Articles

News about Composable

<hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-smigelski-1b0023163/">Jared Smigelski</a> isn’t a dentist, but he’s doing his part to improve smiles.That’s not easy when you’re modernizing a digital ecosystem that’s been in place for decades. It’s a bit like performing dental work that’s long overdue. Where do you start? How do you ensure a pain-free outcome?When I met Jared at “The Composable Conference” a few weeks ago, I was immediately drawn into his career arc at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/benco-dental/">Benco Dental. </a>He's spent the last 13 years supporting and incrementally improving his company’s digital properties, starting as a software engineer and moving into product and application ownership. Now, he and his team are embarking on a “composable cleaning” that aims to transform his company’s IT posture with a MACH architectural approach – a move that could improve Benco’s competitive agility while future-proofing it for the next wave of tech innovation.“We’re a hundred-year-old company, maybe more, and the site’s been around since there’s been a site,” Jared said. “So it’s heavily monolithic, heavily legacy. All the logic is all over the place, and a lot of it lives on the front end, so we’re looking to pull a lot of that apart. In theory, MACH principles are perfect for what we’re trying to do.”This initiative is exactly why Jared and two of his key practitioners were attending the annual <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-composable-conference-2025-takes-shape-as-mach-alliance-announces-speakers-and-new-events">MACH Alliance event in Chicago</a>. They had already started down the composable path by assessing a move to the cloud, embracing an API-first approach, and even procuring several tools to begin “drilling” into their strategy. “We’re in a position right now where we’re integrating a lot of these tools that are already within the Alliance,” he explained, mentioning <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bloomreach.com/en">Bloomreach</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentstack">Contentstack</a> by name.But going composable can be like pulling teeth, fraught with challenges and mired by the looming potential of failure. For Jared, the MACH Alliance community provided a bit of Novocain for his concerns, and hearing the successful use cases from other practitioners made him hopeful about their prospects. For me, this is a fantastic story and a compelling use case. First, it’s an opportunity to hear from a digital leader at the very beginning of his MACH journey, starting with an aging monolithic legacy system – and one that’s homegrown. It's brownfield with a bit of green on the edges. It’s also an example of an enterprise application within the B2B healthcare vertical, which gives it a differentiated spin from the typical retail examples we’re accustomed to in MACH. Finally, Jared’s frankness captured some of the real stakes at play when considering a composable path. In our chat, we delved into his selection of Contentstack as a CMS foundation and what influenced his decision. We also discussed how their roadmap for AI is already beginning to take shape as they consider the possibilities of a MACH-powered future.Will it be easy to realize this vision? Not likely – and he knows this is a years-long gamble for both his team and the company. Getting there could, at times, feel like a mouth full of braces. But with the right planning, mindset, and execution, a more structured and (dare I say) beautiful smile awaits. <h3 id="avoiding-digital-“tooth-decay”">Avoiding digital “tooth decay”</h3>Benco is a storied brand in the dental industry. As the largest privately owned, full-service distributor of dental supplies, equipment, consulting, and equipment services in the US, it has a rich heritage built on almost a century of success. Founded by Benjamin Cohen, the company has remained family-owned and laser-focused on its mission of "delivering success smile after smile."​ Based in Pittston, Pennsylvania, Benco is also the nation's fastest-growing dental distributor with more than 50 regional showroom locations and five distribution centers servicing more than 30,000 dental professionals in all 50 states.As you might imagine, this unabated growth is driving more dependency on Benco’s digital properties, which feature e-commerce shopping capabilities. And while legacy and longevity are key attributes for a brand, Benco’s aging website and infrastructure have been a key source of pain as it looks to scale. To avoid this digital “tooth decay” and get to the next step of digital transformation, Jared has embraced a composable strategy – and tapping the MACH Alliance and its community of expertise is one way he’s hoping to achieve success as he begins to execute.   “The principles, they’ve been around since modern development architecture has been around,” he said, referencing the tenets of MACH. “But actually having some place that pulls it all together is really helpful. We’re here to try to learn more about these principles, get some actionable content when we go back, so we can implement a CMS successfully on the first try.”<h3 id="the-mach-community:-a-retainer-for-knowledge">The MACH community: A retainer for knowledge</h3>As Jared mentioned, the goal of attending “The Composable Conference” was to seek insight and walk away ready to take action. The education piece continues to be a shining example of where the Alliance excels, and that came through in spades during the first day’s keynote sessions and focused workshops. That said, I spoke to a number of attendees who felt that the conference's content was on point, but that “actionable” component might not have been fully realized. This is one area where the Alliance can continue to improve its value to members and the market at large. This year’s session tracks did provide a clear and concise framework for attendees, allowing them to select a path that best fits their current status – from early-stage “MACH Curious” to “Active” or “Pro.” I asked Jared what sessions stood out for him and why they made an impact. “Hearing Andrew talk from Zoro on that first day, that keynote was really pertinent because we’re a similar company,” he said. “We’re a B2B selling to offices, and hearing about that transformation was truly impressive.”He was referring to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/goodfellow/">Andrew Goodfellow</a>, CTO at Zoro – an online provider of tools, parts, and supplies. As CTO, Andy took attendees through the digital retailer’s early adoption of MACH, and how it ultimately enabled Zoro to go from 2 million SKUs to 15 million and double revenue. You can read more about it <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">in my conference overview</a>. Jared also mentioned how <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.vfc.com/brands">the use case for VF</a>, the company behind brands like The North Face and Timberland, struck a chord. It was real and relatable, and gave him perspective on where things are at – and the potential for them to go off the rails. “They had a 1.0 version of a MACH approach, which is where I feel we’re at,” he reflected. “We’re kind of new to this, and you hear the candid truth about their story, right? He said it took them three years to release one site the first time, because they jumped in, rushed it, and didn’t do it right. So it’s cool to hear that other companies are having these same challenges.”<h3 id="a-new-cms-crown-with-contentstack">A new CMS crown with Contentstack</h3>Benco doesn't have an actual CMS – and never has. Instead, they have what Jared described as a homegrown “CMS-like” solution. So the prospect of moving to a mature platform is novel… and even a little nerve-racking.“I almost wish we could skip past that first phase where we picked the wrong one and we try to migrate to another,” he said, laughing. “We’re in the very first phase of this. We’ve never integrated a CMS.”Jared mentioned that he had already settled on Contentstack, a composable DXP with a headless CMS as its foundation. While the platform already presented key advantages based on their goals, some soft attributes added confidence to his decision.“We had some really good experiences with their sales team and technical folks,” he said. Relying on experienced voices has been key for Benco as early questions arose like, Where’s your data map? or Where’s your architecture diagram? They simply weren't prepared.The MACH Alliance community has been pivotal to supporting education within the composable category, and platforms like Contentstack have helped bridge the awareness gap from the very beginning. “The Composable Conference” helps to crystallize things over a two-day period, but <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-taps-dylan-valade-of-abbott-to-drive-expanding-ridemach-education-program">programs like rideMACH</a> are shepherding the cause throughout the year with courseware, certifications, and real-world insights from people who have done the work. “This has been really helpful to see and get to connect with people who’ve had those experiences," Jared remarked, "and help talk through what you do the first time.”<h3 id="removing-the-legacy-plaque-to-make-way-for-ai">Removing the legacy plaque to make way for AI</h3>Composable is already proving its value as a key conduit for AI innovation and adoption. Enterprises that have a composable posture are arguably better equipped to shift, experiment, and deploy new AI solutions, and the MACH Alliance is focusing more attention on this – specifically with the advent of its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-launches-new-mach-ai-exchange-to-help-enterprises-streamline-ai-adoption">new MACH AI Exchange.</a>  While Jared and his team are consumed with the elemental steps of their composable strategy, I asked him about AI and where it fits with his organization’s plans. From his perspective, he sees early gains within Benco’s content operations practice and how they leverage the new CMS.“The biggest use case that comes right to mind for AI, especially in something like a CMS, is getting our titles, blog posts, articles, all that stuff SEO optimized,” he said, reflecting how humans aren’t the best at knowing how to game the algorithms for search. This is one way that AI could have a solid impact on performance in the near term.But the future? With a composable architecture, Benco could certainly dive into the realm of more advanced personalization and optimization, akin to what Zoro achieved – something Jared and his team are eager to sink their teeth into.Here’s five minutes of brain floss to sharpen your smile: <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/BuUbmrwne-I"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BuUbmrwne-I" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:33.07%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/contentcon25-logo-1747412490394.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Contentstack ContentCon 25</a></h4>June 3-5, 2025 – Chicago, USAThe future of digital is waiting for you! Contentstack presents ContentCon, the premier event for digital teams and industry leaders who are reimagining the future of digital experiences. Join us for two days of transformative presentations and workshops designed to help you put personalization and AI strategies into action. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://contentcon2025.site.zuddl.com/">Register today! </a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

