The MACH Alliance recently hosted its annual MACH conference in New York, bringing together visionaries, industry leaders, and tech enthusiasts to explore the future of composable and modern technologies. Last year, IONA attended MACH Two, where our work for Alamy was recognised as a finalist in the category of Best Overall Change Project at the MACH Impact Awards 2023.
This year, IONA joined the event as a MACH-certified member. This prestigious certification gives enterprises confidence that they are choosing best-in-class vendors that can deliver future-proof technology. In this article, Jussi Rumbin, IONA’s Director of Enterprise ecommerce, shares his personal highlights from the event.
“IONA is part of the MACH Alliance, and we are among the few SI partners in the Nordics. By taking part in this special event, IONA belongs to a special and modern technology community that really creates value for our customers”.
- Jussi Rumbin, Director of Enterprise Ecommerce at IONA
Keynote at MACH Three, New York
What we loved about MACH Three
Inspiring keynotes
Keynotes are MACH Three revealed how MACH technologies can empower businesses to innovate and remain competitive in a constantly changing market. Justin Thomas, Head of Digital Experience at Kraft Heinz, unravelled how composable tech boosted turnover and became a key part of the company's IT strategy.
“Even such a big company can make fast changes by moving from monolithic to composable technologies. There’s real business value to be had. What I loved about this keynote was how Justin clarified the business reasoning for technological solutions. At the end of the day, we should concentrate on how we create value for our customers and their business, and this is exactly what MACH is about”, says Jussi.
Interactive workshops
Attendees participated in a series of hands-on workshops that aimed at gaining practical knowledge on MACH implementations. IONA took part in ‘practice-track’ workshops, designed for consultants, architects, developers and project managers who are hands-on with MACH. The workshops covered topics like how to develop stellar microservices, design API-first strategies and optimise cloud-native architectures.
”Data was a big topic because in today’s world data is part of every digital service for customers. Companies want to know how they can benefit from the massive amount of customer/user data at hand”, says Jussi.
Panel discussions
Discussions tackled pressing issues across different industries. Topics included the impact of AI and machine learning on customer experience, the role of data in driving business growth, the future of omnichannel, as well as best practices for adopingt composable technologies.
“I loved discussions that focused on how creating a business case around composable technology. It’s something IONA specialises in; we’re always looking to create business value for our customers”, says Jussi.
Innovation showcases
The exhibition floor was a bustling hub of innovation, featuring unrivalled technologies and solutions from top vendors. We explored the latest in AI-powered recommendation engines, advanced analytics platforms, and the latest solutions from MACH Alliance members. At least for me, there were a lot of new solutions and technologies that I got to know.
“We had interesting discussions with Constructor - the product discovery platform that personalises and optimises the online shopping experience across product search, browse/category pages, product recommendations, landing pages, and quizzes. We had interesting discussions on their approach to development, and how they bring fast results to their customers”, says Jussi.
Networking
Networking lounges, meet-and-greet sessions, and evening socials created a collaborative environment where ideas flowed, and new relationships were forged.
“The social events were one of the best parts of MACH Three. At the Sunset Event, I talked to companies and partner managers about how they operate and strengthen their relationships. I also attended more informal sessions like Codal’s Cocktail Event, where I chatted to companies in Europe about the future of ecommerce, and their plans for investing in MACH”.
What is MACH?
The MACH Alliance is dedicated to promoting the MACH principles – Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless. These principles advocate for a more flexible, scalable, and efficient approach to building and managing technologies in companies in many different industries. By leveraging MACH architecture, businesses can create seamless, personalised, and robust shopping experiences for their customers.
3 questions all enterprises should consider
The MACH approach isn’t right for everyone. "If you can’t make use of its benefits now or in the future, then you just get the drawbacks of complexity", says Casper Rasmussen, President of the MACH Alliance.
That being said, if you can’t answer ‘yes’ to these three questions, the MACH approach is worth considering:
1. Can you quickly adapt to market changes? - Businesses that adopt MACH principles can more easily adapt to changing market demands and scale their operations seamlessly.
2. Are you offering customer-centric experiences? By leveraging MACH technologies, companies can create personalised, engaging, and seamless shopping experiences that cater to individual customer preferences, in both B2B and B2C industries.
3. Does your partner ecosystem support innovation? Collaboration between different players in the technology ecosystem – from tech providers to retailers, distributors and manufacturers – is key to driving innovation. A collective effort is needed to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Image source: machalliance.org/
Ready to rethink your ecommerce?
Going MACH doesn’t mean an instant overhaul of your entire technology architecture. Thanks to its incremental approach, you can start with a single platform and work your way up.
While it isn’t right for everyone, the MACH approach can be hugely beneficial for those struggling with legacy tools, tech debt and a slow speed-to-innovation. If you're curious whether it's the right solution for you, get in touch for a complimentary evaluation of your current state. We'll facilitate a workshop to help you determine the best path to MACH-enabled composable commerce.
