Defining an Upgrade Strategy for Magento 2 Ecommerce

When companies invest in eCommerce, they often think it’s a one-and-done investment and fail to consider future upgrades and ongoing investments. The reality is, an eCommerce initiative is never truly finished. You must think of eCommerce the same way you would a new physical location or an extended channel, as it requires the same level of investment. You need to remain ahead of the trends by introducing new capabilities and functions to exceed your customers’ expectations. In addition, you need to manage security and compliance risks by keeping your site up-to-date.

If your competitors are taking advantage of new capabilities and streamlining processes and you’re dragging your feet, it’s going to be impossible to keep pace.

There are two reasons why companies choose to upgrade. There’s the kind of upgrade that you perform to gain additional features and benefits, such as adding new functionality to your commerce site. You perform this upgrade so you can continue to meet and exceed the needs and expectations of your customers as your organization digitally matures.

Then there’s the kind of upgrade that focuses on security and compliance. You’re approaching this upgrade because you have to rather than having a desire to. When platforms are updated and old versions reach end-of-life, your system becomes a prime target for security breaches, hackers, and compliance issues. And because the platform no longer supports these previous versions, there won’t be anyone to offer support to you or your website. It’s a must-have and a must-do type of upgrade.

For those operating on Magento 1, the need for an upgrade due to security risks is now.

The Magento platform is written on PHP (hypertext preprocessor), an open-source server-side scripting language. As of December 2018, PHP 5.6 has reached end-of-life and all technologies written in this language are no longer supported. What does that mean to you? It means that no additional development will occur, including any known security patches. In previous years, updates to the Magento platform have featured new releases and updates to PHP. However, this is no longer the case. Failing to upgrade will place your business at risk for a security breach, while simultaneously putting your site out of PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance as well.

When Magento 1 reaches end of life, upgrading to Magento 2 will become a required step to ensure you protect yourself and your business. If you fail to make these upgrades, it won’t be a matter of if you’re going to be attacked; it will be a matter of when.

As a commerce site operating on Magento, you’re collecting sensitive and private information such as names, addresses, credit card numbers, and more. Without Magento’s security support or patches, hackers will have an easier time accessing that information and making your business vulnerable. You will not only make your site a target for hackers and external attacks, but also open yourself up to bad press, possible lawsuits due to negligence, and other damaging risks.

While security is the most pressing reason to upgrade, Magento 2 also provides additional benefits to your business and your customers. Working with a trusted partner that has the expertise in Magento and PHP will ensure you get the benefits of an extended upgrade, set your business up for future growth, align your future upgrades to get your ROI, and continue to maintain your compliance, security, and eCommerce growth.

By moving to Magento 2, you can take your commerce experience to the next level. Some of the benefits of upgrading include:

• Improved site performance
• Out-of-the-box responsive design themes
• Improved efficiency for business users
• Faster checkouts
• Enriched product merchandising
• Simplified paths to purchase
• Faster and easier customization

Implementing Magento’s patch is an excellent option to avoid security breaches and will buy you time until the end of the year. However, it’s imperative you start your upgrade to Magento 2 now. To stay aligned with compliance and maintain adequate security measures, upgrading won’t be an option when Magento 1 reaches end-of-life. Given the extensive work that goes into the upgrade process and the time commitment required, the sooner you begin the better.