MACHtales: Voices from “The Composable Conference” with Jared Smigelski of Benco Dental

matt-garrepy

<hr /> In French, sur la table rolls off the tongue like a light-bodied Beaujolais, beckoning for another pour. Translated to English, it means “on the table” – the place where we break bread and cultivate conversation. As such, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.surlatable.com/">Sur La Table</a> is a fitting name for a company that focuses on food and dining. The upscale retailer specializes in selling high-quality kitchenware, cookware, cutlery, bakeware, and other home goods. They even offer cooking classes and a popular blog with all kinds of food tips.For <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mokshika-sharma-profile/">Mokshika Sharma</a>, the company’s Vice President of Product and Technology, the latest dish on the menu is composability. As she shared during our discussion at “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">The Composable Conference”</a> in Chicago, Sur La Table is already adopting a more modular posture across its stack, allowing Mokshika to expand and grow PE holding company <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cscgeneration.com/our-companies">CSC Generation’s</a> investment in the kitchenware retailer. “My job is really the full umbrella of anything that has electrons and supporting retail,” she said, laughing about the atomic reference. Her role also encompasses some big-ticket requirements like defining the e-commerce product vision, growth and revenue optimization, cost and operational enhancement, and more.The even bigger mandate: Supporting CSC Generation’s mission to help distressed brands and organizations climb out of their technical debt and achieve the next level of technical competency. CSC brings a platform of retail practices into automation and AI, supporting a portfolio that includes Backcountry, One Kings Lane, Touch of Modern, and more. Based in Austin, Texas, Mokshika is a passionate technologist with a heart for brand engineering. She's amassed a deep background in digital retail, an area where MACH principles have proven their potential. She also has the industry chops to back it up, serving as a CIO Council Member at the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://nrf.com/">National Retail Federation (NRF).</a>Retail has long been a sweet spot for the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-launches-new-mach-ai-exchange-to-help-enterprises-streamline-ai-adoption">MACH Alliance,</a> which clearly attracted Mokshika to its message. As you'll glean from our conversation, she had some key takeaways from the conference that might set the table for future success.<h3 id="a-varietal-that’s-composable-forward">A varietal that’s composable forward</h3>Aligning with the session tracks at “The Composable Conference,” Mokshika admitted to being “MACH Curious” – and as a first-time attendee, that makes sense. But a few minutes into our conversation, it was evident that she’s more capable than curious – and the journey to the MACH Alliance community was a codifying moment.“It really helped me understand how the Alliance is supporting the initiatives we’re already doing in our organization,” she said. This maps to some of the existing best practices Sur La Table is already engaging in around headless and other resources. The conference, in her mind, was more relevant because it reinforced that momentum while providing access to a community that could help drive the next steps. <h3 id="legacy-recipes?-c’est-la-vie">Legacy recipes? C’est la vie</h3>“I think the dream of every technologist is, of course, to be composable 100%,” Mokshika said lightly, although she admitted this dream won’t likely be fully realized. But that’s not the point. In her view, it’s about creating and investing in reusable components – building blocks, so to speak – that can be leveraged well into the future.Of course, one of the roadblocks to composability is the reality of legacy systems. According to Mokshika, there are many legacy processes and tools in her line of work, and much of it is heavily siloed. Breaking it apart takes a lot of careful thought and consideration.“Sometimes it’s a composable answer,” she said. “And sometimes, you don’t need to build the rocket ship, and you can think about what the early starting point is to get to composable.”Mokshika also pointed out the realities of what she called “operational hazards.” These occur when you create a system that is inherently more complex, ultimately driving the need for more people and oversight. To that end, digital leaders and practitioners need to plan carefully as they dive into composable waters. “Now you have to support all these pieces,” she explained. “It’s a very thoughtful exercise you have to do in retail.”<h3 id="setting-the-table-for-success">Setting the table for success</h3>There were a number of ah-ha moments for Mokshika, but she really zeroed in on some key activators around the community collaboration, and where the MACH Alliance has focused its human expertise to support a successful knowledge transfer. “I think the big takeaway is how much people are actually pushing the boundaries of what companies are building for legacy brands to consider and take care of other people’s roadmaps,” Mokshika said. “They’re here, talking to you, asking for advice – and at the same table.”Being at a more focused event also resulted in more substantive conversations. “I’ve obviously been to a lot of retail conferences that are very large, and you don’t have this chance to do a one-on-one conversation as much as I was able to do here,” she commented, “and more so, I didn’t get to do it through a technical lens.”That last point was codified in sessions that featured slideshows with architectures, where Mokshika noted that people were taking pictures of the diagrams and schematics. “I guess the magic here is that they’re actually talking about how to think about your whole ecosystem, and not just the one thing that I’m trying to sell.”While still new to the community, Mokshika’s composable maturity might already be well ahead of the curve. But the point of the conference is to move people and brands to the next step – and that seemed to be the outcome in her case. “I wish I had come here earlier when first joining retail,” she says. “It would have been a great start of my journey.”Take five minutes and join Mokshika at the MACH table. C'est si bon. <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/d4IL8-XkSag"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d4IL8-XkSag" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

MACHtales: Voices from “The Composable Conference” with Mokshika Sharma of Sur La Table

<hr /> If there's one thing the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-launches-new-mach-ai-exchange-to-help-enterprises-streamline-ai-adoption">MACH Alliance's</a> annual conference can boast, it's a plethora of tales. Composable is a wiry web of complexity, and this community gathering is an opportunity to share stories about the good, the bad, and yes… even the not-so-attractive challenges of taking the MACH road. I talked to a lot of amazing people at “The Composable Conference” in Chicago last week, and you can catch more of the granular tidbits and tasty toppings <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">in my “deep dish” of the conference. </a>One of the smartest things the event coordinators designed for this year's content was the use of tracks, where sessions were mapped to an attendee's MACH maturity. This provided clarity for early-stage “MACH Curious” to full-fledged professional practitioners – and the feedback around this format was largely positive.I wanted to get a diverse range of perspectives, and some of that was reflected in my overview. But I was also able to sit down with a few attendees to capture some video, and our team has assembled these into "MACHtales" – stories from the voices across the MACH community.In this segment, we riff with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/andrew">Andrew Kumar,</a> the Global VP of Agencies, ISVs, Ecosystem, and Customer Solutions at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/uniform">Uniform</a> – a composable DXP. Full transparency: Andrew is also an occasional CMS Critic contributor with a deep heritage in CMS. As Uniform has evolved its position in the thick fabric of the digital ecosystem, the company has found success as a vital translation layer for experiences, notching a Visionary spot on the recent <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.uniform.dev/resources/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms">Gartner Magic Quadrant for DXPs.</a>In five minutes, Andrew gives us the hot take on Uniform's evolution as an interoperability bridge and how <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/its-an-ai-agent-world-is-agent-experience-the-secret-weapon-for-controlling-the-chaos">agentic AI</a> is changing the game from an experience perspective. He touches on the need for incremental steps, and how aligning tech, build, and ops – and how AI weaves across each of these stories – is key. This is where humans need to be in the loop. Along the way, he gets into Uniform's strategy of adding their own CMS, and how it acts as an acceleration springboard while avoiding any vendor lock-in, opening up the headless frontier based on a customer's needs. He also shares what stood out at "The Composable Conference" and how the community's value will benefit ISV members like Uniform in 2025 and beyond.I love how he touches on the emergence of new roles in the ecosystem, from web producers to visual architects. It codifies how change is constant – and why standards are critical for creating architectural guardrails. Roll the footage:<figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/C3pSrxD87Fw"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C3pSrxD87Fw" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

MACHtales: Voices from 'The Composable Conference' with Andrew Kumar of Uniform

The ‘Deep Dish’ on Composable: 6 Tasty Takeaways from the MACH Alliance’s 2025 Conference

