Editorial
The Gist
- Customer-centric growth. Customer experience strategies drive success in composable digital transformation.
- Agile innovation ahead. Composable digital transformation fosters rapid, flexible responses to market changes.
- Collaboration keys success. Cross-functional teamwork and modular models are crucial for transformation.
Composability in digital transformation, enhanced by customer experience strategies, is the ability to create adaptable, internet-based business solutions by using standardized, reusable building blocks of packaged modules. These marketing technology (martech) modules include headless content, search-as-a-service, composable customer data and authentication-as-a-service that are easily integrated with each other and with legacy platforms — as required to serve the customers’ needs.
Adaptable digital business solutions composed and created can be new, performant websites, mobile apps, personalized intranets or authenticated digital products whose architecture is decoupled and uses an emerging standard called MACH (microservices, API first, cloud native SaaS and headless).
Truly composable businesses deliver compelling digital experiences to market much more quickly, and they can respond with more flexibility to rapidly changing market conditions. This better operating model, however, doesn’t just happen overnight. New ways of working are required to take advantage of composable benefits. Customer experience strategies and modular collaboration models are intrinsic when adopting new technology.
Having mastered decoupled digital transformation using customer experience strategies and updated operating models, here's a simple four-step approach to ensure that composable business benefits are delivered using MACH technology at the core of big transformations.
1. Keep Customer Experience Central to Digital Transformation
Every digital transformation must have the customer as the primary beneficiary, and no one can champion the customer in the market quite like the executive committee member(s) fully accountable for revenue growth through superior customer experience. An unfortunate reality is that many organizations regard digital transformation as an IT-driven vs. a business and client-oriented initiative. Without a non-IT business champion and client advocate driving transformation, CX and updated operating models are often forgotten or relegated when IT leaders put new technology at the forefront of the transformation initiative.
Though IT leaders are critical co-sponsors for digital transformations, success is more likely to occur when IT is complemented with a senior business executive co-sponsor like the chief customer officer or chief marketing officer who can serve as the authoritative advocate for the customer. This customer experience-focused executive sponsorship is fundamental to evolving from a “cool technology” to a “customer obsession” orientation.
Related Article: Transforming Your Digital Customer Experience With AI
Learning Opportunities
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Apr
23
AI: The Essential Vitamin for a Healthy CX
Join us as we unravel the mysteries of AI adoption and discover the key to unlocking a thriving CX ecosystem.
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23
Navigating Market Dynamics: Leveraging Reputation to Propel Business Growth
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Apr
24
The State of Outsourcing: At the Crossroads of AI, Quality, and Cost Savings
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30
Supercharge Contact Center Efficiency with Generative AI
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2. Establish Cross-Functional Governance and Collaborative Operating Models
Internal alignment and clear communication are key to digital transformation. Decoupling front-end digital experience from an API-based content system enables speed, but this composable way of working also requires more collaboration and better communication between teams. A decoupled front-end supporting marketing site should be “owned” by marketing but with support from other functional teams that provide services and tools.
Cross-functional collaboration following a composable operating model takes some time to develop, but once trust and clear communication is established, teams working on composable solutions can accomplish in weeks what previously took months or quarters.
Related Article: Digital Transformation in Customer Experience and the Butterfly Effect
3. Connectors to Support Progressive Evolution in 'Going Composable'
Digital transformations often fail due to trying to do too much all at once. This happens with binary thinking whereby leaders stress that we need to immediately abandon the old and fully replace it with new. Composable thinking, which is modular and evolutionary, enables a more thoughtful way of switching off from the old in a progressive manner where you terminate the highest risk or most expensive technology debt using the composable martech stack with API-based connections to only the most critical legacy platforms.
Universal integration kits based on GraphQL allow critical legacy content sources and tools to be leveraged selectively while the new composable business solution goes live.
Related Article: Business Transformation Strategies: Your Journey to Better CX
4. Start With a 'Beacon' Project to Set a Foundation for Other Projects
Decoupled digital transformation leaders can use “beacon” projects to realign stakeholders and give them a sneak peek of what the finished project will ultimately do for their customers. A beacon is a short-term, fully-functioning miniature execution of the future enterprise-wide solution, not a demo. It should address a business problem, focus on the user experience, and provide a visible win to the organization. Be sure your beacon project is limited to a 100-day timeframe or less so that you can set a new benchmark for what is possible when you “go composable.”
Final Thoughts on Composable Digital Transformation and Customer Experience Strategies
Embracing composable digital transformation, anchored in customer experience strategies and innovative operational models, sets the stage for organizations to navigate the complexities of today’s digital landscape with agility and foresight. By prioritizing modular, MACH-based solutions and fostering cross-functional collaboration, businesses are better positioned to deliver personalized, efficient digital experiences that resonate with customers.
This strategic approach not only accelerates time to market but also ensures sustainable growth and competitiveness in an ever-evolving digital economy.
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