“Good things take time and great take a lot of time”. Thats why we have some great expectations for the platform that’s been in development for more than four years.
In this article, we’ll try to raise your awareness by describing the essential differences between Magento 1.x and 2.0.
We took the data mostly from Magento events materials and our own research. But still, we have to remember that it is only a beta version and perhaps there will be some changes by the date of final release. So here we go:
When should I upgrade to Magento 2?
This depends highly on your current site and its current condition – bottom line is, if your site is performing well (running smoothly, orders are coming in…), and you’re using a version that’s not really outdated (I’d say anything before 1.8 CE and 1.13 EE would be considered quite outdated), there is no rush, but you can (and should) start exploring Magento 2, ask your solution partner to give you their thoughts and start doing some basic plans.
If you’re on an older version of the software or even on a newer version but having serious performance issues, and on top of that you have a number of 3rd party extensions installed, now would be a great time to plan for a revamp.
If you need to do something serious to significantly improve your store’s performance, you should definitely plan the new investments to be done on Magento 2.
The move – smooth or painful?
Let’s prepare for less-than-smooth here ? Smooth is something you are not going to get – yes, there is a migration tool ready that should help you (and your solution partner) with the data (store setup, products, customers, orders, promo rules…) move between the platforms.
But, as it is clearly noted over there as well, theme and code customizations (which includes 3rd party extensions) will not be transferable, meaning they would need to be redone on Magento 2.
So, extra investments would need to be made in the visual and functional revamp. This should, in my book, be treated as a good thing because:
- it can give you some new ideas and make you re-think your business as a whole
- you will be able to get rid of some of the legacy code
- you can improve overall usability of your site
Let’s face it – if you have 50+ extensions on your store (and this is even an understatement based on some of our recent experiences), Magento 2 can be a lifesaver as it will make you think, re-think and redo things, hopefully in a better way.
Is it worth it?
It will be. And the main reason is the change itself – for Magento there is no going back. Yes, they will be supporting the older versions for several years – and this is why you are in no need to jump the gun if you’re doing ok right now and you don’t have any plans to be a market leader or pioneer of sorts in your niche.
But you should also be aware that the majority of the investments and explorations of newest concepts around not just e- but any type of commerce out there (did anyone say omnichannel?) will be done on Magento 2, starting yesterday.
So if you are making active plans not to get left behind, even if you are staying put with Magento 1.x for the time being, consider these action items:
- start thinking about what you’d like to improve on
- make a list of extensions you are not actively using (or have no idea what they do)
- open up the conversation with your solution partner about your (and their) plans for Magento 2
The next steps
For all you Magento store owners, 2017 will be the year to make some good decisions for your business.
Magento 2 brings a whole new playing field for merchants and solution partners alike, and while we’re trying to stay on top of our game (we have trained Magento 2 Specialists ), you should too.