The sphere of web-based commerce is forever developing – fresh features getting launched with the latest releases, all created to keep you ahead of the competitors. However, this means that every version of any software will stretch to a stage where constraints sneak up, and it will become increasingly hard to employ these new features.
Determining when to upgrade your ecommerce platform is not a light undertaking. You should first contemplate the worth of what you are procuring vs. the cost of the upgrade and your estimated business requirements. You can begin the process by posing a few questions to yourself:
Have you been running on your present platform version for greater than two years?
SAP Commerce platform versions stretch to their end-of-life nearly two years subsequent to their launch, as fresh features are added to strengthen the e-commerce technology. This means that technical support for that version of the platform will no longer be available and it will be difficult to find patches for bugs you find later on in the platform. This could lead to performance and security problems in the future. Essentially, we advocate upgrading once in two to three years to the latest version possible, to keep your e-commerce platform functioning as seamlessly as possible.
Is your present-day platform satisfying all your business requirements?
Certain smaller businesses may discover that their extant platform is adequately satisfying all their business requirements and upgrading would simply facilitate features they don’t require. Nevertheless, others may discover that they’re seeking features and functionality from the latest versions of the same platform that aren’t readily integrated with what they’re running now. Alternatively, they may need an e-commerce platform that engages customers and boosts sales with real-time contextual offers. Now is the time to examine where you would choose to witness elevation in performance that may come from a newer version.
Is your business envisaged to evolve further in the coming years? Will your requirements be altering or extending?
Possibly, your platform version has satisfied all your present-day business requirements, but now you’re considering to advance – extend into new geographies or update your omni-channel strategy. If you are expecting that kind of development in the coming years, it would be intelligent to update to the latest platform version to continue support, and scale features and functionality to satisfy your estimated requirements.
