In our interview series, we continue to publish amazing and thoughtful discussions with Magento experts. Since Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration is such a hot topic right now, we decided to interview Kalpesh Mehta, a 6x certified Magento expert to share his thoughts on this topic and much more.
Let’s start with his career highlights.
Cloudways: Kalpesh, it is great to have you with us today. Please tell us briefly about your career.
Kalpesh: Thank you for having me onboard today. I have over 11 years of LAMP stack development experience with 8+ years exclusively served with Magento platform. I started my career in 2008 as a Senior PHP Developer in Mumbai, and since then I have worked on many Content Management Systems (CMSs) and Model, View, Controller (MVC) frameworks. Also, working on Magento since 2011.
I am excited to share that last year I was one of the top 50 Magento contributors in the world. I became a member of the Magento Certification Advisory Board and started working at a Magento Global Elite Solution Partner. Now I am managing their top Magento accounts as an Engineering Manager at Corra.
Cloudways: Why have you chosen Magento as there are other ecommerce platforms already available?
Kalpesh: In the beginning of 2011, I received two offers when I was looking for a job. One was on Zend Framework (for Shaadi.com) and the other one was on Magento (for Inkfruit.com). I had some experience on Zend Framework, but Magento was a new platform for me. I chose Magento because I liked the idea of the startup and wanted to build their ecommerce website on it. It was a unique idea and the team was very enthusiastic. On top of that, I accepted the challenge to build a brand new website in two to three months on a totally unfamiliar framework.
Cloudways: What difficulties did you face while achieving Magento certifications?
Kalpesh: I have found that Magento 2 certifications are harder than Magento 1 certifications. They are scenario-based, while Magento 1 certifications are focused on memorization. It was hard to keep up with the latest technology integrations in Magento, and to pass the certification exams. I am now 4x Magento 2 certified – associate, frontend, developer and developer plus.
It has definitely expanded my knowledge in Magento, and helped me identify the weaknesses that I had to improve my skills. Certifications also helps in job hunts, many companies give preference to certified candidates over non-certified candidates.
Cloudways: Can you list valuable resources that can help newbies learn Magento development?
Kalpesh: Sure, here you go:
- Mage2 TV
- Magento Stack Exchange
- Magento DevDocs
- Magento Community Forum
- Magento on-demand courses
- My own blog 😉
Cloudways: How would you compare Magento 1 with Magento 2? Do you think Magento 1.x users must upgrade their stores to Magento 2? If yes, then why?
Kalpesh: Magento 1 and Magento 2 are completely different platforms. That’s why when you move from Magento 1 to Magento 2, it’s called a migration. Magento 1.x merchants should migrate to Magento 2.x as soon as possible before the Magento 1.x sunsets next year. It’s not easy to migrate to Magento 2, as it takes months. So now is the best time to do it if you have not already done that.
After the Magento 1 sunset, it will no longer be officially supported. There won’t be bug fixes and security updates from Magento. Staying on Magento 1 means you accept to run the store with bugs and security issues that can compromise sensitive user data. If you are not partnered with someone who actively searches and fixes these kinds of issues regularly, it’s a risky bet. So migrate your store right away before the time is up.
Cloudways: Please share your thoughts for the Magento community? How important is it for the growth of Magento platform? How would you summarize the Magento community in one word?
Kalpesh: Magento is known for its strong community. The commitment that the community shows to the platform is just amazing. And given such a large community, it’s not an easy task to always keep them engaged. But Sherrie Rohde, Magento community manager, is a master at it.
One reason Adobe acquired Magento was because of its community. It is that important!
If you ask me, Magento community is like a family to me. One big happy family.
Cloudways: What’s the Future Of Magento in Your Opinion? Any predictions for 2020?
Kalpesh: I see Magento integrated with other Adobe products. It’s already a part of Adobe Experience Cloud. It also integrates with Adobe Analytics Cloud, Adobe Marketing Cloud, and Adobe Advertising Cloud.
On the other hand, Magento itself is moving towards Modular architecture, which will allow granular updates by module versus monolithic version upgrades present in Magento 1.
Cloudways: Can you please share your workplace picture?
Kalpesh: Yes, here you go:
Cloudways: You were featured among the top 50 Magento contributors. Congratulations! Share your thoughts on this achievement and what you did to get that honor?
Kalpesh: Thank you! It is an honor to be among the top Magento contributors worldwide. I dedicated most of my time to Magento in 2018, and am also doing the same in 2019. I like contributing to Magento. It helps me to gain even more knowledge.
Last year, I organized meetups, contributed to Magento professional developer plus workshop, submitted critical security bugs to Magento and helped developers through my own blog. This year, I am doubling my efforts by also participating in Magento Community Engineering team as a maintainer, helping Magento with Hindi and Gujarati translations, and advocating Magento security in the community.
Cloudways: What are your views about Magento events? How do they help in growing the Magento community?
Kalpesh: Events are the great place to understand what is happening in the community. I go to events to meet new people and stay in touch with them. Magento events provide a great opportunity to learn new things and get updated on the upcoming new features if you are new to the community. If you are technical, you do not want to miss Magento Architecture talk by Igor Miniailo, Olga Kopylova, etc.
Last year, meetups and conferences were organized in 30 different countries. One of the reasons, Magento is growing big is because of these events. It’s outreach to various cities and countries around the globe is amazing. Conferences like Magento Imagine and Magento Live allow you to network with people internationally, and local meetups allow you to meet with people from Magento agencies and merchants in your own city.
Cloudways: How do you maintain the work-life balance? Do you like sports, traveling, entertainment, or hanging out with friends and family?
Kalpesh: I do some long trips in a year to give my family some personal time. Every day, I watch TV with my family and play with kids. I also do get-togethers with my friends. I love cricket, and I am a fan of team blue. PS: I am already excited for the next match of India.
Cloudways: Every one of us likes to follow influencers to get inspiration. Name top Magento influencers who have inspired you?
Kalpesh: I get inspiration from Ben Marks, Sherrie Rohde, and all the top Magento Masters. The work they do for the community is simply amazing!
Cloudways: We provide 1-Click Magento installation with impressive speed & great cloud infrastructures embedded within the platform. I would like you to try Cloudways and share your honest feedback on this matter.
Kalpesh: Thanks for the invitation to try Cloudways. I tried Cloudways and was thrilled to use the service. It’s very easy and fast, and you don’t need technical knowledge to setup applications and modify things. Most of the things just require a click. You can even spin up new servers and scale the cloud on-the-fly within minutes!
UI and UX are also great and user-friendly. I believe it has a huge potential to host many Magento powered web stores.
Connect with Kalpesh on Twitter and feel free to ask him more questions related to Magento. Or, you can also comment below with your questions and we will ask Kalpesh to reply to them.
Abdur Rahman
Abdur Rahman is the Magento whizz at Cloudways. He is growth ambitious, and aims to learn & share information about Ecommerce & Magento Development through practice and experimentation. He loves to travel and explore new ideas whenever he finds time. Get in touch with him at [email protected]
