Closer and quicker – MACH integration at speed

Integration between systems – as opposed to the creation of a monolithic, one system ‘to rule them all’ – is at the heart of the success of composability. Indeed, integration is now a discipline and is understood to be a source of competitive advantage.

Having evolved from middleware projects taking hundreds of hours to code and implement to a modern, easy-to-use drag-and-drop platform, integration remains built on the principle that the faster – and better – systems can be connected, the faster and better the return.

Patchworks has responded to this opportunity by developing an integration platform ‘as a service’ (iPaaS). The goal is to make it as easy as possible for companies to integrate systems through a low-code / no-code, microservices based SaaS platform. Businesses can accelerate integrations with pre-built system connectors and workflows that automates their infrastructure, cutting integration costs.

This enables merchants to make effective business decisions with increased confidence, without having to worry about the technology. This is often most visible in order operations, although integration of numerous other systems is possible to create a comprehensive e-commerce experience.

Recognising this need for collaboration, Patchworks joined the MACH Alliance to enable MACH vendors to integrate more quickly. By building on a microservices standard, Patchworks has already enabled commercetools to integrate to stores and ERPs at Trinny London, whilst elsewhere, projects with BigCommerce at The Fold have extended to multiple MACH members.

Technical innovation underpins this ease of use and rapid return. Patchworks Connector Builder empowers users to add a system into Patchwork's vendor eco-system in minutes, making integration a matter of clicks not code. Patchwork's Connector Builder is also unique in its ability to wrap SOAP, REST and GraphQL APIs into one "connector" for systems with a heterogenous API stack.

Looking to the future, Patchworks is actively developing a scripting AI tool to make integrating systems even quicker, and to provide business insights based on meta-analysis of business data. To maximise the value of existing, non-MACH investments, Patchworks is also building real-time integrations, and return and query systems, based on data from legacy and other systems. This has the potential to become the biggest disruption to date as enterprise agencies accelerate these mixed projects drastically.

For more information on MACH at Patchworks, please contact the team.