined and efficient operation. To learn how a modular infrastructure will increase the efficiency of your software development process, contact Contentstack today and schedule a free demo!