On 30th May 2017, Jason Woosley at Magento (SVP Product & Technology) made an important announcement regarding the end of life for Magento 1, on the company blog.
Here’s some of what he had to say.
“Magento stands behind our customers and will never leave a customer behind – you can rest assured that we have your back at every turn. Magento 1 has been and will continue to be supported for the foreseeable future………Lastly, we are committing to a minimum 18-month notice before we make any changes to our support levels.”
So what does this mean for Australian merchants?
The original cut-off date for Magento 1 was November 2018, but based on this announcement it looks like this is set to be pushed back into 2019, if they’re going to give 18 months notice and no revised date has been declared yet.
This is important for existing merchants who are already on Magento 1 and are concerned about the costs associated with re-platforming to Magento 2 and switching to the new CMS leading into to the busiest time of year.
Merchants should still start the upgrade process in 2018 if they’re holding off in 2017, however this will give them a little more time on their Magento 1 platform to help generate revenue for the upgrade.
Why should I upgrade?
Technically there’s no reason why you can’t continue to use Magento 1 indefinitely, but as soon as Magento stops supporting the platform important security patches will no longer be released. If you decide to stay on Magento 1 past this date, your site WILL get hacked.
The sooner you switch the Magento 2 the earlier you will get access to the new features and functionality and any investment in the platform can be built upon, rather than investing in a platform that’s going to be replaced.
If you’re planning on staying on Magento 1 and need a hand maintaining and optimising your website, be sure to take a look at our Magento support and maintenance services.
If you’re ready to start the discussion about upgrading to Magento 2, you can read more about our Magento 2 upgrade service.
