What Is a Composable DXP?
Composable DXPs are modular, best-of-breed digital experience platforms built from interoperable services rather than a single monolithic suite. They enable rapid innovation, flexibility, and more personalized customer experiences, something the monolithic suites either fail to provide or do so at a high cost of time and resources.
In this article, I walk you through what Composable DXPs are, why they matter, and how to decide if they’re right for your architecture.
What are Composable DXPs?
Composable DXPs are digital experience platforms broken down into separate modules connected to form a larger system instead of massive, unified software. They allow businesses to “mix and match” individual components from different vendors and create a highly customized and scalable digital experience ecosystem depending on their needs and vision.
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Why Are Composable DXPs Important?
Composable DXPs are vital because they address the need for greater agility and customization in digital customer experiences. Different products require different customer touchpoints, and although monolithic platforms are easier for initial deployment, they cannot provide the flexibility and short turnaround times essential for today’s constantly evolving markets. Composable DXPs fulfill several key functions:
- Agility: They facilitate agility since different components can be upgraded or swapped independently without affecting the entire ecosystem.
- Flexibility: Every element can be tailored to the digital experience the organization intends to provide its customers. You can employ specialized tools to address specific needs, such as hyper-personalization, advanced digital experience analytics, or sophisticated e-commerce functionalities.
- Inter-modular communication: Composable DXPs ensure a free exchange of information between different modules. This is essential for creating a seamless digital omnichannel experience for customers. They communicate through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which act as messengers or communication bridges between different components in the composable ecosystem.
- Ownership: Composable architectures allow different teams, such as marketing, IT, and product, to manage their respective tools independently, fostering a culture of ownership. This accelerates development cycles, allows specialized teams to focus on their core competencies, and helps drive innovation.
The Evolution of DXPs
- 1990s: Static websites with early CMS systems emerging to help manage content effectively
- Early 2000s: Web CMS platforms, like Wordpress, Drupal, etc. became popular. The focus shifted to dynamic content delivery, personalization, and use of templates.
- Mid 2000s: Web CMS began integrating with e-commerce tools, CRMs, ERPs, and portals. This made internal collaboration and user segmentation easier.
- 2010 to 2015: Shift from multi-channel to omnichannel, with enhanced focus on unified, seamless customer experience.
- 2016 to 2018: DXPs positioned as evolution of CMS with integrated orchestration and data capabilities to unify customer journeys across touchpoints.
- 2019 to 2021: Growth of Composable DXPs and MACH architecture (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless). The emergence of headless systems enabled organizations to decouple the front and back ends of their CMS and data management systems. In June 2020, the MACH Alliance was formed to set standards and certify companies that could provide modular and composable architectures.
- 2022 to present: AI-driven personalization and composability, with a focus on real-time data use, modular stacks, and total experience.
In 2025, major players that previously specialized in monolithic builds now offer their platforms with composable elements. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 70% of organizations will be mandated to migrate to a composable architecture compared to 50% in 2023.
Composable DXP vs. Monolithic DXP
Composable DXPs break the Goliath of monolith platforms into individually managed components that communicate via APIs. While monolithic platforms have their advantages, in an environment that requires constant innovation, they tend to falter and stumble primarily due to their size. The global tech outage of 2024, which cost over $5 billion in losses in just a few hours, is a prime example of a monolithic structure’s shortcomings.
