If you’re familiar with the Magento platform, as an agency that specializes in Magento development, I’m sure you can imagine the number of times we’ve been posed the question “Do I have to switch to Magento 2?”
Simply put:
Do you have to [right now]? No.
Do we recommend it? Yes.
Here’s why…
While Magento has been clear about supporting its user base and not leaving anyone behind, they have been fairly cryptic up to this point regarding exactly when the Magento 1 run will end. The last publicly accessible update from Magento specifically addressing this concern was in May last year, when the company committed to providing 18-month’s notice before making changes to support levels…which is great. We have confirmation that there’s no frantic rush, and Magento 1 will be supported for some time still.
But…it does also confirm that at some point in the relatively foreseeable future, Magento 1 support WILL fizzle out.
Now. This is like merging onto the highway at rush hour. Waiting until the last minute always seems like a cool, quicker option – until you’re narrowly squeezing in, being honked at, flipped off and risking your paint job at the very least.
While upgrading to Magento 2 will not necessarily be a cumbersome undertaking for everyone, it’s not something that’ll happen overnight either. Imagine the demand for Magento developers to handle these upgrades once that 18-month notice inevitably comes down the pipeline.
Here inlies my simplest advice: if you’re at a point where you’re able to devote some resources to re-imagining the next evolution of your site, approaching the migration to Magento 2 is a great idea – now.
There’s no need to look at it as this huge, intimidating project either – there are plenty of perks and improvements that have been made to Magento 2 that’ll certainly make it worth your while.
Tons of new features have been added first off. Namely, the latest version of Magento Commerce became the first platform to bring one-click checkout to the global market as a standard feature. If shopping cart abandonment and incentivizing repeat purchases have been on your list of challenges to tackle…this is actually the best thing since sliced bread.
Being able to operate on the latest version of any platform in general improves your usability, and helps avoid bugs, glitches, slow load times, etc. Magento 2 can handle significantly more orders per hour than Magento 1, so, there are some glaringly obvious enhancements you’ll benefit from by making the switch.
If you are using any vital extensions on your site, there’s another reason to approach a plan for migration sooner rather than later. Extension companies are going to evolve with the platform as a whole – so the older your site, the older your extensions have to be and the less likely they are to be supported, work well, etc.
For a little tough love… if you’re averse to change, I’m sorry to say, eCommerce – or anything that’s remotely related to the internet and the digital workings of our world today – was probably the wrong industry for you. As technology advances, so must we all and that’s just a part of the game.
I will reiterate, this is in no way bad news. A sort of forced migration like this can always be looked at as a great opportunity to give your site new life. It’s a chance to look at all of the tools, extensions and custom functionality you’re using and determine what’s still serving you well and helping you grow – and what you may have already outgrown. Design, the user experience and the way you’re interacting with your customer’s through your site can essentially ALWAYS be improved upon.
The project size of a Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration is hard to define. It depends on variables including the overall size of your site (number of pages), number of users, number of products. Certainly the amount of custom functionality figures into the complexity level. Extensions you’re using may or may not be supported by Magento 2 – that’ll be the difference between simply re-installing, OR researching to find a comparable Magento 2 supported extension if carrying over the functionality is a must. If you’re using a theme it may or may not help accelerate the process – depends on whether the theme provider offers the same theme for Magento 2. Custom design can of course be copied over, but can take considerable time.
Yes there are plenty of things to consider, but you’ll be glad you did. And if you can afford to start considering sooner rather than later, yes, I suggest it.
Don’t get caught up in the thousands of “last minute-ers” who will be trying to convince us developers it’ll be totally fun to work 24 hours a day to complete alllll of their migrations before support runs out, once that cut-off date is announced…Please and thank you with a cherry on top.
**This post originally appeared as an article on LinkedIn by our Co-Founder & CEO Donny Minchillo. You can view the original article here: //www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-we-answer-do-i-have-switch-magento-2-minchillo-jr/ **