Magento 2 Upgrade – Staying on the Front Foot
Magento is arguably the most popular and high-performance eCommerce software available today, offering a highly customisable and scalable platform on which to build your online business.
Magento recently announced that they have extended the support period of Magento 1 versions until June 2020, as so many customers were not prepared to begin the upgrade to Magento 2. Crucially though, this support does not extend to any third-party integrations or security tools, many of which are not compatible with the latest Magento upgrade.
With so many businesses relying on Magento to trade online, it is vital that they start the migration plan today.
Getting the Magento 2 Upgrade Right
To ensure that the upgrade goes smoothly there are several things that you should keep in mind:
- Integration with other systems – One of the benefits of Magento is the flexibility to integrate with other systems like accounting, warehousing or payments platforms. These links are key to the smooth running of operations, but may lose functionality in the upgrade process. These integrations should be checked and rebuilt as necessary to keep everything working properly.
- Customisations – Any custom build extensions to Magento will not be supported after the upgrade, so you should identify where in your processes you’re relying on customisations and check that they are functioning correctly.
- Security – More and more businesses today are falling victim to cyber-attacks and criminals will no doubt look to exploit victims that are not on top of the latest security patches. As part of the upgrade process you should use this as an opportunity to check how secure your online store is and make improvements as you see fit.
- Speed – When it comes to hosting and servers, Magento 2 is far more resource hungry than previous versions and therefore it requires its own dedicated and optimised server. AsOne will calculate your short term and lifetime costs of upgrading to Magento 2 and compare it with moving to another suitable platform with lower ongoing costs so that we always give you the best possible advice.
- Test, test and retest – With reliance on so many different components for the smooth running of your business, it is vital that you test extensively any upgrades before they go live. Even short periods of down time can cost a significant amount of time and cause reputational damage. One of the benefits of partnering with AsOne is that we have extensive knowledge of common challenges from our experience working with other clients. This empowers us to make all the right checks before we push any changes to the live environment.
Many of these tasks require highly skilled technical development skills and it is therefore not recommended that you attempt to manage this upgrade in house. From a risk mitigation perspective, it makes far more sense to rely on external expertise who can manage the process for you end-to-end.
Magento 2 Upgrade – The AsOne Way
At AsOne our approach has always been to partner with our clients over the long term, and the recent Magento upgrade decision is another great example of the benefits of this model. For many of our clients, we helped them design and build their eCommerce business right from the outset.
For these clients, we were able to advise them well in advance of the available upgrade, and we have worked with them to craft a migration strategy that had minimal impact on their business, whilst ensuring the site was stable and secure at all times.
In this way, we help our clients stay on the front foot with the latest developments in technology, whether Magento related or not.
If you would like any more information regarding the Magento 2 upgrade, or would like to discuss how AsOne can support your eCommerce business on a more ongoing basis, don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can also catch us at The Business Show at the Excel on November 14th and 15th on stand 1514. Not only will we be discussing all things eCommerce at the show but if you meet us and and agree to commission a wordpress eCommerce website with us before 2019 you will receive 1 years free warranty + hosting!
