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Magento is hands down the most powerful eCommerce platform in terms of extensibility and customization capabilities to meet your specific business needs. If you’re considering hiring an agency to develop your Magento eCommerce website, hiring one that’s certified is simply the right thing to do. 

Now, we know what you’re thinking. Why do I need a Magento Certified Solution Partner to build my eCommerce website? Why not just go with a less expensive, non-certified development agency or even a freelancer? And that’s a good question. The answer depends on your situation.

If you’re an enterprise-class retailer building or maintaining a Magento eCommerce website, being Magento certified is an essential requirement for any agency you hire. The number of certifications and partnership badge are proof positive that the agency has the credentials to ensure your project and/or ongoing eCommerce maintenance is a success. Having a non-certified eCommerce agency work on your eCommerce website, your bread and butter, is like undergoing brain surgery with a “doctor” that doesn’t have a medical degree. 

Experienced, reliable, and competent eCommerce development partners are the key to the success of any project. Here are three key reasons why you should work with a Magento Certified Solution Partner:

Magento is a Powerful and Robust Platform

Powerful tools that allow you to pull off amazing things with just the blink of an eye are rare, and Magento follows suit. With all the advanced features of Magento and the power of the platform, there comes a steep learning curve. 

It’s a complex eCommerce platform that’s difficult to learn on your own. A deep understanding of the platform capabilities and best practice methodology typically requires formalized training and mentoring from a larger team. If an individual is able to master the Magento environment without any additional support, developing and implementing a large-scale Magento eCommerce website is a team project. 

You need access to a team of certified Magento developers and certified solution architects who work together to collaborate on approaches and divide and conquer to develop and successfully deliver your site. This is something you’ll get by working with a Magento Partner Agency. 

There are a variety of requirements in order to become an official Magento/Adobe Solution Partner, the most important being that partner levels require having a certain number of Magento-certified resources on staff. Those are people who have passed the rigorous Magento exams and maintain their certification through continuous learning and development. 

Magento Keeps Solution Partners in the Know

Becoming a Magento Partner Agency requires hard work and commitment. In addition to the well-earned recognition that partner agencies get, they have access to exclusive Magento content. This includes webinars on product roadmaps for upcoming features, training and enablement, access to new releases earlier than the general public, and much more. 

So, what does this mean to you as an eCommerce business owner? It means that working with a Magento Certified Solution Partner will help you future-proof your eCommerce website. As your agency knows about new features before they roll out, they’ll help you avoid any clashes between updates and your existing website. They’ll also help strategize on the best use of new features for you to improve your customer journey, conversions, and bottom-line dollars. 

This kind of insider knowledge will place you ahead of your competitors. A certified eCommerce agency will stay ahead of the Magento eCommerce technology curve. This helps them ensure the product roadmap and your business goals align and be ready for and familiar with feature changes in advance. That’s not the case with non-partner agencies or freelance resources.  

Magento Certified Solution Partners Introduce Less Risk

The risk of working with a non-certified Magento agency is not a gamble worth taking. The most common reason a retailer would consider working with an agency that’s not a certified Magento/Adobe Solution Partner is to lower overall project cost or save on ongoing maintenance and support fees. With the number of things that can-and will-go wrong, this risk is something you shouldn’t be willing to take.

Following Magento eCommerce Platform Best Practices

Agencies that are Solutions Partners are more aligned with best practices documented by Magento and follow those practices when developing and deploying your eCommerce website. This means that your online store will encounter less painful upgrades and security patches, take less time for deployment- meaning less downtime, and cost you less time and money for ongoing support and to implement feature enhancements. The web is an ever-changing area of digital possibilities, especially when it comes to building and launching successful eCommerce solutions. As things change, it is best to work with a Magento Solution Partner agency that stays on top of these changes and the impact they have on the digital marketplace and your eCommerce website.

Insider Knowledge and Support

Magento Solution Partners have invaluable insider knowledge. When a software release is made available, they will never be surprised. They’ll know about it before it rolls out and evaluate the impact any update will have on your website in advance. Magento partners have access to Magento Commerce technical support and Magento certified developers are also given priority escalation paths for issues. That means your Magento support and maintenance issues are solved faster and more effectively than competitors without Magento certified developers. 

Certified Staff Working On Your Project

When you work with a Magento Solution Partner, you can expect that your project team will consist of certified Magento Solution Architects as well as certified developers. In a partner agency, resources have confirmed their knowledge at the international level, have passed official certification exams, and received a “license” for development in the field of Magento. Only a small percentage of Magento developers have a certificate confirming their qualifications and professionalism. Wouldn’t you rather have someone with proven expertise working on your eCommerce website? 

TL;DR

Working with a Magento Certified eCommerce agency is one thing you can do to ensure getting an eCommerce website that follows industry best practices, supports your specific business goals and objectives, performs well, and will require less downstream maintenance and support costs. The overwhelming benefits that come from working with a Magento Certified Solution Partner eCommerce agency should not be pushed aside for cost and make working with such agencies an easy choice.