When it is time to make a re-platforming decision, choosing between a composable and monolithic DXP is a critical strategic consideration. Here’s a Composable DXP vs. monolithic DXP comparison to help you weigh these options for your organization:
| Criteria | Composable DXP | Monolithic DXP |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Modular architecture built with MACH principles: Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, Headless | Single-vendor, heavy, tightly coupled, all-in-one suite |
| Time to Market | Faster deployment of features or channels | Slower releases due to interdependencies, complex build and longer development cycles |
| Flexibility | Swap or scale individual components (e.g., CMS, analytics, commerce) based on business needs | All features are bundled; customization often requires changes to the whole system |
| Vendor Lock-in | ‘Mix and match’ approach facilitates vendor independence | Overdependence on a single vendor due to a unique ecosystem |
| Customer Experience | Allows hyper-personalization across channels through unified APIs | Personalization is limited due to platform capabilities and rigid data flows between channels |
| Integration | Initial integration can be complex and requires in-depth planning but simplifies over time | Initial integration is easier but complexity increases as business scales and requires custom solutions |
| Scalability | Cloud-native, scales automatically with usage requirements | Scaling requires developer intervention, new hardware, and/or licensing tiers |
| Innovation | Modular structure and independent ownership encourages experimentation and iteration at lower risk | Innovation depends on vendor update releases, switching costs, and compatibility issues due to architecture rigidity |
| Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) | Potentially lower over time with reduced maintenance and flexible vendor contracts | Higher long-term costs due to licensing, maintenance, and system bloat |
| Security & Compliance | Component-level security and faster patch cycles but multiple components | System-wide patching is needed; delays often occur in vendor-dependent updates |
Benefits Of a Composable DXP
The 2025 Gartner DXP Magic Quadrant report highlights how Composable DXPs have quickly become indispensable for businesses. The primary reasons for the shift to Composable DXPs are their benefits compared to their monolithic counterparts. Critical benefits include:
Enhanced Flexibility and Scalability
The modular structure of Composable DXPs employs individual microservices for its components, which makes handling easier, as changes to a particular module don’t affect the overall platform. And, since the modules or components communicate using APIs, as long as the inherent structure remains the same, there is no effect on the communication bridges either.
Unlike monolithic platforms, a Composable DXP allows you to scale individual services independently. You can add more computing power to your e-commerce engine during peak shopping seasons without unnecessarily upgrading your content management system (CMS) as well.
Faster Time-to-Market
Composable DXPs are not dependent on a single vendor to develop functionalities. So, multiple vendors can simultaneously build their specialized functions. This modular structure helps accelerate timelines and significantly reduces time-to-market for new features, campaigns, and digital experiences.
According to the 2023 MACH Alliance Benchmark Report, brands using MACH architectures can launch new features up to 80% faster compared to legacy monolithic systems.
Delivering Personalized Customer Experiences
One of the most significant benefits for CX leaders is the ability to deliver truly personalized digital experiences for their customers. Composable DXPs allow for the seamless integration of specialized tools like Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), advanced analytics engines, and AI-powered personalization tools to help create highly personalized content and interactions.
A 2021 study by Segment found that 60% of respondents said they would become repeat buyers after a personalized shopping experience.
Real-world example: Mars transitioned the M&Ms brand to a composable architecture to sell directly to consumers in 15 countries. The result: 15% increase in conversion and 4.5% increase in Average Order Value year-on-year. Moreover, their NPS scores rose and customer feedback about CX became more positive.
Promotes Innovation via Ownership
Composable DXPs foster enhanced collaboration between different teams, particularly CX, marketing, and IT. Decoupled components facilitate independent and agile workflows, as changes and upgrades rarely require developer oversight. This not only helps accelerate development cycles but also significantly improves digital customer experience.
Reduced Vendor Lock-in
With monolithic platforms, you’re stuck with a specific vendor. That single vendor will make all changes, upgrades, issue fixes, and solutions, which significantly slows down implementation. A composable architecture, on the other hand, allows businesses to select best fit solutions from various vendors for each function. If a particular component no longer meets your needs, you can swap it out for an alternative without having to re-platform your entire DXP.
True Omnichannel Readiness
Today, customers interact across numerous digital touchpoints—web, mobile apps, social media, IoT devices, voice assistants, and more—requiring a uniform digital experience regardless of channel.
Composable DXPs are inherently designed for true omnichannel readiness. Their headless architecture and API-first approach mean they deliver data as raw assets without any specific presentation layer. This architecture allows a single content source to be published and consumed across any channel or device, ensuring brand consistency and a cohesive customer journey, which in turn plays a key role in brand loyalty.
This contrasts sharply with monolithic systems that often struggle to deliver consistent experiences beyond traditional web and mobile platforms.
Reduced Risk
By distributing functionalities across multiple vendors, a Composable DXP mitigates the risk of a single vendor failing to adapt or support evolving requirements. This diversified approach ensures greater stability and resilience for your digital operations.
Challenges of a Composable DXP
Of course, things are not always rosy with Composable DXPs. They come with their share of challenges, including:
Integration Complexity
A composable stack requires deep integration between microservices, APIs, and platforms. Issues may arise, especially once the business starts to scale and more services are employed over time. Data sync issues and more extensive debugging processes, in case something goes wrong, make it essential to employ robust digital experience monitoring tools.
