Is Your Adobe Commerce Site Upgraded to the Latest Magento Version?

While you can upgrade your Magento system at any time, the start of a new year is an ideal time to check what version you are running and begin planning for future upgrades. 

With a fresh budget and a newly invigorated drive for your eCommerce success, the new year is the perfect time to reflect on the past and plan for the future.

While you know the long list of benefits of upgrading your software, you may have not considered the risks of letting it fall too far out of date. So, we pulled together three risks of falling behind. 

3 Risks of Not Running the Latest Magento Version

Risk 1: Falling too Far Behind the Latest Version = Longer Deployment Schedule 

When you fall behind on software version upgrades it can feel impossible to catch up. Speaking bluntly, depending on how far behind you are on your Magento Version the process can range from relatively painless to particularly demanding. 

Did you know – the further behind you are on upgrading your Magento software the more likely it is that you missed something substantial in the following releases? The best way to ensure you are upgrading when you need is to stay on top of release notes ensuring you understand how changes will affect your site.

For example, if the latest version upgrade is offering enhancements to the B2B module and you are on the previous version but run a B2C business it may not be worth upgrading until there are changes that could affect your site.

The longer you run an older version of your site, you risk:

• a more expensive upgrade depending on how long you wait.
• a longer, more complicated, upgrade process.
• missing out on new features and functionalities that can improve sales and increase revenue. 

Version 2.4.6 was released on March 14th, 2023 with the beta version of 2.4.7 dropping just a few months after that in October of 2023, making it clear Adobe Commerce is constantly updating and improving their code. What version are you running? 

Risk 2: Increased Security Risks

Outdated software can result in your site: 

• falling victim to a hacker.
• being more vulnerable to malware and malicious code.
• failing to comply with the latest security practices.
• losing customers if their personal information is hacked, translating into lost sales.

Customers trust businesses that prioritize the security of their personal and financial information. Staying on top of the Magento upgrade schedule demonstrates your commitment to protecting customer data, building trust, and growing strong customer relationships. 

Security and performance go hand in hand. Upgrading your Adobe Commerce site to the latest version of Magento ensures that your store benefits from both security patches and performance optimizations. 

Risk 3: Performance Issues

Upgrades often include new and/or improved features and functionalities that can greatly improve your Adobe Commerce site's performance. 

Not staying current impacts:

• your site’s speed and performance.
• your customer’s satisfaction with your site and
• can result in you falling behind your competition.

Identifying ways to give your company a competitive edge while increasing satisfaction with your eCommerce site is critical to reaching your business goals.

Performance updates may include improvements to processes like caching, database queries, indexing, and the catalog, all of which directly impact your ability to not only sell online but do it more efficiently and effectively than your competitors.

By staying fully upgraded, you can deliver a faster, more responsive, and seamless shopping experience for your customers.

Preparing for Future Upgrades 

• Recognize the costs of falling behind on upgrades - deprecated features, outdated code, increased risks to your customer base, and a potentially longer time to complete the upgrade.
• Regular updates won’t happen if you don’t plan ahead. Like the saying goes: “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.”
• Take the time to allocate resources effectively, ensuring that the necessary personnel, time, and budget are available to manage the upgrade process without rushing, thus reducing the likelihood of errors and oversights.
• Seek out advice from Magento Community members - benefit from shared experience, and solutions
  
  

Ready to crush those New Year's eCommerce resolutions?

At Briteskies, we have worked with companies big and small, B2B and B2C, ranging from helping support their site through straightforward updates, to site support through managed services, to robust M1 to M2 migrations to complex Adobe Commerce implementations involving ERP integrations.