How London Business School Transformed Its Digital Experience with Composable Architecture

London Business School (LBS), with campuses in London and Dubai, is known worldwide for producing top-tier business leaders through its MBA and PhD programmes. But just a few years ago, LBS faced a major obstacle: outdated, inflexible technology that slowed innovation and made even simple updates a challenge.

To address this, LBS moved away from its legacy systems and embraced a modern, composable architecture using Netlify and Contentful. The goal was clear - faster performance, simpler workflows, and the freedom for teams to create and publish content without waiting on developers.

The Challenge: Old Systems Holding Back Innovation

LBS’s previous setup relied on ageing tools like on-premises Sitecore, outdated databases, and rigid infrastructure that lacked documentation and flexibility. This led to:

• Slow and unpredictable deployment times
• Limited autonomy for non-technical teams
• Difficulty testing new ideas or scaling quickly

The Solution: Composable Architecture for Speed and Flexibility

By adopting Netlify and Contentful, along with Azure, Auth0, and a custom API gateway, LBS built a cloud-native, API-first system that removed bottlenecks and improved performance across the board.

Key benefits of the new setup:

• 50% faster deployment times
• New environments spun up in minutes for testing and feedback
• Rebuilds 10x faster, improving productivity
• Global CDN for faster load times around the world
• Zero downtime during migration
• Autonomy for marketing, content, and IT teams to publish without developer intervention

The Results: A Faster, Smarter, More Agile LBS

Today, LBS can push updates, features, and fixes live whenever needed - no waiting weeks for release windows. Marketing teams can launch new campaigns and microsites on their own, and developers can focus on high-value projects instead of routine publishing tasks.

The shift has also set the stage for bigger changes, including consolidating multiple CRM systems and rolling out new sites for prospective students, alumni, and faculty faster than ever before.

A Strong Foundation for the Future

With its flexible, composable platform in place, LBS has the tools to keep innovating — ensuring a smooth, responsive experience for every visitor, whether they’re on campus, across the globe, or considering joining the LBS community.