<hr /> I first heard the term “MCP” as a tech-obsessed, Commodore-64-toting 8-year-old. It landed during the epic video game movie Tron, where it was used as an off-hand contraction for the nefarious “Master Control Program."As the story's digital antagonist, the MCP exhibited the worst traits of artificial intelligence, projecting an unscrupulous, destructive, self-serving agenda. Kind of like that terrible neighbor who’s always on a power trip at your HOA meeting – but with lasers. Life is sometimes stranger than fiction, and this acronym has now materialized on the grid as a real-life TLA with an AI inference. Hopefully, the similarities to that other MCP end here, but I’m keeping my light cycle on standby.This newer permutation of MCP – <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction">Model Context Protocol</a> – is an open standard for governing how applications provide context to LLMs. Much like USB-C provides a standardized way to connect devices to different accessories, MCP does the same to connect AI models to different data sources and tools.Why is this important? Because MCP has become a critical piece of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/its-an-ai-agent-world-is-agent-experience-the-secret-weapon-for-controlling-the-chaos">the agentic pie</a>, enabling you to build agents and workflows on top of LLMs – which often need to integrate with various data sources and tools. MCP can provide access to pre-built integrations that ease the connection process, including lightweight programs and hosts like IDEs. All of this, as Tron might say, is about interoperability. And while the digital frontier is very much focused on the evolution of agents, we’re still wrestling with integration complexities in the here and now. This is where data models can be key assets, helping brands, system integrators, and vendors to present products, orders, inventory, and other commerce-related data. But building a data model from scratch is tough. And by definition, each from-scratch data model is unique. That’s why the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-composable-conference-2025-takes-shape-as-mach-alliance-announces-speakers-and-new-events">MACH Alliance</a> has introduced a new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/open-data-model-initiative">Open Data Model Initiative</a>, which aims to solve the lingering interoperability issues plaguing enterprises, SIs, and ISVs. The industry group – which is focused on future-proofing enterprise technology through open, connected, and composable digital experiences – just announced the launch of the program. It coincides with its annual live event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/events/composable-conference-25">“The Composable Conference,”</a> which is being held in Chicago this week.  Led by the Alliance’s Interoperability Task Force, the Initiative will provide a set of reusable data model recipes and reference structures. These components will be extensible across critical technology domains, such as commerce, product information management (PIM), and orchestration. These patterns aren’t a set of draconian standards. In fact, they’re designed to be lightweight, adaptable, and built for real-world applications. This addresses the strategic concerns of businesses as they seek out more composable, interoperable solutions to help them navigate a rapidly changing digital landscape."Interoperability has been a primary focus for the MACH Alliance," said <a href="Adam%20Peter%20Nielsen">Adam Peter Nielsen</a>, CTO of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.novicell.com/">Novicell</a> and MACH Alliance Interoperability Lead. “With a shared data model recipe, we can make tangible progress toward seamless integration and strategic agility across diverse technologies.”<h3 id="broadening-the-composable-roadmap-">Broadening the composable roadmap </h3>According to the Alliance, its Open Data Model will be made publicly available under an open-source license on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://github.com/">GitHub</a>, helping to ensure transparency, accessibility, and broad community engagement. But that’s only the first step. The plan is to maintain innovation and maturity through the MACH Alliance Interoperability Working Group, which will actively enhance and expand the model. The goal is to deliver a solution that’s ready for full member consumption by the end of Q2 2025.To accelerate go-to-market readiness, the MACH Alliance is working with several MACH Certified Vendors that have provided sample material. The list includes <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/conscia">Conscia</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://alokai.com/">Alokai</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/commercetools">commercetools</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bluestonepim.com/">Bluestone PIM</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/occtoo">Occtoo</a>, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://pipe17.com/">Pipe17</a> – which offered its open, comprehensive, canonical data model as a starting point. “We built our data model over five years,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellygoetsch/">Kelly Goetsch</a>, COO of Pipe 17 and former MACH Alliance president and chair. “It sits at the heart of our solution, has been rigorously tested in real-world use, continuously refined, and has always been open source from day one. We’re thrilled to contribute it to the MACH Alliance, further empowering the commerce ecosystem to innovate and scale faster.”Also leading the initiative are a set of MACH Certified System Integrators, including <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.applydigital.com/">Apply Digital</a>, Novicell, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.valtech.com/en-us/">Valtech</a> – buoyed by the hyperscaling support of MACH Certified Enabler <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/aws">AWS</a>.<h3 id="giving-merchants,-sis,-and-vendors-a-mach-multiplier">Giving merchants, SIs, and vendors a MACH multiplier</h3>The new Open Data Model is poised to provide significant benefits across the MACH ecosystem. From vendor-neutral patterns for seamless interoperability to reference structures for vertical markets like manufacturing, the initiative will provide a “springboard” for new projects or legacy – all with a dedicated focus on transparency.  First, merchants will have the ability to adopt this data model as their own – and effortlessly connect their existing homegrown systems with MACH-compliant solutions.Additionally, systems Integrators and agencies will be able to build repeatable solutions, enhance their overall efficiency, and speed up MACH implementations. This will accelerate their time to deliver value to merchants.As for MACH Alliance vendors, the initiative will provide immediate access to a robust foundational data model, dramatically reducing initial development effort and enhancing a more seamless data flow between partner solutions.<h3 id="what-about-ai-(and-that-mcp-stuff)?">What about AI (and that MCP stuff)?</h3>Of course, there’s the future runway to agentic AI that I mentioned, which is wholly dependent on data. As the Alliance posits, without a shared data model, enterprises will continue to face fragmented, siloed data environments that limit AI’s ability to make accurate decisions and deliver tangible business value.By establishing an open, vendor-neutral data model, the MACH Alliance is laying the groundwork for the use of agentic AI and supporting <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.anthropic.com/news/model-context-protocol">Anthropic’s MCP-powered agents. </a>This is helping to connect AI assistants to the systems where data lives, including content repositories, business tools, and development environments. Its goal is to help frontier models produce better, more relevant responses. "Enterprises demand solutions that work together,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobhowland/">Bob Howland</a>, Chairperson of the MACH Alliance. “By standardizing an Open Data Model, we dramatically simplify integrations. Vendors adopting the Open Data Model will find faster implementation cycles and significantly reduced complexity – enabling true interoperability that powers digital innovation."<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>Spoiler alert: At the end of Tron, the computer system is once again free, giving the personified programs the ability to move about and, presumably, connect with other programs to build cool things. There’s something beautiful about this idea of seamlessly interoperating. There’s no question that security and governance are top of mind in such paradigms, and we’re a long way from easy. Still, interoperability can be made easier – better, even – with the introduction of more predictable standards. From the beginning, the concept of “openness” has been core to the MACH Alliance, making it a solid foundation for providing a common, open source data model that’s been proven. Based on the Alliance’s plans, it sounds like this model will continue to benefit from ongoing innovation and be well-supported in the future.The flexibility and extensibility of this model are also key factors. By enabling off-the-shelf access to its merchant, SI, and ISV ecosystems, the Alliance is helping to ensure that the model is instantly adoptable and supported by its members. There’s also an open invitation for experts and practitioners to help shape the model for future use cases.The market is always yearning for standards, and with the rapid acceleration of AI – specifically with MCP-powered model agents – having more predictable and reliable pathways to integrate should reduce the friction for building the next wave of agentic applications. Even the most advanced models are limited by their isolation from data, walled in behind silos and legacy systems. This is why this investment in an open data model is an ambitious and positive step forward.Will this solve every integration problem on the light cycle grid? Not likely. But it's a start. It might also unlock more potential for additional industry applications, something the organization has struggled with as it endeavors to expand and export its relevance to other industries. To that end, the MACH Alliance is also undergoing its own evolution (including its messaging). The Open Data Model might be the first page of its next chapter as it seeks to enrich its foundational mission and further support the market. With composable continuing to make gains, many are asking what's ahead, and this initiative is a glimpse of its vision for an open, AI-enabled ecosystem. You can learn more about the Open Data Model initiative and even contribute to the project at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/open-data-model-initiative">https://machalliance.org/open-data-model-initiative</a> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:24.53%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/03/image-1742910054704.png" /><h4 id="the-composable-conference-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/events/composable-conference-25">The Composable Conference 2025</a></h4>April 22-24 – Chicago, USAExperience the future of composable and MACH principles in “The Windy City” and dive even deeper into the innovative world of MACH architecture and its benefits for your business. Building on the momentum of MACH THREE, this conference will provide your teams with the expert, impartial guidance needed to craft a winning transformation strategy and leverage the latest advancements in automation and Al to maximize efficiency and drive your organization forward. This event is ideal for executives, business leaders, technologists, and everyone in between who is looking to harness the power of composable. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/events/composable-conference-25">Secure your spot today.</a> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

A New Game for Interoperability? Here’s Why the MACH Alliance’s Open Data Model is a Winner