Skills and Culture Shift
Adopting Composable DXPs may require developing new skills (API design, cloud operations, DevOps) and a collaborative mindset across teams. The MACH Alliance warns that acquiring the “right MACH mindset and skills” is a critical hurdle for many organizations.
Governance and Overhead
Governance tends to get complicated with multiple vendors and tools. IT has to manage more contracts, SLAs, and versions, especially as the business scales. It’s important to establish standards (such as common APIs, security protocols, and naming conventions) to ensure smooth operations. Unfortunately, some organizations tend to underestimate the management overhead of monitoring and securing the multiplicity of microservices.
Initial Complexity and Cost
Laying down the groundwork for composable architecture is as complex as it is necessary. If processes and microservices are not defined in detail before implementation, organizations run the risk of over-implementation and tool sprawl, which wastes valuable resources and time.
Data Consistency and Security
Keeping data like customer profiles or product information consistent across multiple services requires robust data governance in a modular stack. Each modular component could be an entry point for attackers and compromise the whole system or, worse, customer data.
Maintaining privacy and security protocols for each element adds to the overall complexity of the stack, but is a necessary procedure as customer experiences become increasingly digitized. Robust identity and access management, and clear data ownership are non-negotiables.
How a Composable DXP Works (The MACH Stack)
A Composable DXP is typically built on MACH principles (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, Headless). Each function runs as an independent microservice or cloud app in this model. For example, a CMS service might manage product content, another component would handle customer identity, and another might power analytics or personalization. All services communicate using APIs, keeping the front end or the presentation layer “headless” and decoupled from the back end.
Let’s take a closer look at the components of the MACH architecture:
Microservices
Each feature—like content, search, or personalization—is an independent service. The result is a loosely coupled, modular stack almost comparable to a Lego set: it allows you to swap out the recommendation engine, for example, or add a new marketing automation tool without touching the core content database. You can update or replace modules without affecting the rest of the system, which boosts flexibility and reduces risk.
API-First
Every component communicates via a central API gateway or orchestration layer, which facilitates the seamless flow of information between them. This makes it easy to integrate services and share data between tools, keeping your DXP open, modular, and easier to evolve.
Cloud-Native SaaS
A cloud-native service means that each component runs on scalable cloud infrastructure or a SaaS platform (e.g., Azure Functions, AWS Lambda, or SaaS PaaS). A centralized system offers advantages like scalability, stability, and automatic updates. It also allows the platform to handle traffic spikes and new deployments efficiently.
Headless
The front end (what users see) is separate from the back end (where content and logic live) and allows teams to use the same content to build tailored experiences across the web, mobile, kiosks, and more.
This decoupling enables businesses to publish content once and then distribute it across any digital channel, ensuring a consistent digital experience irrespective of the consumer device.
Implementing a Composable DXP Strategy
Adopting a Composable DXP requires careful and in-depth planning. Here is a step-by-step guide to implementing a Composable DXP strategy:
1. Audit Your Stack
Inventory your current tools, technical debt, and integration points. Identify which legacy modules (e.g., CMS, CRM, analytics) need modernization first. Use analytics and mapping tools to trace your customer’s digital journey and find high-impact areas for improvement.
2. Define Use Cases & Priorities
Work with stakeholders to prioritize business-driven needs. For example, improving mobile checkout or enabling personalized experiences could be top goals. This business value focus will guide which microservices to build or buy.
3. Start Small with a Pilot
Begin with one critical use case as a proof of concept. For instance, replace only the CMS with a headless solution while keeping other systems intact. Early successes build confidence and familiarize teams with the new architecture.
4. Build a Roadmap
Plan incremental rollouts. Once the pilot proves out, sequentially replace or augment other functions. Each step should add value (e.g., migrating product search, then adding a marketing automation microservice). Be sure to track metrics like time-to-market and customer engagement improvements along the way.
5. Leverage Certified Partners and Tools
Work with MACH-certified vendors or system integrators with composable experience. These providers can help select compatible components (CMS, commerce, analytics, personalization, etc.) for your tech stack and ensure best practices.
6. Maintain Governance and Training
Establish coding, design, and security standards early: train developers and marketers on the new tools and APIs. Encourage a collaborative DevOps culture. Also, invest in monitoring and data strategy upfront so that you can regularly measure performance and customer behavior.
