Understanding Magento Development Timelines

If you’re considering Magento as your first e-Commerce platform or you’re migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2, you need to first understand average timelines for these projects. A successful rollout depends upon a realistic set of goals and expectations. Every Magento project is different, as is every timeline. This is what you should know about timing and Magento development projects.

Average Timeframe for a Magento Development Project

Magento development project timelines vary based on the scope of a project. Some businesses need more support than others do. Developers may need to migrate data from other sources, customize the system, customize extensions, integrate existing technologies, and develop custom rules and access control settings to ensure solution functionality.

A full project may take six to nine months or longer to complete. The simplest of projects take a minimum of five months to complete. In addition to basic system setup, new implementations involve a design and strategy-building process. Figure the following processes into a development timeframe:

• In-house planning and preparation. This may take several months as decision makers analyze the need for a new e-Commerce solution, vet developers, determine a budget, select in-house project personnel, and outline expectations.

• Project development. For average Magento projects, estimate six to nine months of development activities. Your developer can help you determine if the project will take more or less time.

• Training and troubleshooting. After the initial setup, user training/adoption and troubleshooting may take a few months. During this phase, businesses often work closely with developers to iron out the kinks in the new e-Commerce system.

Unfortunately, some developers underquote their clients, hoping to earn their business. When obstacles arise a few months into the process, clients face important decisions. They can either continue to pay for unreliable services or start over with a more experienced and credible developer. Beware project timeline quotes that seem too swift. A job well done will take time.

Three Major Factors That Impact Development Timelines

No e-Commerce solution offers a true plug-and-play experience. They all require some level of customization to perform in accordance with business goals and expectations. Three factors that can impact the length of a development timeline include:

• Experience. Developers who have only worked on a few Magento 2 projects will not work as quickly, efficiently, and accurately as more experienced professionals. Many inexperienced developers will overpromise and underperform during the project. Look for developers who provide honest feedback about the timeline and who can demonstrate experience with previous Magento projects. Magento partners with multiple certifications and large portfolios tend to offer the most reasonable development project timelines.

• Client expectations. Clients may expect out-of-the-box functionality or bring a list of complex requests to the table. Even seemingly simple customization requests can take weeks or months to fulfill. Developers must consider code languages, request variables, the need for a new interface, and more to create simple and intuitive user experiences. Customization can enhance business workflows and save time and money, but they will take additional time to complete.

• Unanticipated roadblocks. As businesses learn more about Magento’s capabilities, they often add to the scope and timeline of a project. Unclean data migrations, bug resolution, integration problems, and other roadblocks can also add to the timeline.

The Magento 2 Development Crunch

In November 2018, Magento will stop supporting its Magento 1 platform, which will leave thousands of existing e-Commerce sites vulnerable. Many B2C and B2B businesses need a Magento Solutions Partner to meet their needs; and, only a limited number of certified partners exist. This deadline is creating a massive time crunch in the industry. If thousands of e-Commerce stores plan to migrate to Magento 2 or develop a new Magento site from scratch, the time crunch could affect project timelines for latecomers.

Start Your Magento 2 Ecommerce Project Today

Begin your project early to enjoy a high-functioning, sleek, and profitable e-Commerce site in the next year to ensure an optimized project timeline. Forix can help. At Forix, we’ve completed more than 750 e-Commerce sites. As an Enterprise Magento Solution Partner and end-to-end design firm, we can handle any e-Commerce development request on time. For more information about your project timeline, get in touch with our Magento development team today.