Magento 2 migration – Make a move at the right time

Follow our recommendations to define your perfect time for Magento 2 migration

Doubts about the necessity of Magento 2 migration gave way to confidence once merchants got more insights into business benefits it provides. But migration is not a one-day process. Rather, it’s a creation of a new store based on the old database. Having addressed the question of migration timing seriously, a merchant ensures the process neither interrupts day-to-day operationnor puts the business at a disadvantage. Here are key factors to keep in mind while defining the perfect time for migration.

Roadmap

“Do I plan major changes to my web store in the future?” This is one of the most important questions merchants should ask themselves before starting migration. Along with setting the direction forfurther business development, the answer defines if the migration question is high on the agenda.

The ‘No’ response means that the retailer has no time constraints for the store migration. He or she doesn’t need to rush the decision and can even choose to stay with the first platform versionfor as long as the Magento team keeps on supporting it.

But if a merchant is considering a fundamental redesign, enhanced functionality, store integration with other software systems or any other big changes in the future, a migration move shouldn’t be put off. The process implies a rebuild rather than a simple upgrade. Instead of improving a Magento 1 store and sooner or later migrate it to Magento 2, business owners will save much time and money by doing the exact opposite. Given that themes and extensions are not compatible between Magento versions, it is not rational to invest in the optimization of a Magento 1 store to avoid further double investment.

Promotions

Though the length of the whole Magento 2 migration process strongly depends on the desired functionality, it can take up to 4-6 months. As soon as a Magento 2 store has been created and tested, the merchant will need to cease all the activities in the Magento 1 store to migrate the data in bulk. Therefore, it is necessary to match migration plans to scheduled promotional campaigns. If the process of migration is not worked out carefully, the store may stop working during a high sales season, which will be disappointing both for the ecommerce business and its customers.

Availability of Magento 2 extensions

A chance to reconsider the web store functionality goes as an extra business benefit of Magento 2 migration. Planning an upgraded web store, merchants can analyze what features will contribute to its excellent performance, better customer experience and revenue growth. The choice of relevant Magento 2 extensions is one of the factors determining if it’s rational to migrate now.

A preliminary analysis of Magento Marketplace will show if all the required extensions have been upgraded to Magento 2. If some pieces of functionality are not available so far, merchants may choose either to postpone the migration and wait for a ready-made solution to appear, or to build custom functionality. The latter option requires proficient Magento development efforts, additional investment and time.

Purpose of Magento 2 migration

A reason for migration also determines its timing. Retailers may have heard that the support for the first version will end up in November 2018. With no regard for a current state of their business and plans, they rush the migration only due to security issues. To put some clarity into this, the Magento team does not leave Magento 1 stores to their fate and extends the support with a minimum 18-month notice before its withdrawal. If security is the primary goal for migration, merchants can be flexible with the decision.

With the major aim of enhancing store performance and functionality, a sooner migration will prompt the achievement of the desired business level. From now on, a major focus will be on Magento 2. If migrating, online businessmenensure they take advantage of all further Magento improvements and innovations.

On a final note

Neither of the factors listed above discourages merchants from migrating to Magento 2. We aim to explain that the choice of the right time is one of the steps towards a successful Magento 2 migration. As merchants have no real time constraints, there is no need to rush with the decision. Understanding of the desired functionality of a future store and business plans for the whole period of migration will help to survive the process without sacrificing the performance.

Author bio

Igor Goltsov is a certified Magento developer. With 8+ years in Magento development and 13+ years in PHP development, Igor now applies his deep insights in ecommerce and expert skills at ScienceSoft. As a senior Magento developer, he contributes to complex projects involving implementation of non-trivial platform’s features.