Composable Architecture with Drupal CMS: Building Flexible Digital Ecosystems

Sudden changes in business needs, new channels to support, integration with diverse systems, new regulatory requirements, and the necessity to rapidly adapt to technological innovations. This is the vast and rapidly evolving digital landscape in which organizations operate and face increasingly complex challenges.

In this context, the traditional monolithic approach to digital platforms (that of the "single, large and immutable platform") is showing its limitations, giving way to a new paradigm: composable architecture.

In previous articles of our series on Drupal CMS, we explored the innovative features of the platform, analyzed its advantages over alternatives, delved into migration strategies, discussed security and compliance aspects, as well as the ambitious innovation roadmap of the ecosystem.

Now, in this article, we examine how Drupal CMS represents an ideal foundation for implementing composable, flexible architectures capable of effectively responding to change.

Composable Architecture: A New Approach to Building Digital Ecosystems

Composable architecture represents an approach to building digital ecosystems based on the flexible combination of modular and interoperable components. Instead of a single, giant, and monolithic system that is difficult to manage and maintain, in the composable approach, our architecture is composed of many components that are assembled, similar to Lego bricks, each of which is independent, performs its function, and can be updated or replaced without impacting the entire system.

More specifically, the "composable" paradigm, formalized by Gartner, is based on four fundamental principles:

1. Modularity: Systems are composed of independent and interchangeable components. This autonomy makes each part easily manageable and replaceable, without compromising the overall system.
2. Autonomy: Each component operates independently, with well-defined interfaces, reducing the risk of propagation of any problems between the different elements of the architecture.
3. Orchestration: Components can be organized and reorganized flexibly, combining and adapting them dynamically according to operational and strategic needs.
4. Discovery: Components are easily identifiable and configurable, with relevant benefits in terms of implementation and configuration times.

This approach allows organizations to build highly adaptable digital ecosystems, where individual components can be replaced or updated without rebuilding the entire system. The result, in addition to technical benefits, is a significant acceleration of innovation and a reduction in time-to-market, fundamental aspects for competitiveness.

Why Composable Architecture is Relevant Today

The interest in and adoption of composable architectures are growing rapidly. This is not merely a technological trend, but a concrete response to a market that is constantly accelerating. Let's understand in more detail the reasons, which directly impact the core of every business:

Speed of market change: In a world where customer needs and digital trends change at an alarming rate, the ability to adapt quickly has become a fundamental competitive advantage.

Proliferation of channels and touchpoints: Today, it is no longer enough to simply be on the web. Organizations must also offer consistent experiences everywhere, across an increasing number of channels and devices, and this requires agile platforms.

Personalization expectations: Users expect increasingly personalized experiences that understand them, anticipate their desires, and align with their expectations. Such tailored experiences require flexibility, responsiveness, and agility in digital platforms.

Heterogeneous technological ecosystems: Organizations often operate with multiple systems, some of which may be legacy, that need to integrate efficiently. Composable architecture facilitates the connection between different technologies.

A recent Gartner study predicts that by 2026, organizations that have adopted a composable architecture will outperform the competition by 80% in the speed of implementing new functionalities. This important data highlights the urgency and strategic value of this approach.

Drupal CMS as a Foundation for Composable Architectures

Drupal CMS stands out in the landscape of content management systems as a true "champion of modularity," with native features that make it particularly suitable as a base for composable architectures. The API-first approach has been integrated into Drupal for several versions, and with Drupal CMS, this vision reaches a high level of maturity.

API-first by design

Drupal CMS has been designed with an API-first architecture that natively supports key protocols for modern multichannel and omnichannel implementations:

• Native JSON:API: Integrated into the core, it offers a complete RESTful API that complies with JSON:API specifications. This provides a robust bridge for Drupal to communicate with any other system.
• Natively supported GraphQL: Allows for complex and targeted queries that reduce overhead and optimize performance.
• Flexible Web Services: Natively supports multiple integration protocols (REST, GraphQL, JSON-RPC), ensuring flexibility and integrability with a wide range of systems.
• OAuth and JWT Authentication: Provides robust mechanisms for API security and advanced authentication and authorization management. In Drupal, security is not an option but a fundamental value that characterizes the entire ecosystem.

These features enable Drupal CMS to function effectively as both a headless backend and a hybrid system, where traditional server-side rendering coexists with JavaScript frontend components. This ensures maximum architectural flexibility, allowing you to bring your digital vision to life without compromise.

