Why MACH is more than just about technology

Business people understand, instinctively, even if they don’t know their ‘bits and bytes,’ that technology is the backbone of modern businesses. And they are quick to suspect technology problems when systems slow down or don’t deliver what they need. Of course, the “cure” is often more complex than they can imagine and sometimes more expensive. Here’s why MACH is more than just about the technology.

Enhancing Business Outcomes with MACH

IT decision-makers are often tempted or forced to put off the inevitable improvements and upgrades, even when they can plainly see the advantages of prompt investments.

Many organisations find themselves held back, needing more will or the ability to pull themselves up to the next level of performance. They simply continue to apply Band-Aids. However, the consequences of outdated technologies continue to be felt and do cumulative damage to the business. 

There are better approaches to business than this. We all know that our customers, whether B2B or B2C, are driving hard for more and better everything, and the sooner, the better.

MACH, of course, is the opposite of a “Band-Aid” because it aligns IT around speed and results and makes it possible for business people to be able to rely on IT delivering what they need when they need it.

By implementing microservices-based, API-first, cloud-native SaaS, and headless architecture – MACH – organisations get a flexible framework that supports the build-out of customisable features tailored to the needs of your business. And it is, by definition, a scalable approach. Scalability is an inherent trait of MACH, not a qualified half-truth, as it often is with conventional systems and architectural approaches.

When you build with MACH principles and vendors that have embraced MACH, it is a true game changer.

Example:

The API-first approach raises the bar on integration across technologies, platforms, devices, and business functions.

The MACH approach builds in agility and helps ensure that you reach that sometimes out-of-reach goal of having a ‘single source of truth.’ When MACH makes integration so much easier, that single source of truth follows naturally.

A headless (composable) architecture is a way to break down complex business systems into manageable, smaller components. Or, looked at from another perspective, it is a way to build complex functionality from more manageable and more reusable elements.

It can simplify projects by avoiding the old “Mythical Man Month” problem of unwieldiness. Projects are right-sized and can then be efficiently combined to create final functionality.

MACH has a benefit that ripples through a business. It becomes easier and more affordable to create a function and modify or update it. IT can function in lockstep with the business empowering without encumbering. Think of the difference between a medieval knight, encumbered by heavy metal plates and even needing assistants to “dress” him or even mount a horse, and a modern military person wearing light, flexible composite protective materials, only a little heavier than ordinary clothes, yet providing most of the protection “Sir Lancelot” got with his 50 pounds of polished metal plates.

In the same way, MACH gives businesses an IT that is responsive, less costly, and far easier to work with. MACH puts business back in control in a way that hasn’t happened since the birth of IT.