Advantages of MACH according to a superficial google search

I did a quick google search to see what others think

If you're already familiar with MACH architectures for e-commerce, feel free to ignore this one. I was really just scratching an itch and decided to read 5 random search results and try and categorize the listed advantages.

I ended up with the below 5 advantages, and for each of them, I've added a little commentary and listed some bullet-points from the articles.

• Time-to-market
• Best-of-Breed
• No need to upgrade
• Freedom, customization and innovation
• Cost- and risk-reduction

Time to Market

Time-to-market came out in a number of lists in various forms, eg

• Cut time-to-market. With MACH architecture, the path to MVP (minimum viable product) is significantly shortened. Developers are able to rapidly roll-out prototypes and businesses can prove key concepts before investing in large-scale implementations, which leads to saving time and money[1].
• Improved speed with less risk – With this agile architecture, you get a dramatically faster route to MVP (minimum viable product), and therefore to launch. For digital agencies, SIs, and even enterprise development teams, you’ll be able to rapidly roll-out prototypes that help prove key concepts before investing in large-scale implementations. Rapid prototyping can also help circumvent tedious RFP processes saving everyone time and money[2].
• Speedy Development Capabilities, with less risk MACH Architecture provides enterprises with an agile and highly-adaptable structure, allowing you to develop and launch your products at a much faster speed in comparison to traditional methods. It can help you speedily bring your minimum viable products (MVP) to market[3].

Best-of-Breed

The phrase Best-of-Breed, came up quite a few times as well. It points towards the freedom offered by MACH architectures, when it comes to choosing the best tools for a given niche task.

To be clear, It's an absolutely meaningsless, counter-productive and useless term, since there isn't really any way a specific piece of software can be "best" for everyone. So let's rephrase this to "best-of-need" (with thanks to Adam Conn at Uniform.dev).

• Best-of-breed toolset. MACH architecture allows for tailor-made IT systems from the best technology available on the market. Companies are no longer doomed to settling for less when it comes to software suites: they can add, test, and remove particular services at any given time[1:1].
• Execute a best-of-breed strategy – MACH architecture allows you to take advantage of the best technology available. You no longer need to settle for less-than-the-best add-ons that come with software suites. Because of its composable nature, MACH can also help preserve existing functionality that you’ve invested in and are happy with[2:1].
• House Best-of-Breed Technology - As mentioned earlier, monolithic and one-suite structures are slowly becoming unviable for many businesses and consumers, mostly due to the extensive pool of software that is readily available today. With MACH Architecture, you have the freedom to make use of and fit the best tools in the industry without being constricted to a one-suite structure[3:1].

No Need to upgrade

Here's a favourite of mine. I started working on e-commerce websites while in the Agency world, and over the past 15 years I can't enumerate how many agency projects have basically been based on a 3-4 year upgrade/replatform cycle of monolithic systems. With MACH architectures those upgrades are essentially spread out across a lot more, but also much simpler, microservices and niche (or single-purpose) tools. Many of the don't ever "upgrade" in ways that have meaningful impact on your system, so this one matters.

• Automatic upgrades. With MACH software architecture, all releases are automatic and don't interfere with the integrity of the system<[1:2].
• Say goodbye to upgrades Never worry about disruptive upgrades that seem like replatforming projects in themselves, ever again. With MACH architecture, all releases are automatic and non-breaking. There’s a clear, inherent boundary between our code and yours which makes this possible[2:2].
• Upgrades become a thing of the past Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has meant the end of software versioning. The cost and effort involved in upgrading technology is huge and often underestimated in total cost of ownership (TCO) conversations. The risk in upgrading, particularly in more complex environments, is high, especially for organizations that customized part of the tooling to better accommodate their needs. This doesn’t take into account the resources that worked for weeks or months on an upgrade project that aren’t actually contributing to propelling the digital experience forward for the customer. Seamless, rolling upgrades mean you always have the latest functionality at your disposal[4].
• Reduce the Need to Upgrade As new technologies emerge, companies are looking for ways to ensure that their products and services are up-to-standard with current industry trends to stay on top of their competitors. Enterprises operating under monolithic and traditional tech structures will subject themselves to constant software and suite upgrading, which can become costly and inefficient[3:2].

Freedom, customizations and innovation

Here I'm bundling a few different, but tightly related concepts. Stemming from the Best-of-breed idea, this is also a big potential advantage of MACH architectures. Due to the fact that you, as a developer/architect, have the ability to add new tools, or replace existing ones, without replatforming or upgrading the entire stack, the freedom to innovate, customize and adapt is significantly greater than with most monolithic systems. This matters, if there are areas within your e-commerce/omnichannel stack where you aren't satisfied with being on par with your competitors. Where you really want to innovate and do things differently from everyone else, in order to try and wrest a competitive advantage out of your online presence.