<hr /> There’s a composable breeze that's building in “The Windy City,” and it might just knock you over.The <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.machalliance.org/">MACH Alliance</a> is landing its much-anticipated annual event (redubbed “The Composable Conference”) in Chicago this year, and it’s shaping up to be a powerhouse of brands, industry thought leaders, and stellar sessions.This year’s gathering will take place from April 22 – 24 at the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://convene.com/locations/chicago/233-south-wacker-drive/">Convene meeting space in the iconic Willis Tower</a> – a premium building in Chicago’s Loop neighborhood designed at the intersection of natural and urban environments. It’s a perfect backdrop for the transformational themes being explored at this one-of-a-kind conference.The three-day agenda is plush with keynotes and collaborative sessions, featuring industry leaders and technology practitioners. The conference is made possible by the MACH Alliance’s headline partners including <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/accenture-song-brings-its-composable-commerce-music-to-the-mach-alliance-heres-why-it-matters">Accenture Song</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/builderio-nets-20m-from-microsofts-venture-fund-what-it-means-for-the-future-of-headless-cms">Builder.io</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/commercetools">commercetools</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentstack">Contentstack</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.publicissapient.com/">Publicis Sapient</a>, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/vercel-introduces-sdk-for-building-ai-apps-with-react-and-svelte">Vercel</a>.While this fourth installment ushers in a new chapter for the evolving MACH ecosystem – at a time when technology investments face major economic headwinds – the mission of the event remains clear: help attendees formulate their composable game plan. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-two-conference-wrap-six-takeaways-from-the-composable-event-of-the-year">As a previous attendee</a>, I can say firsthand that the quality of these events is top-notch. The speakers are compelling and the event format provides fertile ground for learning and networking. For me, it’s a chance to hear from real companies that have succeeded – and struggled – to make the leap to MACH, and the wisdom they’ve accrued when embracing not only the architectural tenets, but the cultural and philosophical mindset of MACH.“The Composable Conference is the one annual opportunity for business and technology leaders to come together and share the trials and tribulations that enable digital transformations,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobhowland/">Bob Howland</a>, event co-host and chairperson of the MACH Alliance. “The connections and community fostered enable attendees to overlay the unique principles of MACH onto their own composable strategy, building an executable playbook alongside peers and pioneers.”Before we break down the speakers and event details, it’s worth noting that this is an exclusive event with limited space – so secure your space today. The MACH Alliance is also offering a $500 travel rebate to eligible delegates. Registration is<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/events/composable-conference-25?utm_campaign=5851685-The%20Composable%20Conference&amp;utm_source=PressRelease"> now open</a>.<h3 id="dynamic-brands-take-center-stage">Dynamic brands take center stage</h3>The previous three MACH events have been heavy hitters in the content department, featuring presenters from marquee global enterprises like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/ikea-mars-ulta-beauty-and-influential-brands-to-be-featured-at-mach-three-conference">IKEA, MARS, Ulta Beauty</a>, and other highly influential brands.This year’s crop is no exception and ups the ante with a more diverse crop of industry players. This includes representatives from Parkland, Zoro, VF Corporation, Wynn Resorts, Prada Group, Wegmans, DXL, Bissell, Firehouse Subs, Diageo, and Altitude Sports. Additional speakers and brands will be announced in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.While speakers and presentations are conduits for knowledge, the Alliance is taking a more hands-on approach to the experience by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/newsroom/mach-alliance-elevates-annual-conference-to-help-companies-craft-their-composable-game-plan">actively involving attendees</a> at each stage of the composable journey. To deliver this more immersive vision, the conference will offer a three-track format that features workshops and insightful sessions with experts who have successfully implemented MACH. Based on the Alliance’s persistent <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-publishes-first-annual-report-showcases-industry-impact-and-plans-for-2024">research and market analysis</a>, it’s clear that a MACH approach can help ensure agility, scalability, and vendor independence in an increasingly AI-driven world. Armed with a solid foundation of insights from dynamic leaders across multiple industries, attendees will be better equipped for the composable journey ahead. <h3 id="remachable-events-on-tap">ReMACHable events on tap</h3>The MACH Alliance is rolling out an enhanced event format for The Composable Conference 2025, with the core of the program dedicated to interactive workshops and roundtable sessions. As mentioned, these experiences will be led by top global brands – sharing firsthand composable insights and expertise while giving delegates the opportunity for direct learning and impactful discussions.This year, there’s an emphasis on incorporating the organization’s popular <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/ridemach">rideMACH</a> program, a robust eLearning platform that combines its educational vision and intentions with courseware and credentialing. rideMACH has exploded its enrollment in the last year, a clear sign that the market is eager to learn – and hungry for resources.At the conference, attendees can participate in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-taps-dylan-valade-of-abbott-to-drive-expanding-ridemach-education-program">“rideMACH Live,”</a> which will bring the Alliance’s online learning platform into a live classroom setting and offer several sessions for delegates to enhance their MACH mindset and technology skills.rideMACH courses are designed to empower all types of learners with the knowledge and skills needed to help organizations embrace open and transformative technologies. As part of the rideMACH program, you can join 1,000 professionals from 200 brands and 52 member companies who are accelerating their composable journeys through rideMACH’s professional development. You can learn more about the rideMACH program on the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/ridemach">MACH Alliance website</a>.<h3 id="celebrate-the-winners-of-the-mach-impact-awards">Celebrate the winners of the MACH Impact Awards</h3>As a three-time judge of the annual <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/clarks-kraft-heinz-take-top-honors-in-mach-impact-awards-at-mach-three">MACH Impact Awards</a>, I’ve read through a mountain of applications over the years – and I’m still getting blown away. Having watched the gradual evolution of pioneering architectural approaches into more standard practices, I can see how MACH has been adopted, understood, and successfully executed.That’s all good. But it’s also making these awards harder to judge – and this year’s entrants really brought the rain. I can’t wait to share the winners during the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/mach-impact-awards">2025 MACH Impact Awards Ceremony</a>, which will honor the most impactful global technology projects from these amazing applicants. In terms of updates, this year will feature a “Best Platform Transformation” category that recognizes the challenging path and incremental progress toward composability. <h3 id="advancing-the-mach-mission">Advancing the MACH mission</h3>Along with its advocation for best-of-breed open technology ecosystems, the MACH Alliance has long been a champion of the humans behind the composable movement. Along with its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-empowers-gender-equality-with-new-women-in-mach-deib-scoring-tool">“Women in MACH” program</a>, the Alliance continues to telegraph the importance of diversity, gender equality, social responsibility, and sustainability both within and beyond its community.At this year’s conference, there’s a new “People in MACH: Unlocking Composable Business Value Through Culture &amp; Inclusion” that will allow delegates to explore the tangible impact of DEI, allyship, and ethical technology on growth, profitability, and competitive advantage in composable enterprises.There will also be a close integration with the MACH Alliance’s new Community Platform, which was created for both end-user individuals and MACH-certified members to network, share content, and discuss ideas both at the event and long after the conference concludes.“The Composable Conference is where bold ideas meet practical execution,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-sommelier-of-machtails-sommsations-danielle-diliberti-uncorks-composability">Danielle Diliberti</a>, event co-host and CEO of Sommsation. “As businesses build for the future and reimagine customer experiences, this event creates space for honest conversations about the challenges, breakthroughs, and strategies shaping the future of composable approaches and MACH.”To learn more about The Composable Conference and register to attend, <a href="www.machalliance.org/events/composable-conference-25">click here.</a> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3>  <img style="width:24.53%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/03/image-1742910054704.png" /><h4 id="the-composable-conference-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/events/composable-conference-25">The Composable Conference 2025</a></h4>April 22-24 – Chicago, USAExperience the future of composable and MACH principles in “The Windy City” and dive even deeper into the innovative world of MACH architecture and its benefits for your business. Building on the momentum of MACH THREE, this conference will provide your teams with the expert, impartial guidance needed to craft a winning transformation strategy and leverage the latest advancements in automation and Al to maximize efficiency and drive your organization forward. This event is ideal for executives, business leaders, technologists, and everyone in between who is looking to harness the power of composable. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/events/composable-conference-25">Secure your spot today.</a> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

‘The Composable Conference 2025' Takes Shape as MACH Alliance Announces Speakers and New Events

