If you ever dealt with ecommerce system development, you probably heard about e-commerce projects labeled as easy: straightforward, obvious and self-explanatory. I beg to differ: it’s the opposite - most of the time you’re dealing with a highly complex software #project!
Google "E-commerce site" and you'll probably get 'a product catalog online with a CTA (adding to shopping cart) and ability to finalize a purchase' - it could be that easy, it could be that dull, unless your goal or ambition is to succeed and/or scale fast.
As I'm trying to pass knowledge about my current ecommerce product development to a new project coordinator, I'm sharing a number of things: business / financial data, cloud storage access for documentation, communication plan and channels, issue tracker, project Wiki, RACI, risk register, password manager content, graphic design, mapping files, project management plan/charters/execution plans, site deployment checklists, specs, etc. And that’s even before I start diving into all the customizations that we implemented and still have coming up in the #product backlog. Indirectly, I’m mentioning ‘things’ but I'm actually listing significant factors that contribute to a conclusion: I'm managing a highly complex project and building an advanced web product. Nothing straightforward, obvious and self-explanatory about it. And to be honest, I actually wanted to high-five the Magento community for that reason.
Again, some might ask, "Hey, it's just e-commerce, what's the big deal?" When working on #ecommerce products, we're doing compound and complex web systems - not a mere cookie-cutter online store risen from cobwebs of click-through self-guided #saas wizards. Therefore, I'm pausing for a quick high-five - not stopping or popping champagne. It's not the end of my professional journey! I know there's better and bigger products to build ahead. I'm glad to be a part of an organization where everyday staff and IT professionals are capable of building, deploying and improving those impressive constructs under a massively underrated label of e-commerce. I’m glad to be able to make it look easy.
