CONSHOHOCKEN, PA. -- Boomi, the intelligent integration and automation leader, today announced findings of a new global study.[1] The IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by IFS and Boomi, reveals that aging, monolithic systems, and a lack of technological understanding at the executive level limit organizational agility and responsiveness to disruptions. The research also identified that having a composable strategy is key for organizations to overcome these challenges.

The study polled over 1,000 C-level respondents across 12 countries in Europe, North America, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. It found that legacy technology platforms and unfamiliarity with the essential role Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and composability play in unlocking business data are combining to hamper insights and transformation.

The widely acknowledged risks of not transitioning to composable applications have become even more pressing against the backdrop of current domestic and international upheavals. Recent developments such as Brexit, world issues, and the escalating cost-of-living crises have highlighted the deficiencies of outdated technologies.

While most businesses believe they have withstood the last three years of disruption, leaders report that working capital and inventory imbalances (56%), volatile demand (53%), and unpredictable supply chains (48%) had been their biggest challenges. Respondents also pointed to legacy applications (60%), lack of integration (48%), and inflexible/monolithic applications (43%) as hindering efforts to overcome these challenges - impacting the efficiency with which they can mitigate risks.

The research also revealed that the consequences of outdated technology platforms are being felt by businesses, with reports of limited visibility into operational processes (24%) and poor internal collaboration (18%). These findings suggest that companies struggle to use their data in long-term planning, hampering business agility and the ability to respond to future disruptions effectively.

With more than two-fifths (41%) of organizations lacking a composable strategy, the risk of stagnation and mounting technical debt is glaring. While the value of a composable architecture is well understood by over 70% of the C-suite respondents with business and functional responsibilities, the Board level professionals lag in their understanding - only 19% are clear on the value composability creates. This gulf between senior level executives points to a need for education and clearer business cases that highlight composability’s short, medium, and long-term value.

“This research sends a clear message to executives: To remain competitive, increase agility, and drive productivity across their entire business, composability is key,” said Ed Macosky, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Boomi. “Speed to realizing value requires a strong data foundation and a mature cloud strategy as prerequisites to the adoption of other advanced technologies.”

Encouragingly, 89% of respondents identified API-driven innovation as a key component of composability with over half (51%) pointing to seamless integration between process workflows, and 37% to the importance of single-platform solutions. As well as highlighting the essential role of APIs in creating adaptable and flexible business systems, these findings support the notion that the future of business applications is composable.

In terms of technology preferences, APIs lead the way with 82% of respondents emphasizing their significance, followed by Artificial Intelligence (45%) and Machine Learning (40%). The research indicated that supply chain (51%), procurement (47%), and customer service and support (40%) are the top areas organizations believe they would benefit from application composability.

Despite the recognized importance of composability, the challenges identified in the research highlight the need for broader organizational alignment and clarity in technological direction to fully leverage the advantages of a composable architecture, where APIs play a foundational role.

Nevertheless, the survey data does reveal a significant trend towards investing in composing workflows with multiple products using APIs. Twenty-two percent of respondents reported to be actively pursuing this approach, reflecting a strategic move towards leveraging APIs for integrating diverse systems and applications to drive efficiency and innovation, and eliminate waste.

Macosky concluded: “Inertia in moving to the cloud or formulating a clear composability strategy is likely to prevent businesses from unlocking the full value of AI and machine learning technology. The challenge for organizations now is to realize value pervasively. However, they must overcome considerable barriers, such as the lack of understanding of composability’s value at the executive level and inadequate progression within cloud journeys. It should therefore come as little surprise that the CIO and CTO are the primary champions for composability.”