<hr /> If there’s a lyrical hook to describe <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en/about/accenture-song-index">Accenture Song</a>, it might be Tom Petty’s chorus on “Runnin’ Down a Dream” from the seminal Full Moon Fever album.The narrative unfolds on Petty (presumably), who is driving some metaphorical highway,“workin’ on a mystery” and “goin’ wherever it leads.” Hopefully to the aforementioned dream. <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1D3a5eDJIs"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y1D3a5eDJIs" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> When Accenture rebranded its interactive practice – in essence, rewriting it in a song – it was the post-pandemic halcyon days of 2022. The company was chasing new ways to reinvent customer connections and drive commerce at a time when, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.consultancy.uk/news/26372/covid-19-has-accelerated-digital-transformation-by-seven-years">according to some analysts</a>, we had experienced seven years of digital transformation in the space of a few months.Given that hyperbolic pace, digital agencies were in a head spin, struggling to help organizations make the leap to a digital-first, multi-channel world. In the transom, Accenture saw the importance of people in the value equation. As such, it chose the “Song” moniker as an expression of the “enduring and universal form of human craft, connection, inspiration, technical prowess, and experience,” enabling imagination and ideas to deliver real results.What does that look like from a services perspective? For starters, it’s a new paradigm for agencies that bucks the status quo – a blend of creativity, innovation, and technology that helps brands push boundaries and build relevance. And while this new fusion still provides the full gamut of capabilities you would expect from a creative shop, they do it with a tech-focused transformational edge. That means immersive content experiences like AR/VR, edge applications with artificial intelligence, and more.Case in point: Song recently partnered with Fortune to modernize its ubiquitous <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en/case-studies/data-ai/fortune-turning-data-into-insights">Fortune 500 list into an AI-driven platform</a>, giving business leaders access to insights gleaned from years of data – we’re talking all the way back to 1938. This kind of ground-breaking innovation led the company to an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.adnews.com.au/news/accenture-song-records-high-single-digit-growth">estimated revenue</a> of $19 billion last year, roughly one-third of parent company Accenture’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.adweek.com/agencies/accenture-song-ai/#:~:text=Gen%20AI%20accounted%20for%20$3,Accenture%20revenues%20of%20$64.1%20billion.">nearly $70 billion in revenue</a>.But here’s the “mystery” part of the chorus: Change. It’s undeniable, and it’s driving faster than Tom Petty’s fingers on a fretboard. Based on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/2022/accenture-announces-accenture-interactives-evolution">Accenture’s own research</a>, nearly 90% of C-suite executives stated that the current needs of customers and employees are changing faster than leaders can adapt their businesses. That means new kinds of growth models are required to keep runnin’ down the dream – if we ever hope to realize it. Nowhere is that truer than in the realm of digital commerce, where Accenture Song has been writing a new tune and composing it with composable. To put it on wax, Accenture Song has been investing in a multitude of areas to juice its data and intelligence capabilities. In 2022, they bought an outfit called <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ffiftyfive5.com%2F&amp;esheet=52991191&amp;newsitemid=20221130005997&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Fiftyfive5&amp;index=1&amp;md5=a2e1463fbb80e76cc846424317f6de9a">Fiftyfive5</a>, a customer insights and advisory business that helps clients tap data insights and performance marketing to accelerate growth and innovation. Then, in March of last year, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/2024/accenture-completes-acquisition-of-mindcurv">they acquired Mindcurv</a>, a cloud-native digital experience and data analytics company specializing in composable software, digital engineering, and commerce services. The purchase enhanced Accenture Song’s position as a leader in composable commerce, cementing the company’s composable practice in North America, Europe, and other regions.Now, the company is taking another bold step behind composability by joining the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/">MACH Alliance,</a> the industry group advocating for open, best-of-breed technology ecosystems. Announced last week, Accenture Song will become the latest member of the Alliance’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/members/categories/mach-certified-gsi-s">certified GSI (Global Systems Integrator)</a> cohort – an exclusive group of MACH SIs that share a sizable global influence. The Alliance bench also includes <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/members/deloitte-digital">Deloitte Digital</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/members/epam">EPAM</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/members/publicis-sapient">Publicis Sapient</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/members/valtech">Valtech</a>, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/members/vml">VML</a>.​​​According to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/amjad-liaquat/">Amjad Liaquat</a> – global lead, commerce platform design at Accenture Song – MACH aligns with his organization’s vision on a number of levels. “At Accenture Song, composability and the MACH paradigm are fundamental enablers of customer-centric transformation,” he said. “By embracing modular architectures, API-first design, cloud-native solutions, and headless experiences, we empower brands to move with agility, innovate at scale, and craft truly differentiated experiences.”Change is still a mystery, but having the right people and technology can help brands become more agile and resourceful – so they can face the unknown and thrive. As Liaquat shared, it’s the combination of creativity with the flexibility of MACH that enables businesses to seamlessly adapt to evolving customer expectations, unlocking new value at the crossroads between tech and design. “With our unique ability to bring together advisory, creativity, and technology at scale, we help global clients navigate this new AI-powered world,” he continued, “where adaptability, intelligence, and human-centric experiences are the key to sustained growth and differentiation.”<h3 id="runnin’-down-the-composable-dream">Runnin’ down the composable dream</h3>Like all its peers in the GSI and broader MACH Alliance membership, Accenture Song will be working to align with industry standards, collaborate with ecosystem leaders, and drive client-focused innovation. As a highly visible and globally respected brand, Accenture Song will serve as an authoritative voice in composable commerce initiatives and share expertise with other members. Additionally, it has committed to growing and deepening the market’s awareness of the MACH approach to composable commerce – and how MACH can help businesses to innovate. Accenture Song’s involvement could also have a significant “lift” effect, encouraging MACH adoption in a professional services category that is seeing a steady increase of adoption. This is reinforced by data gathered in the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/global-annual-research">2025 MACH Alliance Global Annual Research</a> – a report that surveyed IT leaders across sectors. It found that over half of all companies with a “mostly” MACH/composable infrastructure in place have become more competitive and adapt more quickly to that mystery of change. As previously mentioned, Accenture Song has joined the Alliance as a certified GSI member, alongside a “who’s who” of world-class digital agencies and consultancies. Like all other members, it achieved its GSI status by meeting a rigorous set of criteria, which includes having more than 1,000 certified engineers, developing five MACH vendor partnerships, and working with five clients earning more than $1 billion in revenue.As MACH Alliance president <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen">Casper Rasmussen</a> observed, Accenture Song has shown an ability to partner with leading enterprises to deliver on the expectations of MACH – representing a high bar of achievement that only large, multi-national agencies and system integrators can achieve. “Accenture Song joining the Alliance will be of value to the MACH community and the wider member ecosystem,” Casper said. “We really believe that both current and future end-users will find great inspiration from the work of Accenture Song, and in particular, this experience will help them turn their strategies into high impact gameplans.”<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>“Runnin' Down a Dream” is wicked, but Tom Petty conjured a slew of memorable hits. This one, too, might live on forever: “Free Fallin’.” You can interpret the lyrics at your own discretion, but I've always felt it was a love song about Los Angeles wrapped in a cautionary tale about losing control.Whether it’s the rapid advancement of AI or economic uncertainty, change is the big mystery we’re all facing. How we prepare and adapt equips us to avoid a potential free fall – and we need vision, leadership, and a reliable set of guardrails to keep us from careening off the cliff.As more enterprises embrace composable architectures and strategies, having reputable, large-scale SIs join the chorus of support brings greater validation to the MACH movement. On the MACH journey, many organizations rely on the proven expertise of trusted SI partners, and having global brands like Accenture in the lineup provides greater choice from a widening range of credible system integrators.With a large staff and reliable infrastructure to support its technology and services, Accenture Song could also provide an enhanced template for accountability when building composable stacks. Like its GSI peers, it has amassed significant and compelling experience with multi-national brands and developed its own standards for success. This could mitigate more of the risk enterprises face when deploying composable architectures – which sometimes lack the proper mechanisms for supporting performance and sustainability. Amplifying thought leadership with a highly visible brand like Accenture also benefits the MACH community. As a member of the Alliance, Accenture Song has a clear charter to “champion the cause” through knowledge transfer and education. With a globally recognized brand and demonstrable market leadership, Accenture Song can leverage its own internal expertise and platform to further expand the MACH messaging. Accenture (the parent company) has a longstanding culture of change. But that change is coming from every direction – and faster than ever. As Accenture Song’s CEO <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91262213/accenture-ceo-julie-sweet-and-david-droga-on-their-partnership">David Droga</a> observed in 2022, brands need to be moving at the “speed of life” to remain competitive. MACH itself might seem a bit of a mystery to some. There have certainly been examples of project failures and cost overruns that have led to a “MACHlash” in certain quarters (or what we might call a “free fall”). But Accenture Song could bring more of what the Alliance needs from both a validation and education perspective – and ultimately give businesses what they need to start runnin’ down their dreams. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

Accenture Song brings its composable commerce ‘music’ to the MACH Alliance. Here’s why it matters

Hungry for Composable? New Research Shows a Growing Appetite for MACH Technologies

The Sommelier of MACHtails: Sommsation’s Danielle Diliberti Uncorks Composability 