Flexible and Structured Content Model

The secret to a composable architecture is having well-organized and easily manageable content. Drupal CMS's entity and fields system offers a powerful foundation for modeling structured content, making it easy to use and manage for any frontend or system:

• Customizable Content Types: You can define complex content structures and articulated relationships between them, tailored to your information.
• Taxonomy System: Allows for advanced content categorization with hierarchical vocabularies.
• Extensible Field API: Natively supports complex content types, such as media, references, and structured data.
• Entity Reference: Enables the creation of sophisticated relationships and connections between different content pieces, interlinking information within your database.

This range of features enables enormous flexibility in implementing complex content models tailored to specific needs. Such flexibility is fundamental for the composable approach, where different parts of the system can access and manipulate content consistently and structurally, through those well-defined APIs we've just discussed.

Native Modular System

Drupal was conceived with a deeply modular architecture, where each module adds specific functionality. This modularity perfectly aligns with the principles of composable architecture:

• Extensible Module Ecosystem: Thousands of ready-to-use components are available in the Drupal ecosystem to extend core functionalities, capable of meeting virtually any need.
• Hook System and Event Dispatcher: Standardized mechanisms that allow for further extension and customization of Drupal without needing to modify core code.
• Plugin System: An infrastructure for interchangeable components with well-defined interfaces, providing enormous freedom and flexibility.
• Dependency Injection: A modern architecture that promotes decoupled and easily testable components, ensuring that your system remains robust and reliable.

This modularity is not limited to the internal architecture but extends to the broader ecosystem, allowing for the construction of solutions where Drupal CMS can effectively integrate with other specialized systems, becoming the cornerstone of a "best-of-breed" solution (an example of which is below).

Implementing Composable Architectures with Drupal CMS

Let's now examine how Drupal CMS can be implemented in various composable architectural patterns, each suited to specific scenarios, requirements, and needs. We are not discussing theory, but rather projects we have successfully delivered.

Pattern 1: Drupal CMS as a Central Content Hub

In this pattern, Drupal CMS acts as a central content hub that feeds multiple touchpoints via APIs:

• Unified Content Repository: Drupal manages all structured content within the organization.
• Multi-channel Distribution: From your website to your mobile app, from digital signage to emails, and various other channels, content is distributed everywhere from the central hub.
• Centralized Governance: Policies, workflows, and permissions are managed uniformly directly within Drupal.
• Decoupled Frontend: Specialized frontend implementations are tailored for different channels and use cases, but all draw from the same source.

This approach is particularly effective for organizations with complex content management needs and multiple channels to support, where content consistency is paramount.

Case study: Zambon Group

The Zambon project represents an exemplary implementation of this pattern. The platform utilizes Drupal CMS as the central content hub, the core that feeds the main corporate website, numerous product microsites in various languages, and all digital marketing initiatives.

The composable architecture allowed us to:

• Centralize content management with unified governance.
• Distribute consistent content across dozens of different touchpoints.
• Implement optimized frontends for various use cases.
• Reduce time-to-market for new digital initiatives by 40%.

Pattern 2: Drupal CMS as a Component of a Federated DXP

Sometimes, you need the "best of every world." In this pattern, Drupal CMS acts as one of the specialized components within a federated Digital Experience Platform (DXP):

• Best-of-breed approach: Each component of the ecosystem specializes in its function. We choose the most performant solutions for each specific function.
• API orchestration: An integration layer that coordinates different systems, making them work in harmony.
• Specialized Microservices: Dedicated components for specific, agile, and independent functionalities.
• Unified Experience Layer: A frontend that aggregates (federates) content and functionalities from various sources, offering a fluid and unified user experience, even if many different systems operate behind the scenes.

This approach allows organizations to select the best solutions for each functional area, avoiding the vendor lock-in typical of monolithic DXPs.

Case study: Caleffi

The new Caleffi website implements this composable architecture pattern. Drupal CMS manages editorial content, while other specialized systems handle the product catalog, e-commerce, and CRM.

The benefits of this architecture include:

• Flexibility in selecting the best solutions for each function, and freedom from vendor lock-in.
• Ability to evolve individual components without impacting the entire ecosystem.
• Consistent integration of data from different systems (data federation).
• Unified user experience despite the diversity of backends.

