Platform Migration

Our firm belief is that technology should serve the business, not vice versa. We take a pragmatic approach, avoiding the common trap of having features which don’t provide an ROI, whilst bearing in mind that some benefits – such as design – are more intangible.

Our approach is consultative and tailored, as it’s important that we understand your customers and your internal business needs.

Many of the new site builds we conduct are for clients who have an already successful eCommerce presence, and who now need to upgrade or migrate.

A few common reasons we see for switching platform:

• Leaving a proprietary, locked-in platform
• Current platform is obsolete and no longer supported for security releases
• Outgrowing current platform in terms of feature set
• Cost reductions, usually around ongoing maintenance and updates
• Being a non-transactional site, now ready to start selling online
• Simply wanting to refresh the site!
• Breadth of ecosystem for modules and addons
• Frustrations with ease-of-use

As an agency, we favour open-source software such as Adobe Commerce, because it’s incredibly flexible. Partner agencies such as Absolute understand this platform inside-out, and can make any changes you might need, at competitive market rates. Open-source software also benefits from a far wider ecosystem than licensed products, with many reliable module vendors, and security is improved thanks to researchers who help keep the platform secure.

Migrating from a proprietary system can provide a better disaster recovery position, and changes the cost model to a more competitive market-driven approach.

To some extent, migration depends on co-operation from the current vendor, and the ease of exporting data such as products, categories, orders, and customers. If this data export isn’t easy, consider why that may be the case. There's no such lock-in with open-source!

However, there are two imperatives which put a time limit on all solutions: security and maintainability.

Of the two, security is the most important. Your customers and their data are your most valuable asset. Putting their data at risk is not just an ethical concern, it has practical implications, too. There’s no worse publicity than a customer card data being stolen and misused. In the UK, businesses can be fined for security breaches, and, in the worst case, their online card providers may withdraw service.

If your platform is no longer receiving regular security updates, re-platforming is vital. It may seem costly, but the PCI DSS Fines for non-compliance are £4,000 to £80,000 GBP per month, depending on the size of your company and the scale of non-compliance. For a corporate body, the maximum penalty is 0.2% of the total income for the income year that the contravention occurred.