Revisiting 2024 Predictions on the Future of CMS

andrew

<hr /> Education beats at the heart of the <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/new-logo-new-leaders-mach-alliance-announces-key-appointments-and-brand-refresh">MACH Alliance</a>. And rightly so. Even as the market embraces more composable technology solutions, there's still a lack of general awareness of what MACH truly represents – both from an architectural standpoint and from business and philosophical perspectives. This might sound a bit obtuse or even highfalutin, but there has always been a missing link when drawing distinctions between MACH and the rest of the composable landscape. It's more than just the Microservices, API-first, Cloud SaaS, and Headless posturing that maketh one “MACH Certified.” And much of that can get lost in translation. That's why the organization's charter has leaned heavily on education as a core tenet, and that commitment has been steadily evolving over the last few years. Now, the Alliance offers a more robust eLearning program called <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/ridemach">rideMACH</a>, a culmination of its educational vision and intentions (cool name, too).rideMACH has nearly tripled its enrollment in the last six months, a clear sign that the market is eager to learn – and hungry for resources. Now, the not-for-profit industry body has announced that it is further expanding the rideMACH program with additional courses and credentialing. To drive this investment, the MACH Alliance has appointed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-valade/">Dylan Valade</a>, senior director of digital marketing at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/abbott-/">Abbott</a>, as the new Head of the MACH Alliance Education Council. Valade will help shape the overall program and oversee the curriculum.“As the Alliance matures, the Education Council aims to be an essential source of knowledge, upskilling how organizations adopt composable technology and the MACH approach,” Valade said. “The council’s success will lead to the expansion of rideMACH as a foundational educational tool for the community.”<h3 id="riding-the-education-wave-to-mach">Riding the education wave to MACH</h3>According to <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/insights-hub/mach-global-research-2024">MACH Alliance research</a>, 91% of IT decision-makers expect composable technology to be instrumental to their success in the next five years. This underscores the rising interest in MACH, but also reinforces the need to broaden the knowledge base of MACH architectures – and more importantly, close the skills gap. To help individuals and organizations embrace the open, transformative nature of composable technologies, the Alliance launched its <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/ridemach">rideMACH</a> program in April of this year, which has grown explosively.“Since its inception, rideMACH has been an invaluable program to hundreds of individuals. These champions have joined the program to help their organizations gain insights from real-world scenarios,” said Casper Rasmussen, president of MACH Alliance. “Brands and companies love the program too – clearly evidenced by our satisfaction scores, frequent learner engagement and the obvious pride in sharing on social media when they achieve a digital credential. It’s a testament to the validity of the program.”rideMACH offers two foundational courses: “Modern Tech With MACH” and “MACH Mindset.” Each track sends participants down a learning path that combines audio, video, and interactivity. Users are presented with a range of activities and case studies that bring MACH principles and concepts to life in tangible ways. Each learning path culminates in the earning of a digital badge.<h3 id="a-new-expansion-course-on-tco">A new expansion course on TCO</h3>Today, the Alliance is also launching an expansion course on <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/ridemach">Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)</a>, which will explore best practices around interoperability and highlight the cost efficiency and scalability of the MACH approach. Unlike a monolithic system, MACH solutions enable businesses to perform incremental changes to manage TCO. Cloud-native technologies in MACH architectures, for example, optimize operational costs and ensure companies pay only for what they need.rideMACH's e-learners have already chimed in with solid approval of the program. 95% agreed that the rideMACH learning paths helped them better understand the fundamental principles of MACH, while 96% agreed that the “Modern Tech with MACH” learning path helped them grasp the best practices for achieving a more successful MACH transformation or adoption. 87% felt better equipped to apply the key skills and qualities needed to build a MACH team.You can learn more about rideMACH<a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/ridemach#Join%20rideMACH"> here</a>.<h3 id="tapping-industry-expertise-to-elevate-education">Tapping industry expertise to elevate education</h3>Last summer, the MACH Alliance rolled out its new Education Council, which clearly focused on how the Alliance educates the community – specifically, developing a pathway to MACH and shaping the rideMACH program. Now, this year's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241014544034/en/MACH-Alliance-Strengthens-Position-as-a-Technology-Leader-Responding-to-Growing-Market-Needs-From-Business-Community">newly appointed Executive Council</a> has added Valade to head up education, bringing a MACH-user perspective that will help inform the council on how to best serve organizations and brands alike.Valade has been a long-time supporter of the Alliance, serving as an ambassador for over three years. He currently leads a digital services IT team at Abbott, a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Abbott's portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the complete spectrum of healthcare, with top businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritional and branded generic medicines. With 114,000 employees, Abbott serves people in more than 160 countries. Valade works in the global delivery and support of Abbott's brand and investor/public relations sites, B2C eCommerce for consumer brands, B2B eCommerce, digital experience (including content CMS), digital transformation, and more. <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>The MACH Alliance continues to assess and improve its value to members and the market at large. At the same time, it's working to shed its insulated perception. Gone are the days of persisting behind turgid velvet ropes and emitting a tone of exclusivity. Still, while the organization is communicating a more inclusive message around its advocacy of open ecosystems, it still struggles to overcome that perception gap – even with organizations that have failed to achieve membership (scour LinkedIn, and you'll find a plethora of grievances).And yet, that's the point: organizations seeking membership have to meet rigid requirements so evaluators and buyers have confidence when composing their stacks. There are certainly lessons to be gleaned from a lack of transparency, and I've heard from numerous vendors that the Alliance hasn't always provided clear steps for remediating an application after being rejected (it's worth noting that over 50% miss with their first submission).But this is where education is worth its weight in gold. The more practitioners and enterprises understand, the less uncertainty there will be around the systems, processes, and expectations. You know what they say about rising tides and lifting ships – and the same holds true here.Bringing on a marketing professional to manage and expand the education programs seems like a solid move. While gains have been made – particularly around penetrating the U.S. market – the Alliance needs to accelerate its investment in MACH's awareness. Having someone who understands how to market the right messages could be an additional asset around these initiatives. It's true what they say: Knowledge is power. But given its continued growth and persistent investment in education, the MACH Alliance is developing something more important: wisdom. <hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a href=" https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaMeet industry leaders at our third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a>

MACH Alliance Taps Dylan Valade of Abbott to Drive Expanding rideMACH Education Program

