Let's talk MACH: Simple checklist for MACH readiness

First, some context. Over the last few years there has been a shift in the way we evaluate our digital presence. Up until around 2015 you would pick a CMS, build a site, and effectively set and forget it. The digital footprint was there, and with good SEO you were easily findable for your customer base. If you wanted to do more, you would either have to integrate marketing tools or run them separately from your website. Essentially it’s giving you an entrée but nothing more.

In the mid-2010s, the industry standard shifted focus from a CMS to a Digital Experience Platform (DXP).This has a more holistic approach by supporting various marketing channels, digital assets, and allowing for iteration from one technology stack. A strong DXP can manage everything from testing, automation, marketing, and more within a full editor experience. The DXPs power comes from staying in one stack; that puts pressure on the decision of which one fits the needs of the organization as a totality. Think of this as a full fixed menu; it gives you everything packaged together as an experience.

Then we hit 2020. In the midst of the pandemic and the heavy influx of people and businesses suddenly working remotely, a tidal wave of digital needs emerged. This is where MACH steps in. The API-first approach decoupled the front-end user experience from the back-end content authoring. This allows for more caching through CDNs and quicker response times. The major differences between these systems are the separation of the content authoring from the visual use experience and a more interconnected universe of best-in-breed MarTech solutions instead of an all-in-one monolithic approach. MACH is your à la carte experience where you have more freedom of choice to create the experience that works best for you.

In short:

• A CMS is a system that allows for content to be easily managed for a website but has limited marketing integration and data connectedness.
• A DXP is a bigger system that manages your website and other marketing needs in an all-in-one structure but is limited to what is offered by the DXP provider
• MACH is a system where content is fully separated from the visual representation, allowing the website, marketing platforms, and all user experience to be driven by the top platforms through an interconnected ecosystem