Pattern 3: Drupal CMS as a Low-Code Development Platform

Drupal CMS is also evolving into a powerful tool used as a base for rapidly implementing digital applications with a low-code/no-code approach. In this innovative pattern, we find:

• Advanced Layout Builder: A visual interface for creating complex layouts with a simple drag-and-drop.
• Webform System: Creation of interactive forms and workflows, without needing to write code.
• Views Module: A visual query builder for creating customized data views, showing only what you need, in your preferred way.
• Rules and Automation: Implementation of business logic with visual interfaces, automating processes and streamlining work.

This approach allows organizations to significantly accelerate the development of digital applications, making the creation of experiences more accessible and reducing reliance on development resources.

Lessons Learned: Best Practices for Composable Implementations with Drupal CMS

Based on our extensive experience with numerous Drupal and composable architecture projects, we can identify several best practices that maximize the benefits of this approach and can make a difference in project success.

1. Define a Consistent API Strategy

APIs are the heart of composable architectures. Having a well-defined API strategy is fundamental for the success of a composable architecture:

• Standardize formats and conventions: REST, GraphQL, JSON:API—choose your standards and adhere to them.
• Implement API versioning: Ensure the operational continuity of your applications even when you update the APIs.
• Clearly define the authentication and authorization model: It is essential to precisely define who can do what with your APIs. Security comes first.
• Document APIs comprehensively with tools like OpenAPI: Good documentation reduces costs and frustrations, facilitates new implementations, and simplifies maintenance.

A clear API strategy, rooted in standardization and documentation, facilitates integration and significantly reduces maintenance costs over time.

2. Adopt a Design-First Approach

Instead of reactively developing APIs, design their implementation upfront. A design-first approach ensures greater consistency and usability:

• Define API contracts in detail before implementation: What they should do, what they return, and in what format and structure.
• Design APIs with consumer use cases in mind: Make them intuitive and easy for actual users.
• Validate the design with potential consumers: Early feedback allows for course correction when costs are still contained.
• Use mockup tools for early testing: Identify problems when they are still small and continue testing throughout all development phases.

This approach improves API quality and reduces the need for modifications during implementation, thereby containing remediation costs.

3. Implement Advanced CI/CD

A composable architecture requires a mature DevOps approach, with robust development and release pipelines:

• Full automation of build and deploy processes.
• Automated testing at the API level.
• Incremental deployment strategies to reduce risks.
• Continuous end-to-end monitoring of performance and availability.

These practices ensure that individual components can evolve independently without compromising the stability of the overall ecosystem, which is continuously monitored automatically.

4. Consider Governance from the Outset

Governance is a critical aspect of a composable architecture. Without clear governance, flexibility can turn into chaos:

• Define clear responsibilities for each component.
• Implement discovery mechanisms and service catalogs, a clear and easily accessible list of all services.
• Establish quality and security standards.
• Monitor API usage and performance.

Effective governance ensures that the flexibility of the composable architecture does not result in management complexity or inconsistencies.

Overcoming the Challenges of Composable Architecture

While the benefits of composable architecture are significant, it is important to acknowledge and address the challenges this approach entails. Here are the main ones:

• Integration Complexity. Managing multiple components and services can certainly introduce greater complexity.
  • Solution: Implement a centralized API gateway to manage routing, authentication, and monitoring.
  • Drupal Approach: Use modules like Subrequests and Decoupled Router to simplify integration.
• User Experience Consistency. With potentially decoupled frontends and backends, maintaining a consistent user experience can be a challenge.
  • Solution: Implement shared design systems and cross-platform component libraries.
  • Drupal Approach: Use Drupal as a repository for UI components accessible via API, ensuring consistency everywhere.
• End-to-End Performance. In distributed architectures, overall performance depends on multiple systems. Ensuring high performance in all circumstances requires specialized skills.
  • Solution: Implement advanced caching at different architectural levels.
  • Drupal Approach: Leverage Drupal's built-in caching system, integrating it with CDNs and edge caching for stable and top-tier performance.
• Diversified Skill Set. Implementing composable architectures requires diverse and specialized technical skills, from data architecture to performance, from APIs to security, as well as design and frontend for decoupled solutions. In this scenario, an experienced partner with transversal skills who can collaborate with your team proves to be a winning strategic asset for all future challenges.
  • Solution: Cross-functional teams with complementary skills.
  • SparkFabrik Approach: Our team combines expertise in Drupal CMS, API design, modern frontend, DevOps, and supply chain security, supporting your resources, transferring know-how, and helping you achieve your business objectives.

