Ottozeus

Since 2018 we have worked for Ottozeus GmbH on their Magento 1 e-commerce platform, which now runs on the current OpenMage version. Looking for better support and a clearer outlook on Magento 2, the client was won over by our usual fair advice.

Against the prevailing mood among Magento partner agencies at the time, which was to port every project to Magento 2 to grow their own revenue, we made the cost-benefit ratio for the client the deciding criterion. The client has not regretted that decision to this day, and with OpenMage, a further-developed open-source fork of Magento 1, the platform remains well suited to meeting the business objectives.

We certainly do not shut ourselves off from the newest technologies, but profitability has to carry real weight in the decision, so that budget is available for the goals that matter. Those goals do not stand or fall with the version number of the e-commerce application.

• Stability and familiarity:
  • Your Magento 1 platform is stable and familiar.
  • Your team knows the processes and features well.
  • Moving to a new platform requires training and a settling-in period.
• Cost efficiency:
  • A relaunch on Magento 2 can incur considerable costs.
  • Those costs cover licensing, implementation and customisation.
  • As long as your current platform meets your business requirements, that money may well be better invested elsewhere.
• Extensions and customisations:
  • Your Magento 1 platform may hold bespoke extensions and integrations.
  • These would have to be rebuilt or adapted for Magento 2, which can add complexity and cost.
• Security measures:
  • Because official support for Magento 1 was discontinued, the community has continued to support the project through the OpenMage variant. There will be security updates and maintenance of the codebase today and for many years to come.
  • These services can help keep the platform secure and functional without the need for a full relaunch.
• Time required:
  • Moving to Magento 2 is a substantial project that demands careful planning and a considerable amount of time.
  • During that transition phase there can be interruptions and inefficient operation.
  • Avoiding that phase can save your company time and resources that are better spent on day-to-day business and growth.

The difficulty on this project lay in a design relaunch that was hard to estimate. Although the initial platform had not been built by Cartware GmbH, we understandably had to commit to the task at a fixed price. During implementation we kept discovering inadequate work in the codebase of the project we had taken over, which had to be corrected.
Thanks to what was already, in 2018, ten years of Magento experience, the project could be handed over to a satisfied client, without exceeding the quote of course.