Key themes from MACH One and some myth busting

MACH One held by?MACH Alliance?recently exceeded my expectations for multiple reasons. Two days of networking, knowledge sharing, success stories from customers, panel discussions, and award ceremonies. Some key highlights:

MACH is on everyone's mind...

It was refreshing to see MACH/Composable is not necessarily a new term for most attendees.?Two years ago, when we were starting off, MACH was a total alien term to most customers and vendors alike. There is a lot more education needed in this space but it’s a good start, nevertheless.

Big brands are embracing it

Small to medium scale tech Savvy brands have been the first ones who seem to have experimented with the idea of exploring MACH as early adopters but not anymore, we have powerful brands like Primark, Lego, Alpro, Screwfix, etc. to name a few that have started their journey and are hugely successful at it.?

MACH is not just about speed…

While it is easy to see why MACH helps you to accelerate, it was quite refreshing to hear attendees use terms like Security, Flexibility, Performance, Scalability, Omni channel, and Test & Learn in their true sense. This means there is an increasing focus on how to take this to a next level, beyond being just an idea.

IT & Business teams calling the shots. Multiple speakers highlighted the fact that with conversations around MACH, both IT and Business teams (Content, Marketing, Operations, etc.) are working as a single entity and are moving away from “feature needs” to “business/market needs” way of thinking. This is a big change compared to the status quo where the business teams often feel left behind in key decision-making.

Choosing the right partners for your MACH journey

MACH/Composable architecture might sound a bit too complicated looking at the number of components you have to bring in as part of the “best of breed” strategy, especially in green field implementation. To this end, having the right partner(s) with proven experience, connections, advisory, and delivery proficiency are critical. As founding members of MACH Alliance, we have a really strong presence in this space and some fantastic success stories. If you were at MACH One - day 2, you must have seen what we helped Primark achieve in a short span and what's to come next.

MACH implementations are not necessarily less expensive...

The price point for any MACH implementation really comes down to how much of the existing landscape needs to be transformed and where is the fastest time for value to the business. Often, this means you are looking at slightly longer implementation timelines and slightly more expensive deals. However, your ROI is going to justify this if done right. Speed to value is the key and not just the time to market.

Test & Learn

MACH enables us to be agile, it allows us to test, learn and repeat. This means, we are not looking at throwing away the current ecosystem but instead ripping and replacing or strangulating parts of it. This approach seems to be particularly attractive to global brands who want to start small and scale depending on the outcomes and lessons learned.

MACH needs a Change in Mindset

I saved the big one for the end. The benefits of MACH are outright visible in most cases but what needs to change or become conditioned is the mindset of the stakeholders. For MACH adoption to work effectively, teams need to work collaboratively and frequently adopt new ways of working in order to achieve success.

• As founding members of?MACH Alliance?and with significant partnerships with some of the best in the space, dedicated MACH practice, and experience of working with enterprise customers such as Burberry, Primark, Screwfix, Dawn foods, etc. to name a few, we here at are well equipped and committed to taking you on this journey. Here are two of our success stories:
• Creating a Digital Future with More Freedom for Burberry
• Primark Enlists EPAM Systems for New Website Launch

If any or all of this has caught your attention even remotely and would like to test the waters, I would love to talk to you further in this regard. Hit me up.

A quick shoutout to some of our MACH Partners who have been our allies in winning this game. ?Amplience,?Algolia,?BigCommerce,?commercetools,?Contentstack,?Contentful,?Fluent Commerce.

#work?#mach?#machalliance?#composable?#epam