The MACH Alliance continues to grow, with Agility CMS as its latest member.

They join the likes of Contentstack, Contentful, Stripe, AWS, Uniform, and Deloitte, and over 100 other members, supporters, and ambassadors.

As I read this news item, a question crossed my mind.

What Motivates MACH-aligned Platforms to Join the MACH Alliance?

From a technical standpoint, Agility was always ready to join the organization. I've been well acquainted with the platform for quite some time. I knew they ticked all the boxes.

Similarly, I know many non-MACH Alliance members in the headless CMS space that also fulfill the criteria laid out by the MACH Alliance’s board.

I got in touch with Agility CMS’ CEO Jon Voigt to ask him what drove this decision. What was the certification going to bring to the company?

"Agility's journey to becoming MACH Certified was fueled by a profound understanding of the evolving market demands for composable solutions and best-of-breed architecture. We listened to our customers, who were seeking MACH vendors to empower their businesses with flexibility and adaptability,” Voigt told me.

“Fortunately, Agility CMS's architecture was built using MACH principles from the get-go, making the membership process fairly smooth. Embracing the MACH approach with our customers has empowered us to propel innovation and exceed expectations, solidifying our commitment to deliver unparalleled experiences,” Voigt said.

So there it is.

“We listened to our customers, who were seeking MACH vendors to empower their businesses with flexibility and adaptability.”

What Agility CMS is seeing from its customers and engagements is what we’ve been seeing for over 18-months. Larger companies have discovered MACH and composable software, and they’re interested.

In Agility’s case, they saw it to be in their best interest to claim the certification that they had always been qualified for. A mere formality for them.

And at the higher end of the market, formalities are important.

Minimizing Risk for Enterprise Customers

Risk is always the elephant in the room when you're fishing for enterprise-level customers. And the enterprise wants it gone.

They know, of course, that risk can never truly be eradicated, but they will want to hear about every possible risk deterrence you can offer them. And being MACH Alliance certified is a pretty juicy one.

A group of would-be competitors or would-be collaborators—all from the same niche— attesting to each other’s technological prowess? That’s half the due diligence done, and a big green checkmark on the risk assessment sheet.

Does this mean that non-MACH Alliance members are a riskier bet? Not at all.

The MACH Alliance does not, and should not, hold a monopoly over what constitutes the “best headless CMS”, or “best group of headless CMS’”.

There’s a long list of headless CMS vendors who are not MACH Alliance members, and yet they offer exceedingly proficient platforms capable of handling enterprise needs and wants.

That being said, if you were wondering why growing companies like Agility CMS continue to join the MACH Alliance, now you know why.