• Seamless customisations. With agility provided by MACH architecture, merchants can make instant changes to keep up with their customers’ needs. Prioritizing innovation means prioritizing iteration[1:3].
• Seamless customizations and innovation Now more than ever, it’s important to be able to make changes rapidly as your customers’ needs change. Prioritizing innovation means prioritizing iteration. The ability to constantly change and innovate on the customer experience is a key pillar to MACH architecture. Whether you need to add curbside pick-up capabilities over the weekend or launch a rebranded ordering experience for a high-profile, enterprise customer, MACH makes that possible[2:3].
• Streamlined innovation Due to its modularity and flexibility, the MACH architecture enables enterprises to continuously implement the best-of-breed technology that is available on the software market. For instance, organizations can quickly and smoothly enrich their technology stacks with artificial intelligence and machine learning in order to remain competitive. For instance, organizations can quickly and smoothly enrich their technology stacks with artificial intelligence and machine learning or voice commerce technology in order to remain competitive[5].
• Easily adaptable MACH technologies support a composable enterprise in which every component is pluggable, scalable, replaceable and can be continuously improved through agile development to meet evolving business requirements. If needs change, the vendor includes the necessary change or the enterprise replaces them for one that does. The architecture stays in place; the user simply replaces a small element of it, which can easily and quickly be done[4:1].
• Future-proof MACH software is easy to replace and easy to connect to, both creating freedom for the enterprise and keeping vendors on their toes to perform. The tech standard allows buyers to connect with any other MACH supplier if they want to replace that part of the set-up or utilize a self-built feature without changing the rest of the set-up. Through the technological advancements that have transpired over time, which can be outlined in detail in this blog post, we’ve transitioned to a modern approach to technologies and architectures that allow for immense flexibility, high performance and notable cost savings. This gives IT teams the freedom to build, test and implement tools and features quickly and easily. As the COVID pandemic has reinforced, companies that can respond quickly to new technological requirements are the ones that will not only make it, but thrive[4:2].
• You own the roadmap Using the MACH approach, all elements of the technology set-up are swappable for any API-connectable application that would do a better job, enterprises are no longer dictated by the roadmaps of tech giants. That tends to be a binding setup that reduces a business’ own control, bringing about setbacks that can be damaging[4:3].
• Customization and Innovation It is a known reality for many businesses that consumer demands change in a blink of an eye. What is viable and relevant today can simply become outdated and irrelevant tomorrow. This is why many businesses are looking at investing in MACH architecture due to its highly adaptable and agile structure. The ability to constantly change is one of the key pillars in MACH architecture, providing freedom to enterprises to change and adapt based on its market and consumer demands while reducing cost and development time[3:3].

Cost- and risk-reduction

• Risk mitigation Any changes and updates made to a particular component of a monolithic solution may violate the entire system's integrity, which may result in bugs and security flaws. In a MACH architecture, this is not such an acute problem because engineers only work with microservices, and even if a technical issue occurs, it will be localized within its component[5:1].
• That's why MACH-powered systems are not only less exposed to human factor and safety risks but also provide more room for experiments. Brands can implement any features and services (even prototypes) and watch how they work in practice without worrying about possible impact on the rest of their system[5:2].
• Decreased IT costs As we’ve already mentioned, the MACH architecture allows brands to quickly introduce new features and capabilities while being confident of the entire system's stability. This way, members of an IT department can work with different parts of the product on a parallel track, which dramatically increases team productivity and accelerates software delivery. Coupled with a shorter time-to-market, this advantage allows brands to substantially reduce operating costs associated with software development and IT management[5:3].
• Pay for what you actually use Prior to a subscription model, enterprise software buyers found themselves with large upfront investments for a software license, often accompanied by annual maintenance and support fees ranging anywhere from 10% to 25%, depending on the level of support chosen. The large sum of the initial purchase made software licenses part of the capital expenses, which meant long and tedious decision-making and procurement cycles. Also fueling the pivot to a subscription-based licensing model: the continued rise of cloud. SaaS has grown in popularity as companies have become increasingly comfortable with moving to a serverless model. From a TCO perspective, adopting cloud offerings means enterprises can shift the cost of setting up and maintaining the infrastructure to their software vendors. While the cost benefit of that is huge, perhaps more importantly it also means significant reduction in risk for maintaining the security side of the software. The risk for software breaking either because of badly maintained infrastructure or being under the load of peak traffic, is gone[4:4].

Footnotes

1. https://vuestorefront.io/mach-architecture ?? ?? ?? ??
2. https://www.sitecore.com/blog/headless/what-is-mach-architecture ?? ?? ?? ??
3. https://www.techmagic.co/blog/mach-architechture-definition-and-benefits/ ?? ?? ?? ??
4. https://www.eweek.com/it-management/five-benefits-of-the-new-mach-architectural-approach/ ?? ?? ?? ?? ??
5. https://www.itransition.com/blog/mach-architecture ?? ?? ?? ??