7. Iterate and Evolve
Composability is a long-term strategy. Continuously evaluate new services and technologies (for example, adding an AI-driven personalization engine) and integrate them. At each phase, refer back to the overall customer journey goals and ensure you’re improving the customer’s digital experience at each touchpoint.
Examples of Composable DXP Implementation
Migrating to Composable DXPs has helped numerous global brands redefine and hyper-personalize their customers’ digital experiences. Here are a few examples.
Michelin’s Loyalty Program Overhaul
Michelin, a truly diverse company that creates travel guides, rates restaurants, and is one of the premier tire makers on the planet, was looking to develop innovative loyalty strategies for its tire business. But it was limited by its legacy monolithic stack.
The French company was able to pilot and deploy its new Better Motion loyalty program, developed in collaboration with Voucherify, in just five months. This composable strategy allowed Michelin to create an API-first promotion and loyalty engine.
Varner Replaces Point of Sale Service Without Disrupting Operations
One of Europe’s leading fashion outlets, Varner, successfully replaced its ageing legacy Point of Sale (POS) system across 1200 stores within just 10 weeks. Varner selected Sitoo to develop its new POS and a seamless omnichannel shopping experience for its customers. This led to the simplification of in-store processes, and allowed for more time for customer engagement.
Composable DXP Tools
Building a composable Digital Experience Platform involves identifying and deploying multiple tools and platforms. Key categories include:
- Composable DXP Platforms and Services: Unlike a monolithic DXP, a Composable DXP is made of many moving parts. Look for MACH-aligned headless CMS, commerce, search, and engagement tools.
- Monitoring and Observability: Use dedicated digital experience monitoring tools to ensure your DXP runs smoothly. These tools can help track performance, uptime, and user journey health, making it possible to catch issues in real-time.
- Analytics and Optimization: Analytics platforms (web/mobile analytics, A/B testing, content analytics, etc.) are crucial. Integrate a strong UX analytics tool to measure user behavior.
- Customer Data and Personalization: A Customer Data Platform (CDP) can tie together customer profiles from all composable services, facilitating true personalization.
- Customer Journey and Omnichannel: Use journey mapping and orchestration tools to maintain a consistent digital omnichannel experience. Planning tools and journey analytics are also helpful for ensuring each component aligns with customer paths.
- Support and Collaboration: Don’t forget the tools for team collaboration (project management, DevOps pipelines) and documentation. A strong API management platform for governing your microservices is also essential.
Each DXP implementation will use a slightly different mix of these tools, but the key is that they are open and interoperable.
Best Practices for Adopting Composable DXPs
If you’re ready to make the switch to a composable architecture, keeping these best practices in mind will set you up for success:
Align Architecture to Customer Value
Focus on real business outcomes, identify the high-value customer journeys, and assemble DXP components around those processes. The MACH Alliance advises organizing architecture around task-oriented business capabilities driven by customer demands. Prioritize use cases where modularity will make the biggest impact on user experience and roadmap the rest.
Invest in Skills and Culture
Ensure your teams have the right skills in cloud, APIs, and agile development. Since acquiring the “right MACH mindset and skills” is a known obstacle, planning for training and change management is critical. Encourage cross-functional collaboration between IT and business teams so everyone understands the new composable approach.
Start Small and Build Incrementally
Avoid the “rip and replace” approach. Instead, pilot individual services or features as proofs of concept. Incremental rollouts reduce risk and help validate the approach early, not to mention helping drive team confidence and ownership. Over time, you can expand the scope based on feedback and ROI. Stay pragmatic—MACH principles have become “table stakes,” so adopting governance and value management to keep projects on track is essential.
Enforce Standards and Interoperability
Implement open APIs and common data models as early as possible. Define API contracts, security standards, and UI guidelines that all components must follow. The MACH Alliance emphasizes clear guidance and standards to ensure interoperability. You can employ an API gateway or middleware to manage service connections and use MACH-certified or open-source tools that support plug-and-play integration.
Measure and Iterate
According to the MACH Alliance, 87% of composable adopters saw improved responsiveness. You can set targets around similar improvements and use these insights to tune your architecture.
For instance, if a service becomes a bottleneck, you may split it further or replace it. Continuously collect feedback from marketers and customers, and let real-world usage guide your next steps.
Leverage MACH Community and Resources
The MACH Alliance and other communities publish guidelines and case studies that allow you to learn from peers and certified partners. Review recent reports, frameworks, and the alliance’s annual surveys to stay on top of emerging best practices.
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