eCommerce Blog | IronPlane

Comparing Magento Enterprise Developers: IronPlane + 5 Alternatives

Written by Tim Bucciarelli | September 9, 2022

Why Hire a Magento Enterprise Developer?

Adobe Commerce — formerly known as Magento Enterprise — can be a complicated platform if you lack some know-how. When you hire Magento Enterprise developers, you want a team that can: 

  • Increase your site speeds: Magento’s eCommerce platform is known for its speed, but once you start to customize it and add on modules, it can get sluggish. Finding ways to improve your site's speed often requires a deep dive into your site's code by an experienced developer, which can be time-consuming. 
  • Efficiently manage Magento updates: New Magento releases come out every quarter, which include the most up-to-date features, security patches, and bug fixes. Due to the inter-dependencies within the Magento platform, it is essential to have your updates implemented by experienced developers who understand potential impacts related to custom code and third-party extensions. 
  • Create unique landing pages: People choose Magento because it is highly customizable. When you use this platform, you want to take advantage of it by having product and landing pages that demonstrate the uniqueness of your brand and its offerings. These customizations require skilled designers and developers to work together to build engaging pages that convert. 
  • Improve your UX: By making your website easy to use, customers will be more likely to make purchases (and less likely to bounce off your site before checkout). Most enterprise-scale businesses demand a site that meets the specific needs of their target audience. The agency you work with must be able to conduct user experience (UX) research and translate their findings into compelling site design and functionality that meets those audience needs. Working with a team of Magento-certified developers can most effectively manage this complex project. 
  • Build critical integrations: A key element of a successful enterprise-grade Magento implementation is the efficiencies gained through systems integrations. Whether connecting an ERP, a PIM or other legacy systems, these integrations can yield substantial operational efficiencies. Experienced developers and solutions designers are essential for ensuring successful integrations. 
  • Partner with you for long-term success: Developing your Magento solution isn't a one-time fix. As your business changes, you'll need to make adjustments, so it’s important to have a development team that can advise you on ways to continue optimizing your site as it grows.

 

What Are My Options for Magento Enterprise Developers?

The world of agencies providing Magento development services is massive, with 207 listed on Adobe's site alone. For companies searching for the right agency for their needs, we recommend conducting online research, directly connecting with potential agencies, and gauging their responsiveness and openness to help you find the best solutions for your business. Here are six options you can choose from — including IronPlane.

Scandiweb

Scandiweb is what’s known as a full-service agency offering not only eCommerce development services, but also more than 12 other service areas including SEO, PPC, marketing and data analytics, conversion rate optimization, A/B testing, and UI services. 

They specialize in taking on website projects that other developers have struggled to complete, like product catalogs and third-party extension installs. 

Scandiweb has experience in migrating Magento platforms from Magento 1 to Magento 2. They also work with clients who want to launch a store on the Shopify Plus eCommerce platform. They also work on other platforms including popular PIM platforms Akeneo and Pimcore.

Scandiweb is a large development company with over 500 clients across 33 countries. This scale of agency may be a good fit for your company if you need breadth rather than depth of expertise (e.g. web design, SEO, digital marketing etc.), and you have the internal teams to efficiently manage what may be more junior development resources. 

For companies in need of deeper Magento expertise and strong technical project management, Scandiweb may not be the best fit.

Endertech

Endertech works with Shopify, Magento, WordPress, React, Symfony, and Drupal. Their site indicates that they are a “full-service digital agency,” that helps “plan, design, develop, support, and grow your websites, apps, and software systems.” 

Testimonials show that Endertech is responsive and transparent, keeping their customers updated during the project. They also offer marketing services, like PPC, social media, and Google Analytics. 

Though they offer a large number of services, they are also a relatively small agency and may not have the bandwidth to handle the complicated Magento design needs of a larger corporation. Because they work mainly with B2C businesses, it’s possible that Endertech will have difficulty understanding the goals of B2B companies.

The Commerce Shop

The Commerce Shop combines website development with marketing: They work with B2B and B2C eCommerce businesses to migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2 and improve UX, and they also offer advertising services like social media and influencer campaign management. 

Their process begins with a marketing strategy review before they begin the technical website audit. Then, during the site audit, they look at the site’s server performance, security, and code quality. Once that’s complete, The Commerce Shop starts working on your project.

All companies who work with The Commerce Shop must go through a marketing audit, so this Magento development company might not be the right fit for those who are mainly looking for website optimizations. 

Typically, The Commerce Shop appeals to those who are looking for a wide range of services relating to their online presence, including advertising.

