Developers and engineers often gravitate toward familiar technologies and even adjust business processes in a way that matches their tech stack. Is this approach wrong? Not necessarily, but it may hold businesses back from driving their digital growth forward. The answer to not being limited in what you can add to your tech stack lies in a technology-agnostic approach: With an impartial stance toward tech, you can open up possibilities and engineer the best possible solutions for your eCommerce platform. 

A tech-agnostic approach is one of the core tenets of composable architecture, championing the freedom of engineering to create solutions that fully meet business and customer requirements. In this article, we delve deeper into the what, why and how tech agnosticism is part of a composable future.

What’s a tech-agnostic approach?

Tech agnosticism is an approach that enables businesses to break free from proprietary technology, programming languages or the need for specific certifications. By following such a philosophy, developers and engineers aren’t handcuffed to specific tech and can select, code, integrate, monitor and manage applications with more freedom, so they’re able to create solutions that fully meet business needs. 

Essentially, what a tech-agnostic approach does is to switch from manipulating solutions to fit an existing tech stack and, instead, adapt the tech stack to deliver the solution you need. That way, you can thoroughly understand the problems you need to solve, and then decide what systems or tools can solve them. It’s all about avoiding trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. 

Moreover, technology agnosticism recognizes that no single tool can address every problem. It empowers you to become flexible and agile, being always ready to respond to market fluctuations or new customer requirements. All in all, being tech-agnostic helps you be open-minded and unbiased to technology, so it’s easier to align with your business requirements. 

There are various flavors to what a tech-agnostic approach can look like. For instance, a platform-agnostic cloud solution can seamlessly run on AWS, Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure. A language-agnostic solution enables developers to choose different JavaScript frameworks or libraries, such as Angular, React or Vue.js, based on factors like scalability, security features and extensibility. 

Many of these flavors are not only supported by composable commerce but are a core part of what being composable really entails. 

Why composable commerce is tech-agnostic

Composable commerce, and any composable solution really, is about the flexibility and freedom to build and run outstanding shopping experiences. The very concept of best-of-breed and component-based systems means that businesses should be free from the constraints of all-in-one platforms. 

For composable architecture to work in real life, tech teams cannot be bound to a specific technology stack, programming language or framework. Instead, all they need are API-enabled solutions that can be plugged (or unplugged) without fuss or vendor lock-in. This complete engineering freedom means it’s possible to develop solutions that are in tune with the requirements and customer needs of your business, now and in the future. 

Technology-agnostic vs. Technology-specific: A brief comparison with all-in-one platforms

If you’ve worked with proprietary technologies, you probably saw first-hand how all customer experiences, development processes and tools are tied together. With a monolithic build, such all-in-one software requires tech professionals to find suitable solutions within the proprietary tech to meet requirements. There’s no freedom or flexibility to look elsewhere for another solution, even if that’s more suitable to the original requirements in the first place.    

Moreover, all-in-one platforms make the road painful for developers and expensive for businesses by keeping a high entry barrier to run and operate their software. If you ever came across certifications with hefty price tags and the uncompromising use of specific programming languages, you know the consequences: Businesses suffer from innovation paralysis and become dependent on an expensive, “exclusive” and limited talent pool.

As the era of monolithic platforms comes to an end and composable solutions rise, the paradigm is shifting from technology-specific to technology-agnostic. As the name suggests, technology agnosticism is an approach that gives developers freedom to code, run and manage solutions without certifications or the use of specific programming languages. 

Paired with a composable architecture, you can truly put the business needs as your Northstar, and then choose the best technology to deliver on these requirements.

The benefits of a tech-agnostic approach

From adaptability to hiring and retaining technical talent, there are many advantages for your business to go tech-agnostic: 

• Leverage existing investments:  When you’re not handcuffed with proprietary tech, you have the freedom to make the most of your existing resources, team knowledge and programming languages that are readily available. In turn, you can make your IT spending more efficient. 

• Cost optimization: As development teams can choose from a wide range of tools, your business benefits from cost-effective strategies and a higher return on investment (ROI). Plus, a tech-agnostic approach enables cost-efficient rollouts. 

• Achieve interoperability and compatibility: Ensures the smooth integration of various components without the need for extensive retooling or redevelopment, promoting interoperability.

• Holistic collaboration: Encourages collaboration among all stakeholders, including clients, end-users, engineers/developers and designers, resulting in a more comprehensive and well-rounded solution.

• Adaptability: Create flexible and resilient solutions that can adapt to changing circumstances, ensuring that they remain relevant over time.

• Innovation: By encouraging diverse thinking and the exploration of various technologies, tech-agnosticism can lead to innovative solutions that differentiate products effectively.

• Reduced vendor lock-in: Allows businesses to switch out components more easily, fostering a healthier vendor ecosystem and encouraging competition.

• Scalability and flexibility: Integrate components from different vendors and open-source projects, leveraging the best solutions available. This mix-and-match capability makes it easier to adapt to changing customer demands and scale operations as needed.

• Diverse talent pool: Stop being limited to hiring experts in a particular technology stack. You can tap into a more diverse talent pool of polyglot developers, engineers and architects who bring a range of skills and perspectives to the table. That also means that the talent pool for such development becomes much larger.

Get flexible and agile with a tech-agnostic approach

Tech agnosticism is a mindset that encourages engineers to remain open-minded and unbiased when evaluating various technologies, platforms and languages. It places the focus on business requirements and customer needs, fostering the creation of flexible, resilient and sustainable solutions capable of adapting to evolving circumstances and delivering long-term value. 

In adopting a tech-agnostic (and composable) model, you’ll be able to always keep your client’s objectives at the forefront, embrace new processes and technologies, and choose solutions that facilitate easy adjustments to remain adaptable and relevant as time goes by. 

About the Author

Michael Scholz

VP, Product & Customer Marketing, commercetools

Michael Scholz is the VP of Product & Customer Marketing for commercetools. With two decades of experience in retail & software at SAP, Hybris, SuccessFactors and Sift, he has been leading software development, presales, consulting, marketing & strategic alliances.