Migrating to Akeneo 2.0: Transition Simplified

We understand that businesses may be cautious in migrating from Akeneo PIM 1.7 to Akeneo PIM 2.0. This new release is the most extensive update since our 1.0 launch in 2014. However, following our philosophy of keeping things simple, we’ve worked to ensure the transition will be smooth and straightforward.

Why upgrade to Akeneo PIM 2.0?

You can take advantage of the latest technologies while migrating to new software, and it must be done. We are continually making performance tweaks and enhancements to help you do your job better, and we want you to be able to take advantage of everything Akeneo PIM has to offer. For more information on the benefits of using Akeneo PIM 2.0, watch these videos.

Why a 2.0 and not a 1.8? It is indeed a major release, probably our most extensive. Is it due to a complete re-platforming. Not really! Simply, there is a logic starting a new cycle on the “round number” 2.0 (see our new release schedule for details). The new release schedule allows you to anticipate and plan for future migration projects and control your budget and workload more efficiently.

So, now let’s focus on the how

Akeneo PIM core system

There are significant improvements at the core of Akeneo PIM. To understand the value of this upgrade, please read A short dive into our new release: Akeneo PIM 2.0!

– One single storage with native Elastic Search

– A new data model to build complex product with native variations (read the series of blog posts on products with variant)

– Last but not least: an entirely new user interface

There is a “new technical stack” and we master it perfectly because we made it with the requirements given to us by our customers. And to be honest, we think it should be our responsibility to deal with this new stack, not yours. That’s the reason why we developed the Migration Assistant to help you in the adoption of Akeneo 2.0. We want it to be easy for you.

Migration Tool: Step-by-Step Assistant

To streamline migration, we designed the Migration Assistant. This assistant walks you through the migration process step-by-step. It records the following:

• your product data, with or without variants
• your catalog structure: families, categories, attributes…
• your personal preferences so they can be implemented into your 2.0 setup.

Today, it’s a command line interface dedicated to developers. All our Community and Enterprise Edition members can download it for free from GitHub and install it on the instance that needs to be migrated.

The philosophy is to move your instance of Akeneo PIM 1.7.x to the new instance of Akeneo PIM 2.0, as a standalone that is fully operational and includes all your data and settings. To make it fully operational, we decided to not handle all your custom codes that need to be copy and test by your own.

The Migration Assistant guides you through the entire process step-by-step.

The Migration Assistant aka “Transporteo” features the migration from 1.7 to 2.0 including Variant Groups and the Inner Variation (not in the alpha version, stay tuned), and we encourage you to adopt it, as we will continue to invest in it for all future minor and major updates.

The Migration Assistant follows a separate release agenda than the Akeneo PIM core product, with one update every two weeks until its stabilization. Some features might not be available as of the launch of Akeneo PIM 2.0 but will be coming soon. We are actively collecting feedback from our clients and partners to enrich it. Please check its scope before starting your migration.

There is one limitation, with some third-party systems connecting to Akeneo, it won’t automatically reconnect the dots for them. Simply because the assistant cannot update the settings of an external engine.

Focus on product models

“Variant group” and “Inner Variation Bundle” no longer exist and are replaced by “Product Models” which are now native for all of you. We promise it’s the last major change on this key capability.

To make the transition easier, the Migration Assistant is designed to support in a variety of use cases. For example:

• T-shirt based on size and colors
• Screws based on diameter and length
• Eyeglasses or chairs based on color
• Mattress based on dimensions
• Smartphones based on color and screen size
• Beers or teas based on packaging
• Fruits compotes based on flavor
• ….

Import/Export with third parties

In Akeneo PIM 2.0, we did not make any change in the structure of the import/export, nor on the catalog structure. All of your flows that fuel Akeneo PIM with families categories, attributes, and products without variation will continue to work. Nevertheless, there is an exception as permissions now apply, so just be careful with who can trigger the jobs today. Imports/Exports dedicated to the variant group and inner variation bundle are no longer supported and need to be reallocated to the new business logic.

We now apply user permissions on classical imports and exports

API

New and improved tools facilitate and accelerate the migration and integration with other third-party solution such as:

• the API documentation website
• our brand new API PHP Client
• the Postman collection to play around with the API endpoints
• advanced developers can rely on the Swagger’s framework

In Akeneo PIM 1.7, the scope of the API was limited to the Community Edition features, now it’s open to all features including the Enterprise Edition such as published products or approval.

All your connectors that rely on the API will continue to work.

From now on the recommended way to develop connectors and the only way to develop them for the Serenity offer #stability

<<< already in the 1.7 vs new in the API >>>

What about Serenity Mode?

For all of our customers who have chosen Akeneo Enterprise Edition in Serenity mode – you have nothing to worry about! All updates and migrations will occur automatically, both for Akeneo 2.0 and all future versions.

We invested a lot of time and energy so you don’t have to.

Still using Akeneo 1.5 or 1.6?

To take advantage of the step-by-step Migration Tool, you’ll need to first update to Akeneo 1.7. Don’t worry, we have an easy-to-use guide so you can update before the big Akeneo 2.0 migration!

Want to learn more about Akeneo PIM? Ready to purchase Akeneo 2.0?

Take a look at some of our blog posts or contact us to be put in touch with a sales representative.