Government agencies are under increasing pressure from all fronts. Luckily, there’s a path for them to become responsive organizations that suit our digitized age.
The end of this journey is “composable government.”
What is Composable Government?
The easiest way to understand the concept is to describe how a composable government is created.
First, an agency identifies its processes, workflows, etc., and breaks them down into, ideally, their smallest components. For example, a case management workflow might break down into “intake,” “review,” “inspect,” and “permit.”
Each of these is a “package business capability” (PBC). Because they’re now separate components, each PBC can be connected to other PBCs as needed.
A common analogy is LEGO blocks. Each PBC is a fully functional block that can connect to other blocks in the structure, doing its job in a way that’s loosely coupled to the other blocks.
A better analogy might be car parts or your organization’s departments. Each component has a specialized function, taking input from other components, doing its work with that input, then passing the output to another component(s).
Why is Composable Government Great - and Inevitable?
Breaking your organization down into its components offers many benefits.
First, if designed properly, a single component is usable in multiple processes. For example, if the intake process for your various permit applications is mostly the same, you can make it a standardized PBC and reuse it across the organization.
Second, you can change a single component without affecting the others. Want to upgrade or replace your payment processing provider? If it’s a PCB, just unplug the old one and plug in the new one.
These two benefits alone are fast becoming prerequisites to a functioning modern government agency.
Consider the last time you got a major IT solution. It probably took years to get up and running. It’s a solid bet you’re in the middle of such a process right now.
This lag in modernization is no longer acceptable. Governments need to be structured for rapid response – a lesson we learned from COVID-19.
You're Already on Your Way to a Composable Government
Great news: You’re already on the path to this futuristic approach.
That’s because you already have (or are currently procuring!) software solutions that solve specific problems. You can connect these solutions like a clunky set of PBCs.
The best way to do this is with integrations, and the most modern way to create and maintain integrations is with an integration platform as a service (iPaaS).
Vision33’s experiences with hundreds of clients in the private and public sectors led us to develop an iPaaS called Saltbox. Saltbox is a born-in-the-cloud, low-code, easy-to-use integration management platform that helps you quickly connect your software applications.
You use Saltbox to keep track of connections and ensure they’re running smoothly, and you can build new integrations that, in effect, add new features to your existing software stack.
You can view everything you’re currently doing that uses software as PBCs, and Saltbox is the service that enables you to “compose” your government using those PBCs.
To learn more about Saltbox and how easy it is to take this next step to composable government, check out our on-demand webinar!
