MACH TEN Addendum: for companies wanting to use MACH platforms

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The MACH Alliance

is a consortium of ISVs and SIs that advocate for a particular approach when building/integrating modern platforms. One gap/misunderstanding I keep bumping into is the intent behind MACH. In general, it's a technosophical approach to how PLATFORMS are build, run, deployed, marketed, not really well suited for large organizations who are simply trying to USE these platforms.

Therefor I propose a "MACH TEN" Addendum

TEN is an acronym that adds some context to adopting MACH platforms to use in your organization. These are high level recommendations I enccourage folks to take into consideration before jumping under the bandwagon. :p

Transparent

  • Pricing and contracts are computable, if special terms are negotiated, that's OK, but I shouldn't have to tell you my budget before you tell me how much you cost
  • How I integrate/use your platform is easy to find, I don't need special training, I can just RTFM and begin using your system

Enterprise-Ready

  • I can negotiate contracts/deal terms
  • I can monitor compliance with SLAs, performance, problems, with my APM/management tools...logs are accessible
  • Security is fully audited and I have ability to clearly assess risks.

Neutral

  • No "hidden apis" that only "special partners have access to"
  • No "partner lock-ins" that mandate I use a specific SI to do implementations
  • My data is "MY DATA", I can easily take it with me...the platform is competing only on value delivered, not some "viral lock in" or other fishooks/entanglements

Conclusion

This isn't a comprehensivelist, and I might amend or come up with another acronym or amendments, but is definitely a starting point for folks exploring MACH platforms as a part of their solution.

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