Interview with Vijay Golani – Magento Master, Trainer & VP of Development at Wagento

The Magento community is no short of inspiring people who achieved success with the help of Magento. Today, we have Vijay Golani, VP of  Development, Wagento, with us. In this exclusive interview, he sheds light on his career and his experience while working at Wagento as the VP of Project Deployment.

He has a decade long experience, so that is a testimony to his passion for making Magento one of the leading Magento development company. So, without further ado, let’s hear it from the man himself.

Cloudways: Thanks for taking out time from your busy schedule. Please share your career highlights with our readers. 

Vijay: I completed my Bachelor of Engineering in Information & Technology in Aug 2009.

As I set out searching for a job, I managed to work as a Magento trainee in one of the companies. From there onwards, I have only worked on Magento, for the last ten years.

During the initial years, I honed my skills, including Magento customization, extension development/integration, API integration, and Magento performance. Now, I extensively focus on maintaining code quality.

I am one of the certified developer trainers for Magento U. I also conduct interactive sessions at Magento events, regularly.

Cloudways: How will you describe Magento in a single line? 

Vijay: Magento is a complete ecommerce platform that always adapts to the latest technologies.

Cloudways: You have a knack of attaining Magento Certifications. How important is it to get one? How these certifications have helped you grow your skills and career?

Vijay: Getting the Magento Certifications is always a dream come true for any Magento enthusiast. During regular jobs, sometimes I did not get the opportunity to look into areas that I had to check out during certification preparation, so I would say that certification is helping me improve my skills. And regarding career, yes it always helps, You can refer to Peter’s Magento certification survey also.

Cloudways: Being an experienced Magento developer, please share some key points that every developer must focus on before starting any Magento project.

Vijay: Well, here’re some key points that every developer should remember  before starting any Magento project:

• Understand the requirements
• Coding standards
• Module Planning
• Should not be someone else’s code
• Test
• Test
• Test

Cloudways: As Magento 1 support is going to end in June 2020, what’s your suggestion for the users who are still using Magento 1.x? 

Vijay: Magento 1 users, it’s not compulsory that you move to Magento 2 but that decision depends on GWC of Magento 2 for your business. Do you Get it, Want it and have the capacity to do it? If not yet,  then you can continue with M1 and use some third-party services which will provide M1 support after June 2020.

Cloudways: How the Magento community has evolved during the years? What impact did the Community have on your career? 

Vijay: Whatever I have achieved during my career, and whoever I am now in Magento World, I would say it’s because of the Magento Community. Initially, it helped me to learn and grow by leaps and bounds.

In one word: Everything

Cloudways: You are the organizer of Meet Magento India. What would you like to say about this event?

Vijay: This is one of the biggest Magento events in APAC and that is because of sponsors, attendees, and help from Magento. I would like to say a big thank you to all of them. Thanks to Cloudways as well, for sponsoring this event.

Meet Magento India helps the Magento community gather and share their knowledge about the latest updates and happenings in the Magento world.

Cloudways: Name the top 3 Magento events? 

Vijay: Here’re my top 3 Magento events:

• Magento Imagine
• Magento Live EU
• Meet Magento India of course 🙂

I would say all Meet Magento Events.

Cloudways: What’s your reaction to the cancellation announcement for Magento Imagine at Adobe this year and what’s your take on this global health crisis?

Vijay: When I heard about it for the first time, there was a mixed reaction. I am going to miss good sessions, chance to meet new Magento friends and existing Magento friends because this is the one event where sometimes we meet in person once in a year.

But I appreciate the decision because the situation about COVID-19 is getting worse every day. Health should be the first priority.

Cloudways: Share your opinion about official Magento events. Are you planning to attend any Magento event this year?

Vijay: Magento official events are always awesome. Not sure which will be going to happen this year due to COID-19. I would like to attend Magento Live EU at Adobe summit EMEA and Meet Magento Singapore.

Cloudways: Every one of us likes to follow some influencers. Whom do you get inspiration from? Name top Magento influencers who have inspired you.

Vijay: It’s a good feeling that people get inspired by other fellows and colleagues. These people are my inspiration:

• Vikrant Shukla
• Vinai Kopp
• Tales Seeparsan

Cloudways: How do you spend your free time? Do you like sports, traveling, entertainment, or hanging out with friends and family?

Vijay: I like to spend my free time with my family and friends. I enjoy playing with my 5-year-old daughter. I also like watching and playing Cricket.

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]

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