What Are Packaged Business Capabilities (PBCs)?

Packaged business capabilities (PBCs) are an efficient way to organize your microservices based on what specific purposes they work together to serve. They can simplify your operations without jeopardizing flexibility.

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As technology evolves, new terms describing it are sure to come and go. One of the more significant ones is packaged business capabilities (PBCs). Gartner Research recognizes this concept as crucial, stating that leaders “must prioritize…packaged business capabilities to succeed”.

But what exactly is a PBC? And why is it so crucial to companies hoping to stay ahead of the game? Let’s take a deep dive into this term and what it could mean for your digital transformation.

Section titled What are packaged business capabilities? What are packaged business capabilities?

Packaged business capabilities are groups of microservices that have been bundled together based on their overall business applications. This may be done in-house, or it may be done from a third-party vendor.

It’s important to note that they aren’t microservices themselves: Microservices are the small units of individual programs with APIs that communicate with APIs to operate. Each has its own function and capabilities that can be individually managed as necessary. PBCs are how those units work together to serve a specific purpose for the organization.

Consider the above as an example. Let’s say you run an online store with individual programs powering your shopping cart, checkout process, and customer data collection. Each one independently is a microservice. Working together, they operate as a packaged business capability.

Section titled Why use packaged business capabilities? (3 reasons) Why use packaged business capabilities? (3 reasons)

So what’s the benefit of using PBCs? There are three key reasons to consider it.

Section titled 1. Simplification 1. Simplification

Microservices are now widely acknowledged as a crucial part of the best-of-breed approach like that found in MACH CMSs. They afford the flexibility you need while also future-proofing your business. However, while the individually selected programs allow for nearly unlimited customization, it can still be a challenge to maintain a sea of independent units.

Packaged business capabilities help you organize them into their practical overall functions. On top of that, it can also be helpful for non-technical users – rather than trying to make sense of countless microservices, they can easily picture them in terms of how they impact business operations.

Section titled 2. Flexibility 2. Flexibility

These PBCs can be as small or as large as needed: you may make a group with just 3 microservices for a minor task, or with 20 for more complicated operations. It all boils down to what makes the most sense for you and your team.

Section titled 3. Time and effort saved 3. Time and effort saved

PBCs can reduce the number of interfaces that front and backend users have to interact with. This gets rid of the need for learning curves introduced with several UIs, making it faster and more streamlined to get daily work done.

Moreover, those who opt for PBCs provided by third-party vendors might also find they also offer maintenance. This can include updates and troubleshooting. With routine tasks like these taken care of, organizations are free to focus more closely on their main objectives.

Section titled Key takeaways Key takeaways

As your company grows and operations become more complex, keeping a close eye on its supporting technology is essential, especially if you're running an enterprise CMS. Packaged business capabilities make this possible by adding a bit of structure to the crucial but potentially disorganized microservice ecosystem, all while retaining the flexibility you expect from a best-of-breed approach.