<hr /> When I spoke to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathias-biilmann-christensen-a5a3805/">Mathias Billman</a> recently, the word sanity popped up more than once during our conversation. It wasn’t an off-color reference to the chaos of our modern digital ecosystem, but the evocation of a content management tool that frequently rides alongside <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/netlify">Netlify</a> – a leading web development platform he co-founded. Of course, this is logical. <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/sanity">Sanity</a> (I'm referring to the application) offers a number of integrations and connectors for Netlify. But more importantly, Billman is an angel investor in the platform, a clear indicator that he sees Sanity as a transformative resource for composable stacks – where its novel vision as a Content Operating System is proving its value.To its credit, Sanity has carved out a unique position for itself, focusing on content as structured data and cultivating a tacit developer-centricity. It has also earned its place as a trusted solution for big global players like Figma, Puma, AT&amp;T, and Burger King, further validating its impact as enterprises strive for faster, more composable ways to power their digital experiences at scale. The run-up has been solid for Sanity. In 2021, the company <a target="_blank" href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/24/sanity-raises-39m-for-its-use-anywhere-approach-to-content-repositories/">closed on a $39 million Series B</a> that heralded its vision for extensible content repositories (and also brought its total raise to nearly $52 million). A year later, they were forging strategic partnerships with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sanity.io/blog/shopify-invests-in-sanity-connecting-commerce-with-content">the likes of Shopify</a>, nurturing its value across commerce channels. Competition has certainly swelled over the last two years, but Sanity has remained steadfast around its central mission while evolving its messaging. As Sanity proclaims, content is the competitive differentiator for brands, and its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sanity.io/">Sanity Content Operating System</a> is purpose-built to deliver on that proposition. The platform’s composition of composable APIs with a customizable workspace – along with its Content Lake storage and distribution – provides an elegant model that its peers don't offer (at least not in the same construct). Given the success of its longtail vision and the christening of its Content Operating System, the company is doubling down on the next phase of its evolution. Last week, Sanity announced that it has onboarded the complete team behind <a target="_blank" href="http://begin.com">Begin.com</a> – a company specializing in deploying full-stack web apps to <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/aws">AWS</a>. If you’re not familiar, Begin was also responsible for creating popular open source frameworks like Architect (<a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/architect">go check it out on Github</a>).Buying Begin’s mindshare is a strategic move, one that reinforces Sanity’s mission to better enable developers and digital leaders. It also deepens its goal of helping customers rethink how they use content and technology to drive growth, particularly at a time when tech budgets are being heavily scrutized around the value quotient. Begin’s CEO, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianleroux/">Brian Leroux</a>, seemed bullish about his company’s synthesis with Sanity, and noted in the company’s press release that he sees “a lot of untapped potential in how content can be used.”Sanity's Content Lake, introduced in 2018, disrupted the content management landscape by providing a central hub for integration across channels and platforms. This ignited some early gains for the platform’s offerings, particularly as composability shifted into high gear. Despite the realization of content automation for many of its customers, the full potential of automation has remained, as Leroux pointed out, relatively untapped. With the addition of Begin, Sanity hopes to accelerate its innovation and attain new levels of performance. The Begin team brings deep experience in developing powerful compute and automation capabilities – attributes that will be critical to reducing manual workloads and streamlining content processes. I had a chance to talk with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/magnushillestad">Magnus Hillestad</a>, co-founder and CEO of Sanity, about his plans for Begin. It's worth noting that Hillestad is an ex-finance and private equity guy turned tech start-up leader, thus bringing more of the traditional commercial optics to the founder's role. This is a distinct advantage for the company, one that undoubtedly contributed to its successful capital raising. Aside from the foundational benefits of force multiplying Sanity’s innovation resources, it’s clear that a central impact for customers is greater resiliency and agility in the face of widespread technological change."The Begin team joining us marks a transformative moment for Sanity and for what our customers can expect going forward," he said. “By combining their expertise in compute and modern app deployments with our vision for an automated, resilient content operating system, we're redefining what's possible in content management. This powerful synergy will unlock unprecedented levels of efficiency and innovation for our customers, propelling industries like e-commerce, media and technology into a new era of content operations.”<h3 id="where-to-begin?-with-an-automation-end-game">Where to Begin? With an automation end game</h3>Sanity has been challenging the status quo of content management since coming online in 2018. Sanity’s core philosophy – reflected in its Content Operating System platform – flips the standard CMS narrative by treating content as data, and by connecting and automating systems beyond its central hub. This shift in perception also allows teams to treat content as a more strategic asset for their business.From a developer perspective, the addition of Begin’s resources will provide a number of benefits. This includes the addition of powerful compute resources, giving users the ability to scale extensible content distribution systems with embedded automation.Begin’s heritage as an AWS development house was certainly a key part of the acquisition appeal. By absorbing a cohort of expertise with proven success deploying web apps to the world’s leading cloud, Sanity hoped to imbue its features with next-level scalability – all while mitigating the headaches associated with deploying apps on Sanity.  “The Begin Team's experience building within a 'cloud hyperscaler' environment provides substantial value to our customers through the development of powerful compute capabilities,” he said, “which simplifies the way they build complex content automations. The goal is to enable our customers to easily deploy content operations applications directly on the Sanity Content Operating System, abstracting away much of the complexity.” Hillestad went on to explain that many of Sanity’s customers are setting up content operations applications in their own cloud environments. Given this vector, he believes Sanity can provide a better developer experience by offering an abstracted compute layer, giving customers the option to leverage Sanity for their automation and content ops needs while still allowing direct cloud integrations where needed. “Ultimately, by leveraging the Begin team's capabilities, we aim to empower the same developers who have become superstars at building content workflows in Sanity Studio to also excel at deploying content operations and automation on our platform,” he said. Another stated focus for the Begin team will be the delivery of content infrastructure as code. This will manifest in more powerful tools that help users develop, deploy, and manage advanced content pipelines with greater ease and efficacy.  <h3 id="what-about-content-marketers?">What about content marketers?</h3>As previously noted, Sanity has carved out a reputation for being “developer-friendly.” That might translate to “requires code” for the gaggle of CMS users hungry for less cumbersome, more drag-and-drop-oriented solutions with composable propensities. Many of the now “legacy” headless CMS tools are endeavoring to differentiate their value through visual editing tools. Sanity is already addressing this side of content ops ledger with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sanity.io/studio">Sanity Studio</a>, which enables a host of visual features like customizable components and block content editing, as well as collaboration and workspace capabilities. On the automation front, it even sports things like intelligent image cropping and scaling. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:72.78%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/sanity-collaboration-screenshot.jpg" alt="" /></figure>A mockup of collaboration features in Sanity Studio At the same time, the company maintains a clear pipeline back to the developers with Sanity Studio, allowing users to connect a production-ready content backend to an application. Studio’s customization framework allows for the development of unique content forms, workflows, validation, workspaces, and more – all built using modern web dev patterns that make the journey easier and more efficient. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center">"The real win is in enabling tighter collaboration between developers and the rest of the content organization to deliver better digital experiences.”</h4><hr /> I wanted to know how Sanity’s investment in Begin would translate into greater value for the broader content operations model – vis-à-vis the marketers and editors driving the content itself. The amplification of compute resources and cloud dimensions are more the domain of DevOps; aside from impacting speed and productivity for editors, what other gains might be on the horizon?As Hillestad pointed out, the acquisition of Begin will take Sanity’s developer offerings to the next level, but the organizational benefits will be very tangible for non-developers as well. “While it's true that Sanity has always put a strong emphasis on being developer-friendly, the benefits of this approach extend far beyond the developer experience,” Hillestad said. “We believe that the most advanced organizations empower their skilled engineers to enable efficient, scalable content operations that drive impactful storytelling.”How will they deliver on this? By enabling content operations within the same system, thus reducing context switching between tools. As Hillestad explained, content strategists and product managers will have an easier path to integrating all related content and data directly into their single source of truth – enabling that richer storytelling potential. “So while speed and productivity gains are certainly part of the equation, the real win is in enabling tighter collaboration between developers and the rest of the content organization to deliver better digital experiences.”<h3 id="what-about-ai?">What about AI?</h3>While the acquisition of Begin is a big deal for Sanity, there’s been significant AI investment from all corners of the CMS landscape. Given its ambitions to evolve the Content Operating System to new levels of performance, I asked Hillestad how is AI playing into his plans – and if Begin’s proximity to <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/aws">AWS</a> and its <a target="_blank" href="https://aws.amazon.com/bedrock/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwvpy5BhDTARIsAHSilyn-dmseaMQpjDac_WRX0C1ov1es3fdfHFLRdjXEB0OHW_Z7dLGkATIaAjRmEALw_wcB&amp;trk=0eaabb80-ee46-4e73-94ae-368ffb759b62&amp;sc_channel=ps&amp;ef_id=Cj0KCQjwvpy5BhDTARIsAHSilyn-dmseaMQpjDac_WRX0C1ov1es3fdfHFLRdjXEB0OHW_Z7dLGkATIaAjRmEALw_wcB:G:s&amp;s_kwcid=AL!4422!3!692006004682!e!!g!!aws%20bedrock!21048268554!159639952735">Amazon Bedrock</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.anthropic.com/">Anthropic</a> services might be an advantage.  “AI is indeed a significant part of our plans going forward, and the Begin team will play a key role in making AI capabilities more accessible to developers on our platform,” he said. “Sanity already offers several AI-powered tools for our users, leveraging services like <a target="_blank" href="https://openai.com/">OpenAI</a>, Anthropic, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pinecone.io/">Pinecone</a>. With the addition of the Begin team, we will make it even easier for developers to build their own custom AI functions and workflows on top of our platform.” As Sanity further develops its AI offerings, Hillestad forecast that it plans to support a wide range of AI services and large language models to give its customers maximum flexibility. “The Begin team's expertise in building developer abstractions will be invaluable as we work to make these powerful AI capabilities more approachable and integrated into the Sanity ecosystem.”<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>In a marketplace of increasingly commoditized headless offerings, Sanity continues to establish differentiated value with its niche position as a Content Operating System. As it onboards the experience and resources of Begin, it is further investing in a growth angle that will enhance automation, scalability, and performance – perhaps in profound ways. Still, Sanity’s greatest strength could be its main detractor. Developer reliance is part of the resistance for marketing organizations when adopting new tools, and decisions are being driven by composable technologies that now offer a complete range of features that enable editor independence. This is where a developer-centric perception can be a limiting factor. That said, Sanity is effectively bridging the gap. Sanity Studio is the best example of its unification potential, and already provides robust capabilities that stand apart from a UX perspective. While Begin’s cloud and compute resources will inject more integrative fabric into the platform, it would be smart to see equal attention paid to further enhancing the editor experience.Partnering with Netlify and other development platforms is also a key benefit in Sanity’s favor. By expanding its connector libraries and reducing the barriers to entry, it can accelerate content velocity for users and brands as part of a go-to composable stack. Relying on these channels will be key to enhancing visibility and preference. Of course, choice is the biggest challenge for every player on the CMS chessboard. But Sanity has managed to build a solid foundation of differentiation, one that could serve it well as it looks to grow. Adding these new resources is a great way to begin its next chapter.  <hr /> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a href=" https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a>

Sanity Acquires Begin Team, Aims to Accelerate the Evolution of its Content Operating System 

