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What are Packaged Business Capabilities?

What are Packaged Business Capabilities?

If you're an e-commerce manager, CTO or enterprise architect weighing a move away from an all-in-one software suite, Packaged Business Capabilities (PBCs) are the building blocks that make that move possible without a full replatform. A "one-size-fits-all" suite rarely matches every business's needs. These large software packages bundle everything together, but they often force a company to adapt its processes to fit the software, rather than the other way round.

PBCs offer a better way. With PBCs, you choose the best software module for each business function, product data, pricing, order management, and connect those modules to build a solution that fits your company rather than the vendor's template.

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What Are Packaged Business Capabilities (PBCs)?

Packaged Business Capabilities are software components designed to fulfil one specific business function, such as product information management, data distribution across sales channels, website content management, or order and payment processing.

Each PBC operates as an independent module, so it can be designed, assembled and deployed on its own. That modularity is what lets a PBC be added or removed from a stack without disrupting everything connected to it.

From a technology standpoint, a PBC brings together the underlying microservices needed to deliver its business function as one usable module. You can browse Bluestone PIM's own PBCs, connectors and accelerators in the Extension Hub to see this in practice: each one packages a specific capability, from campaign management to bundle configuration, ready to connect rather than build from scratch.

 

Why Are PBCs So Important?

Today’s businesses can’t afford to be locked into slow-moving, one-size-fits-all systems.

Packaged Business Capabilities empower organisations to:

  • Customise technology stacks: Select only the components you need and integrate them easily.

  • Respond faster to change: Add, swap, or upgrade business functions with minimal risk.

  • Reduce complexity: Replace tangled, legacy integrations with clean, modular connections.

Composable architecture powered by PBCs means your digital strategy evolves as fast as your market.

What Makes a PBC Different from Microservices or Monolithic Platforms?

Packaged Business Capabilities (PBCs) and microservices are related concepts, but they are not the same and serve different purposes in modern IT architecture.

What Are Microservices?

Microservices are small, independent software services that each perform a single, specific task. They are developer-focused and communicate with other services via APIs. A microservice could handle authentication, payments, or inventory—just one piece of a bigger system.

How Does a PBC Differ from a Microservice?

Packaged Business Capabilities focus on business needs. Each PBC represents a complete business process—such as order management, pricing, or campaign management.

A PBC is typically made up of several microservices bundled together, with clear business logic, data schemas, and an API designed for business users and IT teams alike. PBCs are built using microservices. Multiple microservices are combined and orchestrated to deliver a full business capability as a single module.

In some cases, a PBC could also be delivered by a well-integrated monolithic application, as long as it exposes robust APIs and meets modular integration standards.

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The strength of this approach lies in its capacity to empower business and operational executives and managers to shape technological solutions and engage various stakeholders without needing an extensive grasp of technological complexities.

This enables ongoing adaptation, expansion, scaling, or modification of Composable solutions to address evolving business needs, improve identified areas, innovate, and swiftly seize new market opportunities and technologies, such as AI. 

The stakes are high in light of the constantly evolving landscape of customer behavior and the advent of new marketing channels. It is imperative for companies to take proactive measures to establish fresh touchpoints with their customers, especially if they cater to younger audiences.

As Think with Google reports in “The future of retail: Global trends shaping the next 5 years”, younger shoppers are 2x to 3x as likely to have shopped using emerging media.

This presents a significant opportunity, not only for introducing products through new channels but also for building a stronger connection with customers, thereby fostering loyalty.

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What Are the Benefits of Using PBCs and Composable Commerce?

Employing PBCs and adopting the Composable approach to building your technology stack brings numerous benefits:

  • Solves business problems — they provide tailored software solutions to address specific business needs.

  • Improves customer experience — they enable businesses to deliver superior customer experiences across all touchpoints, facilitating product data syndication and tapping into new sales channels and geographic locations.

  • Streamlines work — well-designed PBCs establish more efficient workflows across departments, eliminating software function overlap and defining clear roles for specific software usage.

  • Automates tasks — by selecting software that eliminates repetitive tasks and streamlines the distribution and synchronization of product data, you can automate many processes, saving time and resources.

  • Promotes agility and innovation — the modular setup of Composable allows for quick changes and exploration of new business opportunities by defining or redefining PBCs.

  • Delivers Return on Investment — Composable Commerce, with well-designed PBCs, optimizes operations, reduces the total cost of ownership of software, and accelerates time to market, offering a substantial return on investment.

How Do You Design Packaged Business Capabilities in Practice?

Let us put that knowledge into practice and use an example to demonstrate how you can design PBCs for your organisation.

Imagine ShopperSpot, a hypothetical online retailer looking to move away from their restrictive all-in-one solution and embrace the flexibility of Composable Commerce, using PBCs.

The eCommerce Managers at ShopperSpot have identified key features and functionalities they need, including PBCs for:

  • Managing product information,

  • Handling orders,

  • Managing customers,

  • Processing payments,

  • Analytics and reporting,

  • Managing promotions and discounts.

ShopperSpot has designed the following PBCs, each offering API connectivity for smooth integration with other PBCs. They also understand that as they identify new needs, they have the flexibility to create more PBCs and seamlessly integrate them into the system.

Whether adding new PBCs or modifying existing ones, ShopperSpot always has the option to change their technology, for example by including PBCs for customer support, procurement, and content management.

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Importance of Business Perspective in Designing PBCs

The involvement of business leaders is essential for designing effective PBCs.

With their comprehensive understanding of organizational dynamics, executives and managers possess invaluable insights into operational intricacies, customer demands, and overarching business objectives. 

