Migration Has Begun

The massive work project of migrating E-commerce software version 4.x to version 7.2 has begun in earnest this week. It's going to get crazy busy around here. Although my role is not directly involved in inbound calls or tickets, but monitoring inbound calls and scoring them for quality, I am tasked with helping out as much as I can when necessary.

As I have predicted, the main brunt of the reaction so far mainly deals with the 'newness' factor. The merchants are accustomed to running their business and web site a certain way on a daily basis and the new system is laid out very differently. Certainly, the most glaring issues are features that were in version 4.x, but are not yet in version 7.2. Some of them are coming soon, but some of them will never be implimented. There is a certain moment of "Why'd You Remove That Feature?!" that occurs, but it's not insurmountable.

What surprises me are the slightly nitpick requests for minor changes that from a certain point of view seem really irrelevant. Software improvements that would benefit all clients using version 7.2 --even those clients that have never seen version 4.6-- are very important and going to get put at the top of the list. But examples that are mundane or easily ignored make me scratch my head. For instance, in v4, when a merchant viewed their orders the customer's shipping information was on the right and their billing information was on the left. However, version 7 has this on the opposite side. If you have a whole team of employees and they're used to it on the other side, this might be a feature request that would seem important. But hopefully everyone understands that this is not make or break.

As an analogy, imagine that I'm going to take away your old jalopy of a vehicle and replace it with a fancy hot rod sports car with all the modern features. It's gonna be the most spectacular ride you've ever sat in, let alone driven. However, there's just one problem. It was made in Germany for British customers. The driver's side is on the right side rather than the left. So, would you sheepishly ask me about this feature? Would you request that it be moved back to the other side like you are used to? Heck no! You'd get in that kitten and make it purr. (...did I really just type that? Yuck.)

This new software is that hot rod. It's the hot rod that everyone's been waiting for. The uninitiated would assume that the whole left/right thing wouldn't even warrant a mention among other more important improvements that are already coming soon. The uninitiated would be wrong...

• Billing/shipping Information
• Please Put The Billing And Shipping Address In Standard Position

Don't get me wrong. I'm not judging these requests and I'm not in a position at the company to affect the decisions on what features get implemented and which ones don't. I'm thankful for that too, as it is likely a stressful position. I guess I'd just like to say that version 7 is damn good and I'm ready to evangelize it to anyone who will listen.

My favorite response to the new version? Check this out.

[The old version]... was working, why change? Did anybody ask for this change? Who said, things are running very smooth, lets screw everything up! How do we switch back to the previous version? [more details]

Who asked for change? Well, I'm really trying not be too blunt here, but you did. Yes, you: Mr. or Mrs. John Q. Client. Our clients as a group were asking for large feature changes across the board and our software development team has delivered those:

• Better stability
• Better SEO features
• Better integration with QuickBooks®
• Keyword URLs
• Better WYSIWYG editor
• ...and ridiculous amounts of little usability improvements all over the place!

Certainly there have been some hiccups along the way --as there will be in any major upgrade like this. I don't know how many times I need to repeat this, but the entire e-commerce platform was re-written from the ground up, starting with code line one. Does this mean that certain more obscure features, such as an export tailor-made for Endicia, might not be implemented right away? Yes. Does this mean that these very very intelligent and adaptable merchants and business owners will have to adjust to new ways of working? Yes! Once they get over that hump will they have the best solution that money can buy? Well, you be the judge. I already know my answer.