Monolithic or composable DXP? 7 steps to a smooth transition

Yet over the years, as technology has improved, the CMS has evolved into a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) - a system that offers all the benefits of a CMS plus loads of powerful marketing features like personalisation.   

DXPs like Adobe and Umbraco supersede the CMS to become experiential ecosystems allowing businesses to deliver highly relevant experiences to their audiences. 

Sitecore XP for instance, is an all-singing DXP that caters for everything from personalisation and marketing automation to analytics and A/B/MV testing. 

But now things have moved on. Curated customer journeys have never been more important. We’re now in a new era of composable technology, where we can future proof our technology stack with plug-and-play apps designed to improve the customer experience. This headless approach is on its way to superseding the monolithic DXP, for instance the Sitecore Composable DXP. 

Changing from a monolithic solution to a composable one is a significant transition that needs careful planning and execution. It’s not a decision that should be taken lightly.  There are a lot of factors in play that will determine whether your business is ready to become more composable. To help, we’ve compiled 7 steps that we hope will help you make a smooth transition to a composable DXP.  

1. Define your goals 

2. Conduct a thorough audit 

3. Choose the right composable tech 

4. Plan your architecture 

5. Develop a migration plan 

6. Train your team 

7. Test and iterate 

1. Define your goals 

First things first. Define your goals!  Doing so helps you determine the best approach to take and the resources you’ll need to start the ball rolling. What do you want to achieve with a composable architecture?  Lower costs? Greater flexibility, agility, or scalability?  Do you want to improve your website's performance, user experience, or accessibility? Do you need to scale certain key functions or features to keep up with customer growth?  

Does your digital experience require a particular tech stack that can’t be replicated with a legacy CMS? What about dev time? Do you need to reduce it and lower time to market?   

2. Conduct a thorough audit 

Before making any changes you need to conduct a thorough audit of your current set-up. Digging deep into your system will reveal a lot of things. For example, you may not realise how large your codebase is. After all, you don’t want to discover mid-migration that a key function can’t be replaced.   

Create an inventory. Map out all the existing functions. Group them into logical units based on the area of your business they support.  

Remember, an audit identifies the strengths and weaknesses of your current system. It enables you to see what needs to be improved, replaced or even removed.  

3. Choose the right composable DXP 

Shop around. Choose the right composable DXP that aligns with your business needs. There are so many options available like Sitecore, Contentful, and ContentStack to name a few.  

Each has their strengths and weaknesses. Do your homework and choose the one that best fits your requirements.  

4. Plan your architecture 

A composable DXP requires a different architecture than a monolithic one. You need to plan your architecture carefully to ensure that all the different components work together seamlessly. We have an experienced team of consultants and developers that can help you with this.  

5. Develop a migration plan 

Migrating to a composable stack is a complex process that requires careful planning and execution. Consider a migration plan. This will outline the steps you need to take and the resources you’ll need.  

Your plan must be as detailed as possible. Include timelines, budget, and a contingency plan in case anything goes wrong. 

6. Train your team 

Fill that skills gap. Going composable will require new skills for developers, content creators, marketers and IT staff. 

Your teams will need to be trained on how to use the new composable technologies. Take a collaborative approach. Ensure that everyone is familiar with the new system before you go live. 

You should also consider the governance and management changes your teams may encounter, especially if they’re responsible for different services.  

Security and compliance is also an important aspect for you and your teams to polish up on. That’s because a composable platform can introduce new security and compliance risks, especially if the composable services come from different vendors or have different security requirements.  

Regular training sessions on governance, management and security will ensure consistency across your platform. 

7. Test and iterate 

Once you’ve migrated to the new composable DXP, test and iterate so that everything is working as expected.

Monitor your performance against your goals. Analyse the user experience and accessibility, and make any necessary adjustments. Regularly check in with your teams to ensure they’re up to speed with your new system. It’s also important to review all processes.  

Examples of businesses with a composable stack 

• Netflix: It moved from a monolithic architecture to a composable one based on microservices. This has allowed them to scale their platform to support millions of users while maintaining high availability and performance. 

• LEGO: Implemented a composable platform that allows them to easily customise their digital experiences for different markets and customer segments. This has led to increased customer engagement and revenue growth. 

• Airbnb: Their composable platform allows them to experiment with new features and services. This has helped them stay ahead of competition and provide a better overall experience. 

Working with Codehouse 

Moving from a monolithic DXP to a composable stack can bring many benefits, including increased agility, scalability, and flexibility. But there are challenges to consider.  We have over 15 years of experience in working on digital transformation projects for CMSs, DXPs and composable technologies for organisations like Colt DCS, International SOS, Zuken and ADVA Optical Networking.

Our teams of consultants, designers and developers are available to help you move into the new era of digital experience, Get in touch to find out how.