MageComp

MageComp helps companies that need short-term website redesign projects.
Their specialties include implementing Instagram feeds on homepages, setting up payment platforms like Stripe, and installing Magento extensions. They also offer app development and digital marketing services like social media management and SEO. 

Their focus on smaller tasks means they likely lack the expertise to handle complete site redesigns or long-term projects. MageComp works for small businesses that want to integrate apps or small features into their Magento site, or want to hire a developer for a short-term design job.

Mage Monkeys

Acting as a “one stop eCommerce solution provider,” Mage Monkeys works mainly with companies who want to optimize their site speeds, integrate APIs, or need to upgrade or downgrade their Magento version. Their support plan packages include 40 hours per month, 80 hours per month, or 160 hours per month. 

Though they offer a range of packages for their work, they don’t emphasize long-term client relationships on their site — their clients work with them on a month-to-month basis. Mage Monkeys’ site mainly discusses upgrading and downgrading Magento versions, and developing customized plugins, so they likely focus on these types of projects. They wouldn’t be suited for companies who need a true Magento partner that provides regular performance check-ins and goal planning for their overall eCommerce success.

Mage Monkeys web development services might work for you if you have one or two small projects or need simple maintenance for your eCommerce website, but they’re not the best option for full redesigns and ongoing eCommerce support and optimizations. 

How IronPlane Develops Magento Solutions for B2B and B2C Companies

Our team of senior-level Magento developers can design and improve your site to achieve your individual goals — whether it’s a Magento upgrade, adding extensions, creating custom functionality, or spearheading complex integrations. Our team has years of experience (and the right Magento certifications) and we’ve helped many large companies with complex site designs.

IronPlane Case Studies

  • Barbeques Galore: We implemented a multichannel solution founded on a customized Magento 2 instance using the M2E Pro extension. This extension, along with an ERP integration, allowed for seamless syncing between Amazon, Walmart, and their own eCommerce store. 
  • Royal Chain Group: We assisted this B2B jewelry wholesaler in building a client portal, allowing their customers to compare products, order them, view product reviews, view order histories, and rapidly re-order past purchases. 
  • Russell Marine Products: IronPlane migrated their site from Volusion to Magento, which improved site speed and gave them the ability to automate order fulfillment. 

You can read these case studies and more on our website

Our Approach

Whether we’re working with a B2B or B2C company, IronPlane project managers are a consistent client resource from project start to ongoing support. Our projects are comprehensive in nature, as evidenced by the following four project components:

  1. We take full ownership of the project, so there’s less back and forth, giving your team the time to work on other business needs. 
  2. We perform a detailed site audit before beginning the work, allowing for a deeper understanding of what the site requires and how your goals can be reached. We determine code quality, potential fixes, and updates, eliminating problems that could come up in the future. 
  3. Following project deployment, we offer ongoing maintenance and optimization via a structured ticketing, development, and release process with full client visibility. Further, we take a proactive approach to ensure your site is running smoothly and securely. 
  4. Clients on our maintenance program have quarterly strategy reviews with a dedicated solution specialist, where we discuss long-term goals, wish-list functionality, and prioritization of development roadmap. 

During the site audit, our Magento website development team reviews your code and looks for areas that need work. This audit comes in three different options, allowing you to pick the level of detail that fits your needs best. 

  • Option 1: The Magento Code Audit. This option investigates the backend and frontend code. 
  • Option 2: The Magento Performance Audit. This option hones in on the user experience and delves deep into technical SEO, site speed, accessibility, and site security. 
  • Option 3: The Comprehensive Site Audit. This option combines the previous two options and adds in the Business Discovery element. This extensive analysis goes over your business goals, while reviewing analytics and KPI performance. (This is our most recommended option.)

We See Each Client as a Long-Term Partnership 

Most companies work with us for a minimum of four years, and our longest standing clients have been with us for over a decade. The core of the IronPlane team has remained stable from the start of the company and our staff retention stays strong. Our growth keeps pace with our clients over time to ensure we have sufficient resources available for long-term comprehensive support.

Get Started with IronPlane to Accomplish Your Magento Goals

By hiring a Magento Enterprise developer, you’ll free up time to focus on what’s most important: growing your business. 

With IronPlane development services, you get a team of Magento-certified professionals who focus on building lasting relationships with clients, and go through every detail of your site to find ways to improve it. They can strengthen your site’s speed, upgrade it to the latest version, create unique landing pages for your specific products, and make the UX enjoyable, which ultimately leads to more conversions.