A Look Ahead: The Future of Composable Architecture with Drupal CMS

Looking ahead, we can identify some emerging trends and innovations in the ecosystem that will make Drupal CMS even more effective and powerful as a base for composable architectures.

Composable Experience Builder

Drupal's Layout Builder is evolving into a true "Experience Builder" capable of enabling visual composition of experiences across multiple channels. A new, completely WYSIWYG interface, with integrated responsive previews that show real-time rendering on different devices, finally eliminates the boundary between authoring and preview, allowing contextual modifications in real-time.

Furthermore, the flexibility and composability that distinguish Drupal are maintained, allowing for the creation and reuse of custom components within an intuitive interface, the orchestration of content from various sources, and the real-time personalization of the experience based on user data and behavior.

The evolution of Drupal's Layout Builder into a true "experience studio" will enable:

• Visual composition of cross-channel experiences.
• Content orchestration from various sources.
• Personalization based on data and behaviors.
• Real-time preview on different devices and channels.

AI Integration for Content Orchestration

Artificial intelligence is transforming content management, and there is great excitement in the Drupal ecosystem, so much so that the Drupal AI Initiative was recently launched (SparkFabrik is also actively contributing to accelerate AI innovation in Drupal).

AI features are evolving at a rapid pace. Among others, intelligent suggestions for component combination, automatic optimization of layouts and content, predictive personalization based on behavioral patterns, and automation of tagging and categorization are expected thanks to Agentic AI. Moreover, the modular architecture allows support for various AI models (both cloud-based and on-premise), while the unified API enables extending any functionality with AI capabilities.

Artificial intelligence is transforming content management:

• Intelligent suggestions for component combinations.
• Automatic optimization of layouts and content.
• Predictive personalization based on behavioral patterns.
• Automation of tagging and categorization.

Edge Rendering and Distribution

A composable architecture can greatly benefit from edge rendering, allowing for the creation of high-performance web applications worldwide.

The evolution towards edge-first architectures will involve the distribution of content and logic closer to the end-user, with consequent server-side rendering "at the edge" to optimize performance, particularly for dynamic content and contextual personalization based on local data. In this way, specific and personalized functionalities can be delivered more quickly and closer to users, while other higher-level functionalities can reside in different geographical areas. This geographical distribution also improves operational resilience.

These innovations will further strengthen Drupal CMS's position as an ideal platform for implementing composable architectures that combine flexibility, performance, and faster time-to-market.

Conclusions

Composable architecture represents a radical shift in how digital ecosystems are built, offering organizations the flexibility and agility needed to tackle a rapidly evolving market. Drupal CMS, with its API-first approach, flexible content model, and native modular architecture, positions itself as an ideal foundation for implementing this new paradigm.

Organizations adopting a composable approach with Drupal CMS can expect concrete and significant benefits, both at a technical level and for their business objectives:

• A significantly accelerated time-to-market for all new digital initiatives, including marketing campaigns.
• Greater flexibility in the evolution of their technological ecosystem.
• Reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) thanks to the ability to update and evolve specific components without overhauling the entire system.
• Improved resilience, thanks to an architecture that is by definition more modular and adaptable.

With an experienced partner like SparkFabrik, which combines in-depth expertise in Drupal CMS, API architecture, and modern frontend, organizations can successfully undertake this transition. We build enabling digital ecosystems that not only meet today's needs but are ready to continuously evolve to address future challenges.

Next Steps

If your organization is considering adopting a composable architecture based on Drupal CMS, we invite you to:

1. Explore our Drupal Services Suite by SparkFabrik with a focus on the API-first approach.
2. Watch the talk comparing different architectures presented by Luca Lusso, which delves into the pros and cons of various architectural approaches (Italian only).
3. Contact us for an assessment of your specific use case and an analysis of composable implementation opportunities.

This article is part of our series dedicated to Drupal CMS. To explore other aspects of the platform, we invite you to consult our previous articles on Drupal CMS features and benefits, its comparison with main alternatives, migration strategies from other systems, security and compliance with particular attention to regulated sectors, and the ambitious innovation roadmap with all the news from the ecosystem.