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“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”- Allan Watts
Magento 2– the much hyped follow up product to Magento 1.x was released last year. The question is, are you ready to take the plunge?
Migrating to the latest platform is always a challenging decision as the stakes involved are HIGH. But do you want to keep working on a platform that’s going to be obsolete in a few years?
The merchants who adopt the platform early will clearly be able to stay ahead of their competitors when it comes to maintaining their sites and launching high-quality content with less manpower.
So before you enter the battlefield of the foreseen and unforeseen challenges, it is better to know about some new features introduced in Magento 2, that makes it worth the time and investment.
What’s New in Magento 2?
To say Magento 2 is an improvement over Magento 1.X, would be an understatement. With Magento 2, the experience will undoubtedly be a mix of challenges for the global eCommerce industry. With an improved technology stack, a smooth customization process and easier, more simplified external integrations, Magento 2.0 is more efficient, user-friendly and conducive to business growth and success. Let’s explore some of the new features below:
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Built on a Matured Technology Stack
The new technologies consist of the latest versions of PHP 5.5.x+,MySQL 5.6, JQuery, HTML5, CSS3 and has it’s in built components Magento UI Library, CSS Pre-processor and Full page caching. This speeds up the development time, resulting in a robust and scalable online store.
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Support for Web (REST/SOAP) APIs for integrating CRM, CMS or Mobile Development
Magento 2.0 has a refined web API for the platform. Using these APIs one can integrate their CRM or CMS system with online store. These APIs can help in developing mobile apps(iOS/Android) for online store which was little difficult in the earlier version.
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Improved Security, Performance and Scalability
Improved scalability consists of improved indexers, new Magento performance toolkit, Varnish Cache. Meanwhile the new indexers in Magento 2 come with more efficient updates to speed up performance, Magento performance toolkits support to verify and optimize system performance and Varnish Cache helps reducing server load and speed up the page load.
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Reduced Upgrade Efforts and Costs
Upgrading core Magento software as well as installing and upgrading extensions in Magento 2 will be much easier compared to Magento 1.x.
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Sleek and Polished UI/UX for Back Office
The backend UI is more user-friendly. In the Dashboard, users can see the statistics of each store view by using Scope Filter.Creating or editing a product details has never been faster with the new arrangement of the product fields in the product manager interface.
Should I Consider Upgrading to Magento 2?
Upgrading depends upon how you’ve built your site and its level of customization. If you are running an online store on Magento 1.9.x and performance of your online store is reasonable then you can keep running your online store for a while but start talking to your solution partner about the migration. Don’t spend too much efforts in the existing system as you would need to scrap current platform and it shall not make sense to keep working on the system. As long as your business is doing well with the current solution, don’t rush into anything.
But if your store runs on old version than 1.9.x or have performance issues or need constant custom development, then it is the best time for you to migrate to Magento 2.
And if you are only starting, then it would make sense to go for Magento 2, unless you are looking for some really fast turnaround with many extensions – and who would do that, right?
Migration to Magento 2: Smooth or Painful?
Besides all the advantages that Magento 2 offers, you should keep in mind that upgrading from Magento 1.x to Magento 2 is not an easy task.
Any extensions you currently have integrated with your Magento 1 platform might not be ported into Magento 2. Thus, you will have extra cost regardless, you might repurchase your extensions and you also might put resources into integrating them anew on your Magento 2 ecommerce website.
This con, is one that creates a hesitancy in many retailers considering upgrading to Magento 2. With the new release, it will take time for the development community to build extensions compatible as well as dig into Magento 2.
The transition or the migration process won’t be smooth, but for any significant investment it’s better to go with Magento 2.
Endnote
If you feel that the time isn’t quite right for you to make the upgrade now, the worth in upgrading will become more apparent over the coming months and years. Magento has confirmed that they will slowly be phasing out Magento V1, with support ceasing three years after the release of 2.0.
Magento 2 may still be in the guinea pig stage and many of the 3rd party providers have yet to catch up , but it’s still a safe bet when compared to Magento 1.x as the majority of investments and new explorations will be done on Magento 2. So we suggest you strike the iron while it’s still hot!
And, if you need help migrating your site to Magento 2, feel free to contact us. 🙂