Screen Pages, the e-commerce services company, has launched a support and management service for online retailers with Magento websites. The service includes managed hosting, technical support, updates and ongoing advice and consultancy.

Magento has quickly become one of the most popular e-commerce platforms available today, fuelled largely because of the richness of its functionality and its “open source” nature. This popularity, however, means that many web developers and companies have adopted the Magento platform without the proper planning, organisation and management that large-scale open source software can require.

Most e-commerce platforms which are bespoke or proprietary effectively lock businesses in – the only option is to re-build from scratch. Because Magento is a well-structured and documented “open source” software application, Screen Pages is able to migrate Magento websites and provide ongoing support and development. The company has already taken on the management of 4 Magento websites built by other suppliers.

Since 2009, Screen Pages has designed, developed and launched over 20 Magento e-commerce websites over an eighteen month period: combined they are achieving close to 1m visitors per month and processing many hundreds of thousands of credit card transactions.

Online retailers with Magento websites can now benefit from access to the resources, experience and proper support channels of a full service e-commerce provider. Some Magento websites have been developed in haste without:

- consideration for performance and scaleability
- professional development standards (for example with hard-coding)
- long-term attention to client’s needs for flexibility and ease of maintenance
- proper study of Magento systems design, architecture and best practice
- implementation of PCI/DSS compliance guidelines for cardholder data protection

Screen Pages has invested in a professional, structured business based around Magento, including all the disciplines for design, specification, development, integration, hosting, support, updates, consulting and account management. The company has also used a wide variety of third-party add-ons on client websites – one of the major attractions of Magento.

The process for migration takes a few working days for a few thousand pounds and once complete, residual development issues can be remedied and much needed design and enhancement work can be quickly progressed.

“Many merchants commissioned their websites on the “cheap and cheerful” Magento bandwagon: when they’re live, that’s when their problems kick in,” said Richard Thorpe, operations director at Screen Pages. “It’s easy to build a website if you don’t have to support it.”