Composable Technology: The Cure for the Complex MarTech Stack
4/30/2026 Matthew Tilley
The average marketing technology stack has become overly complex and bloated with unnecessary tools and capabilities. CMOs are increasingly burdened by managing a sprawling ecosystem of vendors, agencies, and solutions, leading to frustrating implementations and inflated ROI claims that simply don't add up.
The solution, according to Paul Mandeville, Chief Product Officer, and Kevin Ulland, Vice President of Product Management at Iridio℠ by RRD, is to adopt a composable technology approach.
In a recent episode of The Orchestration Podcast, they defined what composable really means, why it’s critical for modern marketing, and how leaders can build a flexible, efficient stack that drives real business results.
Defining composable: from technical stacks to service philosophy
The meaning of “composable” has evolved. Paul Mandeville explains that it began with a “purely technical definition” rooted in “headless” commerce solutions, meaning systems built around API-driven backend capabilities that aren’t tied to a specific front-end interface. This enabled brands to optimize the front end for any unique buyer journey.
However, the term has expanded to include any parts of a solution, including technology and services, that can be pulled together seamlessly. Mandeville emphasizes composability is “a core tenet” and “the company that claims to be composable has to be brave enough to grow and shrink when it’s appropriate, and to have that handshake via API with the solution that’s actually a better fit for the client.” Mandeville added this is often the only way to succeed, as expecting one vendor to be "best of breed" in every single MarTech or service category is unrealistic.
The struggle with all-in-one systems, according to Ulland, is “one company trying to be everything to everyone.”
The problem with the monolithic vendor
A common pain point for CMOs is managing a technology stack that includes three, five, or even 10 different technology and service providers. This challenge is compounded by the sheer number of channels the modern marketer must manage 一 print, digital, CTV, social, search 一 and the increasing impact of AI.
The pressure to buy a single, all-in-one solution 一 often backed by a multi-million-dollar, multi-year implementation 一 is a powerful sales pitch. But, as Ulland warns, these vendors often offer modules that are little more than “duct-taped” solutions or buttons that open another platform's screen.
This is why, for Mandeville and Ulland, the heart of a composable approach is an orchestration layer that manages the entire stack, rather than trying to replace every component. As Mandeville puts it, “so that you can then be the orchestration hub to this composable world.”
Three priorities for a successful composable strategy
Marketing leaders should approach any technology engagement with a clear set of internal priorities. The discussion outlined three critical areas for building a successful MarTech stack:
- Get your data house in order. Mandeville describes first-party data as the “currency of the future.” Even if data seems like a “boring” topic, a brand’s ability to collect and manage information about their consumers is foundational — and it must remain a constant focus across the entire organization.
- Establish expertise and coordination. A central hub must serve as the single source of truth, coordinating efforts and managing complexities. This includes critical functions like:
- Identity resolution: Accurately linking information like "John Smith," "Jack Smith," and "jdogg@hotmail.com" across all systems.
- Privacy compliance: Quickly and compliantly handling legal requests (like a "Do Not Sell" request) by coordinating efforts across multiple vendors. Ulland notes that utilizing tools like data clean rooms becomes essential.
- Focus on clear marketing outcomes. Marketers need to know their primary goal. Is it solving a churn issue or an acquisition problem? This focus prevents buying an over-engineered solution for a secondary channel. If social and search are your prime places to spend, don't buy the high-end email solution. Your outcomes must lead the charge in prioritizing which technology and expertise you bring in.
The power of clarity and personalization
Once these fundamentals are in place, the possibilities for a marketing team expand dramatically.
First, marketers can level the playing field among their vendors. As Mandeville points out, if you add up the ROI claims of every vendor in a bloated stack, each vendor is over-crediting their impact. At the end of the day, you can only count the real revenue your business made — not the inflated claims from every tool in your marketing stack. With a clean data backbone, you can establish your own value metrics, anchor performance to the baseline of your business, and eliminate the noise of vendor-driven reporting.
Second, you can begin to get each touch right through effective personalization. The speakers highlighted a four-quadrant matrix for personalization: the Creepy, Clumsy, Safe, Surprising matrix. Personalization that uses too much data too early is "creepy." Personalization that leverages history to give a customer a special offer two years after their last order is a "pleasant surprise." This important level of nuance is only possible when a clean data hub is actively driving content decisions.
How to evaluate your next vendor
For any marketing leader listening to a sales pitch, the advice is to be skeptical of immediate affirmation.
Ulland recommends listening for the hesitation. A salesperson who quickly says "Yes" to a difficult question without talking through the specifics of integration or scenario-planning should raise a red flag.
Ask for stories about things that didn't go well and how they were overcome. If a vendor is truly doing something at scale, Mandeville adds, "There are stories there that you can ask for that tell the difference between someone who's done it and someone who hasn't."
If you’re ready to architect a stack that is aligned with your business needs, listen to this full episode of The Orchestration Podcast here.
Matthew Tilley is the host of The Orchestration Podcast by Iridio and Vice President of Growth Marketing at RRD.