Magento Implementation Process

Even though Magento is very popular and used widely, it still is one of the most complicated platforms to implement. Therefore, its implementation should be properly planned and carried out accordingly, in a way that the process will go smoothly and with no problems. Typical Magento implementation can be divided into a few stages.

The Stages of Magento Implementation

The most important Magento implementation stage is pre-implementation analysis, modeling and tests, graphic design, proper implementation (Magento optimization is very important during this stage) and layout coding, integrations, tests and corrections, production launch, further measurement, and optimization.

  
PRE-IMPLEMENTATION ANALYSIS – THE FIRST STAGE OF MAGENTO IMPLEMENTATION

Pre-implementation analysis is the first stage of the actual implementation process of Magento. It is a key step in principle to correctly carry out the whole process, unfortunately, it is often neglected, which then leads to a mutual misunderstanding of both sides of the project at the implementation stage. A properly conducted analysis should result in two documents. A functional analysis describing particular functionalities of the website, often supported by attached functional mock-ups together with the interaction project and in case of integration with third systems – technical analysis containing a summary of information, methods, and data exchange ways.

 
MAKING A MAGENTO STORE

The mock-up stage is another extremely important stage that allowing to visualize the operation of the website before actually preparing the graphics or writing any code. Changes at the stage of modeling will always be cheaper than the same changes at the stage of graphic design or proper implementation. Therefore, if you deploy an online store from scratch, you should never skip the mock-up step. This stage is very often carried out simultaneously with the functional analysis stage.

The two stages should be concluded with a set of functional mock-ups, a document with technical analysis, a document with functional analysis, a written backlog of the implementation including all tasks along with estimates of their performance and a detailed work schedule.

GRAPHIC DESIGN OF A MAGENTO STORE

Graphic design should be a consequence of carrying out two previous stages. It is important not to limit it just to the main page, categories and product tabs at the design stage. In the case of services with a larger budget, in the preparation of which high quality of work is required, more than 40 subpage projects are prepared, so that each element is fine-tuned to the smallest detail.

 
MAGENTO LAYOUT CODING AND PROGRAMMING IMPLEMENTATION IN MAGENTO

You should proceed to the implementation phase of programming and the proper coding of the store after carrying out all previous actions. Only this approach guarantees that what we receive will actually coincide with what we have planned. The implementation itself can be carried out in different methodologies, with agile methodologies, including scrum, being the most popular. In order to better control the implementation process, it’s good to use the project management software well, the most popular are JIRA (the best, but also the most expensive), Trello, less frequently Redmine or Active Collab.

MAGENTO INTEGRATION WITH EXTERNAL SERVICES

At this stage, integrations with external systems are conducted. The systems include:

– ERP systems (the most popular on the Polish market are SAP, Comarch Optima, Comarch CDN XL, Enova, Stremasoft Verto, Microsoft Dynamics, Subiekt GT or Subiekt Nexo, WF Mag)

– PIM systems (Pimcore, Akeneo)

– CRM systems (odoo, Salceforce)

– WMS systems (Linker)
  
In the case of integration between more than two systems, the ESB is worth consideration. It allows for the standardization of data exchange processes and, consequently, their improvement.

MAGENTO IMPLEMENTATION TESTS

Each implementation should be tested, not only before the production release but also on a regular basis from describing the code through unit tests of the PHP Unit with functional tests. Some of the tests, such as critical path tests, can be automated e.g. using Selenium software. For larger projects for Magento testing, use the Functional Testing Framework and PWA Magento Studio.