Architecture: work in progress
[DRAFT] Common components
- Last reviewed
- 7 September 2026
- Owner
- Head of Architecture
x
Common components are typically software or technical systems created once and reused many times in different services or business contexts.
Examples include applications, data, a network, security products and hosting. They are like building blocks, typically mapped to a business or technical capability, which can be used to deliver more complex services or systems.
##Key characteristics of common components Common components can be of any size but they all share the same characteristics. They are:
designed according to common standards, principles and patterns, with independent quality assurance designed and developed in a modular, scalable and resilient way to support ease of reuse and reliability mapped to a specific business or technical capability/service. This enables easy search and prevents duplication treated as an asset and therefore require support, continuous improvement, enhancement or replacement standalone but work alongside other common components, so that a change on one component doesn’t affect another Why should we use common components? The adoption of common components can bring significant benefits to the department and help people build better services, more quickly. Some of these benefits are:
speed to market – reuse can save time to build, test and deliver services. You should not have to build services from scratch every time efficiency and reduced costs – the more you can reuse, the more you can save through reduced duplication. This will enable you to focus your efforts on the innovative aspects of the service lower risk – building to common standards lowers the risk of failure
Available components
There is a distinction between components used to build a service and tools to enable the building of services.