<hr /> AI is still raging like a fever – even if the temperature isn’t spiking quite as high as a year ago. Don't get me wrong: the market's still being greeted with a healthy dose of daily innovation. We're even seeing up-and-comers like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/news/cerebras-vs-nvidia-inference-tool-promises-higher-performance/">Cerebras challenging the Goliath Nvidia</a>. And while opportunities persist, some of the future potential is also clouded by the murky waters of an evolving regulatory landscape. Europe has been the most audacious on the policy front with the shaping of its signature <a target="_blank" href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20230601STO93804/eu-ai-act-first-regulation-on-artificial-intelligence">EU AI Act</a>. But just last week, California Governor Gavin Newsome announced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/09/29/governor-newsom-announces-new-initiatives-to-advance-safe-and-responsible-ai-protect-californians/">a spate of new initiatives</a> to advance safe and responsible AI – which will likely give way to similar manifestations in other states. This makes it all a moving target.Despite the legislative barriers, one can’t refute the impact that Generative AI has had on almost every application in the technology ecosystem. In our corner of the CMS and DXP verses, content creators have benefitted from enhanced productivity and efficiency with the introduction of in-app tools and workflows powered <a target="_blank" href="https://openai.com/">primarily by OpenAI</a>.But it’s not just the foundational tools. The entire spectrum of plugins, extensions, and even dev environments have integrated some measure of GenAI into their offerings. Even elemental WYSIWYG editors <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/tinymce-brings-advanced-ai-to-cms-text-editing-interview-with-fredrik-danielsson-elise-bentley">like TinyMCE</a> – used by several CMSes – have woven GenAI capabilities into their offerings.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.netlify.com/">Netlify</a> – the modern web development platform – has also joined the automation chorus, announcing the addition of an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netlify.com/blog/introducing-ai-assisted-publishing">AI-Assisted Publishing</a> feature for marketers and content creators that simplifies the tedious task of managing adjustments to headless or even traditional CMSes.  Part of the solution rests with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netlify.com/platform/create/">Netlify’s Visual Editor</a>, which further codifies the expansion of these tools for composable architectures. I’ve written extensively about the rampant <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/optimizely-introduces-new-saas-cms-with-visual-builder-for-marketers">rise of visual editors and builders</a> in previous articles, and Netlify sites are another example of where users are able to work with structured content in an easy-to-use visual context.Along with the new AI capabilities, the company also introduced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netlify.com/blog/launching-async-workloads">Netlify Async Workloads</a> for streamlining a host of processes, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netlify.com/blog/introducing-netlify-extensions">Netlify Extensions</a> – which makes customizing workflows and personalizing the interfaces within the Netlify app even easier. The cohort of new capabilities reflects the market’s continued drift towards more composable web architectures, giving developers greater choice and control.The enhancements were all unveiled during the keynote address at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netlify.com/compose/">Netlify Compose 2024</a> in San Francisco by the platform’s CEO and co-founder, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathias-biilmann-christensen-a5a3805/">Mathias Biilmann Christensen.</a> The Compose conference also gives Netlify’s ecosystem of partners the opportunity to showcase innovation. Example: players like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7247676894051999744/">Jamsocket launched its new partner extension</a>, offering a ready-made connection for <a target="_blank" href="https://jamsocket.com/y-sweet">Jamsocket and Y-Sweet</a> services for the Netlify ecosystem.<h3 id="turning-unstructured-content-into-ready-to-publish-pages">Turning unstructured content into ready-to-publish pages</h3>Netlify’s AI-Assisted Publishing addresses the continued pressure on content teams to provide high-quality, high-volume content at breakneck speed. Now, armed with Netlify’s AI-powered capabilities, marketers and creatives can move quickly and seamlessly from ideas to publishable content.Netlify’s use case is simple: content creators often start outside a CMS, using tools like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">Google Docs</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/notion">Notion</a>. Converting their creative work into something “suitable” for web publication is still a tedious task, requiring hands-on adjustment of their headless CMS or even legacy, template-based CMS to meet their requirements. AI-Assisted Publishing automates the rigors of moving content from its outside source to a site, transforming unstructured elements into something that works for a production page. It automates the conversion of (for example) your Google Doc for a blog post into web pages – retaining the formatting and links and maintaining corporate brand guidelines and components to keep things cohesive.  <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/YndziNqJaKw?si=8P0n0bjXzWovKGYW"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YndziNqJaKw" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> AI-Assisted Publishing effectively mitigates the complexities of managing multiple tools. It transposes content into a polished, web-ready first draft that can be edited and published without the hassle of supporting yet another CMS integration – and instead relies on Netlify’s Visual Editor to shape experiences with structured content. At its core, Visual Editor is designed for composable architectures and is compatible with any site framework and API-enabled content source. Netlify’s Visual Editor provides some decent flexibility. Users can choose a template designed to work with a <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">headless CMS</a> like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentful">Contentful</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/sanity">Sanity</a>, or even without one – instead relying on Git to manage content versions (sometimes referred to as a Git CMS).AI-Assisted Publishing is ideal for things like blog posts, company announcements, product updates, and other use cases. It effectively reduces the time from ideation to publication, allowing teams to focus on strategic goals rather than tedious and repetitive tasks, which are common across content ops that rely on Google Docs or Notion as a source. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:88.26%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/10/netlify-image-1.jpg" alt="" /></figure>Netlify's AI-Assisted Publishing offers personalization with custom audience personas Along the same lines, AI-Assisted Publishing is a great way to develop and manage critical marketing touchpoints like landing pages, streamling page creation with pre-designed components that are on-brand. It also provides some slick personalization capabilities that go beyond the typical A/B testing paradigms, allowing users to tailor content for multiple audiences and personas from a single source. Just select a target audience from the built-in picker or configure a specific audience persona, and you're off to the races. AI-Assisted Publishing is currently available in a private beta, but you can <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netlify.com/ai-assisted-publishing-private-beta/">sign up for it here</a>.<h3 id="sustaining-business-operations-with-durable-workloads">Sustaining business operations with durable workloads</h3>As mentioned, Netlify also introduced a few other surprises at its Compose conference, including the new <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netlify.com/blog/launching-async-workloads">Async Workloads</a> service. This nifty innovation empowers developers to construct durable, event-driven workflows seamlessly on any Netlify site.Why does durability matter? Quite simply: stuff breaks. APIs go down. Systems time out and yes, people screw up. Durable workloads enable businesses with more confidence around continuity, offering unparalleled reliability without the hassle of managing additional infrastructure, such as queues, workers, or state management.Async Workloads brings durability to serverless runtimes on Netlify, providing greater resiliency to business operations. Developers can write functions in the same manner as other serverless functions to initiate processes. Netlify takes care of the scaling, retries, future scheduling, and the other morass that can tie things up – ensuring your workloads run seamlessly. As systems get more complex, reliability becomes a precious commodity. Async Workloads helps mitigate this by letting developers build workloads and focus on critical tasks while the underlying system orchestrates everything with durability as a cornerstone. That bridges the reliability gap – and delivers value from end to end. <h3 id="create-more-powerful-customized-workflows">Create more powerful customized workflows</h3>Like a marketplace for added functionality, the new crop of Netlify Extensions allows users to choose from a growing library of ready-made integrations and specialized features that extend the value of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netlify.com/platform/">Netlify platform</a>. It also provides developers and partners with a sandbox to build their own extensions using Netlify’s SDK.What’s great about the Netlify Extensions is how seamless they are. With a single click, you can integrate with popular tools like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/digitalocean">DigitalOcean</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://supabase.com/">Supabase</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://launchdarkly.com/">LaunchDarkly</a>, or Contentful. You can also leverage new platform features such as Async Workloads, Skew Protection, or Edge-Side Includes.You can explore all the available extensions in Netlify’s in-app Extensions Directory. Once installed, all your sites can take advantage of a given extension’s capabilities – and if it includes a connector, it’s ready to configure through <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netlify.com/platform/connect/">Netlify Connect</a>, allowing you to integrate with your data sources with ease.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:84.19%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/10/netlify-image-2.jpg" alt="" /></figure>Netlify Extensions offers a library of integrations and connectors Another cool feature: the Extension UI also enables developers to build on top of the Netlify platform to create immersive experiences for users and teams. The SDK also allows users to build extensions for a host of other applications, including an OAuth component that streamlines authentication.<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>A frequent topic at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/groups/cms-experts">Boye &amp; Company CMS Experts Group</a> meetings is where and how content is created. It’s true that many CMS platforms have conquered the mystical barrier of providing a delightful editing experience. But not all content is created equally, nor does it start life in the same place. Many of us still begin outside the CMS, using more foundational authoring tools to write press releases or blog posts before moving into an environment that allows formatting and publishing as a web page. As such, Netlify is further bridging the gap between ideation and publication. By eliminating the tedious task of moving from Google Docs or Notion to a finished page – and applying GenAI to further streamline the process – it’s doubling down on its value to developers and marketers. On top of that, the addition of intuitive personalization capabilities is further upping the ante on its extensibility. We’ve talked a lot about visual editors over the last few months, and having a dynamic tool in its development environment is extending Netlify’s value in multiple directions for both developers and content creators. Add in its Async Workloads and Extensions, and the platform is demonstrating the real scope of its innovation as it looks to build more meaningful partnerships in a competitive and composable landscape. To that end, Netlify is further broadening its extensibility by integrating with more traditional DXPs <a target="_blank" href="https://www.optimizely.com/apps/netlify/">like Optimizely</a>, providing a pathway to run its SaaS CMS on Netlify. It codifies how composable architectures are becoming more widely adopted and accelerated by best-of-breed platforms – enabling the transformation to a more strategic and modular stack. Netlify's philosophical foundation of composable MACH principles is what earned it an inaugural role as a <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/newsroom/mach-alliance-announces-mongodb-and-netlify-as-first-members-of-new-enabler-category">MACH Alliance Enabler</a> in 2021.It's worth reminding that Netlify was an early advocate of separating frontend design from backend business processes. Its vision of uniting components of the modern decoupled web and accelerating the development of scalable websites and apps has proven effective, helping them raise significant funding to power the growth of its Jamstack ecosystem. Today, that translates into nearly limitless choices for designing rich web apps and customer experiences – and these new features represent the next wave of innovation along that vision. <hr /> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a href=" https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a>

Netlify Unveils AI-Assisted Publishing and Other Enhancements at Netlify Compose 2024 Conference

Explore a wide range of informative articles on Composable, insights, and industry updates. Stay informed and ahead of the curve with our diverse collection of news and posts covering the latest trends and developments in the industry. 