Additionally, business leaders help identify potential challenges and opportunities, ensuring that PBCs are not only technically sound but also practical and effective in real-world situations.

This fosters support and ownership of PBCs across the organization, meaning that everyone is on board and invested in making the new capabilities work.

How to Implement Your PBCs

As an executive or business manager, you may be considering the implementation of a Composable solution.

While confident in defining your company's required capabilities, identifying suitable software can pose a significant technical challenge, particularly when dealing with intricate aspects such as microservices or API connectivity, which demand specialized knowledge in IT.

The good news is that microservice-based and composable applications are widely recognized and embraced by IT specialists. However, the primary hurdle lies in acquiring the necessary skills to select and seamlessly integrate the best fitting solutions for delivering the desired capabilities.

If your organization lacks some of these skills, it should not deter you from reaping the benefits of using PBCs and Composable Commerce, as you can always leverage external support.

When implementing your PBCs to create a Composable Commerce solution, you have two main options:

  1. Pre-packaged (Accelerator): This type of Composable Commerce solution offers a predefined set of PBCs that cover various common use cases. Typically provided by IT consultancies, systems integrators (SI), and independent software vendors (ISV) specializing in the Composable approach. While adjustments, replacements, or ongoing additions of components are possible, businesses with highly unique needs may find a custom option more suitable.

  2. Custom-designed: In this scenario, the solution is tailored entirely to your enterprise requirements. This can be accomplished internally if your organization has the necessary expertise, or externally by hiring companies specializing in Composable solutions. The decision between internal and external approaches depends on the availability of skilled specialists and the complexity of your customization needs.

Accelerators vs Best-of-suite Solutions

Composable accelerators stand out for their flexibility and quick implementation, rivaling traditional best-of-suite solutions offered by single, large vendors.

Accelerators empower organisations to swap out any component without fear of vendor lock-in, allowing for process optimisation, enhanced efficiency, and adaptation to evolving business needs while retaining control over the technology stack. This simplifies the daunting task of evaluating, selecting, and purchasing multiple software solutions.

Specialised companies offering accelerators not only provide powerful tools but also offer immediate guidance, best practices, and training materials.

This ensures that your enterprise is equipped with cutting-edge technology and can quickly adopt and effectively utilise it.

Why Should You Start with a PBC for Product Information Management?

In composable commerce, Product Information Management (PIM) systems have become the keystone for building robust, efficient solutions. That might surprise some: PIM systems were once overlooked compared to Master Data Management (MDM) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

As data complexity and the number of distribution channels grew, relying on limited integrations, spreadsheets or manual data entry stopped working. PIM systems became the solution, offering one centralised source for all product data.

A composable PIM, delivered as a PBC, becomes the central hub for your product data, giving teams and partners access to complete, high-quality information for collaborative management. That enriched product data can then be syndicated across every connected system and customer channel. Whichever route you take to build your stack, the first PBC worth establishing is the one that centralises your product data, since it protects the integrity of your product content while every other PBC around it changes.

Spreading product data across different systems or locations, instead, creates inconsistency and makes management harder. A single centralised source reduces the risk of discrepancies from the start.

PIM performance also affects the whole composable solution. Transferring large volumes of data, millions of SKUs, digital assets and real-time updates, needs a genuinely capable, enterprise-grade system. A weaker or non-enterprise PIM, or no PIM at all, means slow data transfer and synchronisation that takes days instead of hours, which slows time to market because accurate, up-to-date data simply doesn't arrive fast enough.

Summary

Packaged Business Capabilities are a powerful framework for unlocking business potential and succeeding in today's rapidly evolving business landscape.

By understanding the benefits, principles and best practices of PBCs, organizations can harness their transformative potential to create superior customer experiences, accelerate innovation and stay ahead of the competition.

Whether you are just getting started with PBCs or want to take your existing capabilities to the next level, now is the time to embrace the future of business and embark on a journey toward efficiency, sustained growth, and innovation.

Do you have questions about Composable Commerce and PIM? Get in touch with our PIM advisors today to schedule a free consultation or schedule a personalized demo meeting and discover the possibilities of Bluestone PIM, the leading Composable PIM solution.

 

FAQ About PBC and Composable Commerce

  • This is an important question that may concern many business leaders who are considering transitioning from monolithic and best-of-suite solutions to Composable solutions.

    The strength of the Composable approach lies in its inherent flexibility, enabling you to implement it at your own pace through iterative adjustments. If you still want to keep some of your monolithic software solutions, you can adopt a hybrid approach by defining PBCs that would be better served with a Composable solution, and start there, for example, with a PBC for centralizing product information using a Composable PIM.

    Involving stakeholders from different departments to identify their required functions encourages collaboration and minimizes potential risks. Using PBCs to demonstrate how these requirements can be met facilitates step-by-step design and development of your solution.

    If you have clearly outlined the business capabilities required, you essentially have a roadmap for success.

    Whether opting for significant strides or beginning with small steps to gauge the waters, gaining firsthand experience with PBCs and the Composable approach boosts confidence in introducing or expanding upon existing PBCs.

  • Organizations lacking expertise can entrust it to external companies specializing in Composable Commerce, such as consultancies, independent software vendors, and system integration firms, while still maintaining significant control over the design of their solutions thanks to PBCs.

    This means that executives, managers, or strategists can closely collaborate with in-house IT specialists to determine the necessary services to fulfill their needs.

    While external experts handle the more demanding technical aspects, organizations can actively contribute to the design and direction of their Composable solution, ensuring it aligns closely with their vision and objectives.