Is Orchestration a Friend or Foe to MACH?

In a recent expert panel hosted by Agility CMS, leaders from across the composable and MACH ecosystem—including Conscia, Agility CMS, Netlify, and Valtech—came together to answer one pressing question: Does orchestration help or hinder MACH adoption?

Their conclusion: orchestration isn’t a complication—it’s an enabler.

Why Orchestration Matters in MACH

As enterprises transition from monolithic platforms to modern, MACH-compliant architectures, they face a fundamental challenge: how to maintain business continuity while evolving their tech stack.

Sana Remekie, CEO of Conscia, emphasized that orchestration plays a pivotal role in this transition. It provides the structure to integrate systems that weren’t designed to work together—without rewriting years of business logic.

“There’s logic built into those systems that’s more than just data. It needs to be accessed in real time, and not everything can or should be rebuilt immediately.”— Sana Remekie, Conscia

A Realistic View of MACH Adoption

Panelists noted a clear trend in the market: many organizations begin their MACH journey with small, contained pilot projects that operate alongside legacy systems. These initiatives often show early success, but scaling them across regions, channels, or teams introduces new challenges. The obstacles aren’t typically due to the MACH technologies themselves, but rather stem from internal silos, entrenched processes, and organizational misalignment.

Orchestration, while critical for connecting systems, can also add complexity. By separating content from the front end, it can make it harder for marketers and editors to see how their work impacts the user experience. The key isn’t to remove orchestration, but to make it more intuitive—providing visibility and control so that teams can manage content and experience in a more connected, transparent way.

“The more complex your stack, the more important it is to have a robust orchestration layer. But we also need to make those layers more accessible and visual for users.” — Joel Varty, Agility CMS

Orchestration and MACH: Complementary, Not Conflicting

The discussion highlighted that while MACH is built on principles like modularity and API-first architecture, its real-world adoption rarely happens in a clean slate environment. Most large organizations are dealing with deeply siloed systems, legacy platforms, and regional variations in how technology is deployed. In that context, orchestration isn’t a compromise—it’s what makes MACH feasible.

Rather than pursuing MACH as a rigid end state, the panel emphasized that it should be seen as a flexible framework. Enterprises don’t need to replace everything at once. In fact, many will continue to run legacy systems alongside modern services for the foreseeable future. Orchestration allows these systems to work together—providing the consistency, control, and adaptability needed to scale MACH across complex environments.

“MACH equals incrementality. It lives alongside legacy—maybe forever. Orchestration makes that coexistence possible.”— Casper Rasmussen, Valtech

Final Thoughts

So, is orchestration a friend or foe to MACH?

The panel agrees: it’s a strategic necessity. Orchestration provides the foundation for integrating diverse systems, preserving business logic, and enabling agility without unnecessary risk.

Whether you’re launching new digital experiences or modernizing enterprise infrastructure, a thoughtful orchestration strategy is essential to achieving the true promise of MACH.