Migrate or still wait? If your store is operating on Magento 1.x, this would probably be the question on your mind for long.
This blog highlights the factors you should know to take up migration as the top priority.
And also, we will knock down the steps involved in the entire process to help you arrive at a close-to-accurate cost to upgrade to Magento 2 and the time required.
Why Migrate to Magento 2 – Top 4 Reasons to Consider
End of Support
The buzz around Magento ending its support for 1.x is trending as it is only a few months left. Apart from the end of life for Magento 1 (June 2020), there are other factors insisting Magento 1.x users to migrate.
PCI Compliance Violation
If a store is operating on a platform that is no longer supported by its vendor (in this case, Magento), it violates PCI’s security standards. By violating PCI compliance your store will be unable to accept credit card payments and also incur penalties for non-compliance.
Agency Bottleneck
The number of Magento agencies that can perform the migration are less in number compared to the number of stores waiting to get migrated to Magento 2. If you delay further, there might not be agencies to take up your migration project.
Advancements in Magento 2 that address challenges in Magento 1
| Parameters | Magento 1 Challenges | Magento 2 Advantages |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | Losing customers due to slow website loading speed | 50% faster-loading speed than Magento 1 |
| Checkout Speed | High cart abandonment rate due to a slow checkout experience | Magento 2’s checkout is 38% faster than Magento 1 which decreases cart abandonment. |
| Orders Handled | Limited orders per hour | Can handle 117% more orders per hour than Magento 1 |
| Catalog Page Views | Average range of page views per hour | Can handle 2.1 millions more page views per hour |
| Mobile User Experience | Mobile conversions decreasing | Improved mobile shopping and better user experience |
| Security | Security updates soon to be discontinued. | Improved performance and security. |
| Features | No new features henceforth | New features added with every release and Magento will inherit Adobe’s advantages as well. |
| Analytics | Need advanced reporting and analytics | Advanced reporting – Magento Business Intelligence |
Choosing Magento 2 over Magento 1 is the need of the hour as it has become a technical emergency, to say the least.
Having discussed the reasons, let’s move on to the cost and time involved in the migration process. It’s difficult to figure out a close-to-accurate budget so let’s break down the various blocks of a migration process to arrive at a better clarity for the overall idea on cost.
Breakdown – Magento 1 to 2 Migration Cost
Magento License Fee
If you are choosing Magento 2 Open Source (Community Edition), no license cost adds up as it’s completely free to use. If you are going for Magento Commerce (Enterprise Edition), you’d have to pay the annual license fee.
For the Enterprise Edition, the annual licensing fee starts from $22,000/yr. For the hosted version of the Enterprise Edition (Magento Commerce Cloud), the license fee can range from $40,000/yr to $190,000/yr.
Magento Commerce Cost
| Companies with gross sales revenue | Magento 2 Commerce (Enterprise) | Magento 2 Commerce Cloud (Enterprise+AWS cloud) |
|---|---|---|
| $0 $1 million | $22,000.00 | $40,000.00 |
| $1 – $5 million | $32,000.00 | $55,000.00 |
| $5 – $10 million | $49,000.00 | $80,000.00 |
| $10 – $25 million | $75,000.00 | $120,000.00 |
| $25 $50 million | $125,000.00 | $190,000.00 |
Note:As per Magento, the license fee is negotiable for merchants who prefer the hosted Enterprise version. So your Magento 2 migration cost will differ accordingly.
Data Import Requirements
Data migration covers the migration of crucial information such as orders, product data like attributes, description, specifications, meta titles, tags and customers information like wishlist, profile details etc., Make a list of the Magento 1.x site data that you actually need so that you can save a few dollars by leaving behind unwanted data while migrating.
Extensions / Third-party Extension Migration
Magento 1 extensions can’t be reused in Magento 2. You’ll have to identify extensions built with similar features on Magento 2 to make things work perfectly. If you are not able to find such extensions, you’ll have to build from the scratch.
Based on the complexity of the customizations in 3rd party Magento 1 extensions, your Magento 2 migration cost and timeline will increase.
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Theme Building
When it comes to theme migration, you cannot use the existing Magento 1 theme in Magento 2 as there are differences in the coding and frontend templates. You’ll have to build a theme for Magento 2 which might take up weeks. Else, you can buy a Magento 2 theme. Since spending on a theme is an unavoidable expense, buying a new theme can save time.
Customization / Magento 1 Customization to Magento 2
If you have done custom code changes in Magento 1 you’ll need developers to make it compatible with Magento 2.
Magento 2 Migration Timeline
| Data Import Requirements | Around 2 weeks |
|---|---|
| 3rd-party extension migration | A few days if the extensions are compatible. If not, a week or more. |
| Theme | A few weeks to a month if you are building a new theme |
| Customization | A few days based on the complexity of the custom code changes made in Magento 1.x |
| Installation and set up | A couple of days for installation and set up of your Magento 2 store on the dev server. |
| Testing | It would take more than a week for testing your Magento 2 website and fixing compatibility issues that arise post-migration. |
| Note: If you have a basic Magento 1 store with no customized third-party extensions and you’re ready to buy a Magento 2 theme, the migration can be done in a week or so. | |
Summary of Magento 2 Migration Cost and Timeline
Apart from the cost of the license fee, developers’ efforts required for data, theme, extension and customization compatibility adds to your overall cost. To choose a reliable agency for your Magento Development, go for official Adobe Commerce partners who have certified developers. The average range of developer costs in such agencies would be around $50 to $70 USD per hour.
Disclaimer: The cost mentioned in this article is approximate and largely varies depending on your requirements and the agency you choose.
Based on your store’s technical requirements, calculate the cost it would take for your migration project. If you need further help in calculating your budget and time, our experts can help.
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