With over a decade now in the e-commerce industry, Magento has captured the market in its true sense. It is one of the top choices for any e-commerce business and has been leading the center stage for providing feature loaded online stores platform.
What makes Magento outstanding apart from its features is the scalability, extensions available and the ease of customization. All this and more makes it an ideal and robust platform for conducting any online business. The sites built on Magento are usually high performing.
However, choosing Magento isn’t the end of the road. In fact, it is just the beginning. You need to choose the right development partner who understands Magento, your business, and can offer you with the best suitable solution for your scenario.
To achieve the desired result with Magento, here are 7 points that we have compiled for you to know before you sign the dotted line and give the reigns of your site in the hands of any development company:
- Expectation vs Experience
The starting point should be to list down your expectation from your site. List all the features and functionalities that are critical to you and will help you in promoting your business. Once you have your expectations in place, it will be easy for you to shortlist the vendors accordingly.
Do not bother if you are not clear on your expectations. An experienced development company should be able to guide you through it during the initial consultation. Talk to others, who can give you an insight about the obstacles they faced and ask questions to the development company about those issues.
If you already own an E-commerce store and wish for an up- gradation to Magento, only a highly seasoned developer can only help in such a transition. Therefore, look into the company’s past projects to get an insight about their experience in dealing with complex scenarios.
- Resources and Time
Another point is to look at the resource the vendor has to complete your project on time. Most of the new vendors may provide you cheap services but may not have sufficient resources to fulfill the tasks. The project is delayed and you are stuck with the vendor. Having skilled resources is important for a development project to run smoothly. You can also inquire them about the availability of a stand-in project manager as his role is vital to the completion of the project. Since your entire business depends on this site, you should ask them about the transition strategy in case the existing manager leaves the project in between.
The company you intend to give your project to should have high-end resources with enough developers, designers and high-speed internet connection with backup for an uninterrupted communication. This increases productivity on both ends.
- Pre-post Development Support :
Since developing an e-commerce site on Magento is not a day’s job. It also requires being monitored and updated from time to time. The pre-development consultation covers requirement gathering and analysis, while post-development support includes bug fixes and issue resolutions before it goes live. Look into these services for the following benefits:
- Better Performance
- The addition of new features in accordance with the changing requirements.
- c) Efficiency in operations.
4. Pricing & Quality :
Clarity on the pricing of the project is important, therefore understand the pricing policy of the company who will handle your Magento Development project. Be sure to know the increase in prices in case of changes in the requirements if any in the middle of the project. You should be fully aware before starting the project with them to avoid any unforeseen expenses at your end.
Negotiate with them if you find it overpriced. Also look into the quality of their past project to decide if the rates they charge are fair for the work they deliver. If you are getting a cutting-edge business solution for a little extra amount, then taking that deal is not at all a bad idea considering the competitive social environment. Companies with certifications like ISO & CMMi are sure to deliver quality products to their clients and offer support on their delivered products after deployment.
- Communication Mechanism
Communication between the developer and the stakeholder is indispensable for the success of any project. Check for the company’s communication mechanism and strategy with their vendors to be involved in the progress of your project.
It becomes more vital to the project if the development is taking place offshore. You need to be constantly informed right from the kick-off to the delivery of your projects. Check for the following devices to see if they have means to establish an effective communication mechanism:
Audio and video conferencing: if there are geographical constraints and travel are required for the face-to-face meeting, then the need to have robust audio-visual set up is necessary.
Chat tools: Skype and Google Talk help in exchange of short messages and information where a meeting is not required.
Sharing Tool : This is required if the project is completed in iteration and is shared in stages with you.
- Process and Methodologies
Process and methodologies for the backbone of software development projects. Right processes and procedures keep the project on track from the beginning to the end. Development processes need to attain maturity with time through identification of key practices, code quality, good engineering and management practices, and continuous process improvement. All these are necessary to deliver successful projects on time.
For example, quality process improvement models like CMMI enhance the value to your web or software development project:
- Brings steadiness in the development lifecycle
- Compliance framework for assessment of tools and technologies
- Provides room for project planning
- Eliminates rework to a large extent
- Reduction in risk
- Emphasis on design, coding and timelines
- Timely Defect Management & Root Cause Analysis
- Finish the product rightly on time
Quality is of utmost importance because you site will be used by numerous customer whose purchases will depend on the quality of your site and services. Your business growth depends largely on it, therefore invest your time and effort judiciously in this feature.
- Customer References
Once everything is in place, the next logical thing is to check the references provided by the company. Similar to checking their past projects, reference checking is useful if you are dealing with the company for the first time.
Though the company will have testimonials, case studies and client details on their website, yet it is advisable to ask them for customer reference directly.
The following questions may help you to get an insight about the company from their past customers:
- The communication process between the developers and stakeholders?
- Delivery of the project on time and within the budget? If not, what were the reasons?
- Pre-and post-project support
- Would they recommend the company to you?
You can more to these basic questions depending on your requirement.
With all these points, you can be sure to land your project in safe hands. One such company is WebBee Global which compliments to all these above pointers. The teams have extensive knowledge and experience in software development and site management. They cater to all types of clients irrespective of the geographical locations and act as their local partners shunning the language barriers. You can get assured quality services at cost-effective prices and their post-deployment support is one of the best in the industry.
