There are so many questions to consider when approaching an eCommerce re platform project. Without a doubt, one of the key points to decide on is the architecture configuration.
The architecture of a platform solution will determine the growth and scalability of your eCommerce, and its ability to adapt to different business needs. If the infrastructure is the right one for your business, everything will run smoothly. If not, you will struggle to navigate the waves.
When it comes to HCL Commerce, we are already talking about a scalable product, with many features that benefit business and marketing aspects. Nevertheless, the key strengths of HCL Commerce lie in its architectural benefits.
So, if you are evaluating a digital commerce platform or a re-platforming project, here’s a summary of four architectural reasons why you should consider HCL Commerce v9.
#1.Cloud-Native
From version 9.1, the solution is cloud-native: it is certified for AWS, Google, Azure, and you can also choose to deploy it in your hybrid infrastructure: https://help.hcltechsw.com/commerce/9.1.0/admin/concepts/cwn_overview91.html
The Commerce deployment is leveraging Helm charts and HCL is already sharing its content publicly: https://github.com/HCL-TECH-SOFTWARE/hcl-commerce-helmchart
It comes together as a completely new platform called SoFy, which allows you to test the Out-Of-The-Box solution through a straightforward process: https://hclsofy.com/home
This cloud-native architecture based on Kubernetes, provides several interesting advantages at the business level:
- Adaptive infrastructure for traffic spikes
- Cloud provider interoperability
- Managed services access
With the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) optimization in mind, the Commerce infrastructure can grow and shrink based on user traffic, be moved to a cheaper cloud provider, or be simplified to reduce maintenance activities.
Specifically, both HPA (https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/run-application/horizontal-pod-autoscale) and CA (https://github.com/kubernetes/autoscaler/tree/master/cluster-autoscaler) can be triggered using Commerce k8s standard and custom metrics (https://help.hcltechsw.com/commerce/9.1.0/admin/concepts/cpmmetricsmonitoring.html), and we can externalize components like Elasticsearch using managed services (EJ. Elastic Cloud).
#2. Headless implementation for both B2B and B2C
Another breakthrough architectural feature is the headless implementation both for B2B and B2C use cases. HCL Commerce is one of the few frameworks that support both business models and HCL Software provided two similar and very rich user experiences through Emerald (B2C) and Sapphire (B2B) frontend.
#3. Frontend with React and Node.js
The frontends are developed using React and Node: https://help.hcltechsw.com/commerce/9.1.0/storeseparation/refs/react_samplestores.html
You can easily set up a parallel development stream where the needed skills are:
- Node.js and npm
- Git
- Mock server
- IDE (Eclipse, VS Code, etc)
https://help.hcltechsw.com/commerce/9.1.0/install/tasks/t91storesdk.html
#4.GraphQL container
The headless implementation can also leverage the new GraphQL container: https://help.hcltechsw.com/commerce/9.1.0/webservices/concepts/C_GraphQLCommerce.html
HCL Software is using the OpenAPI to GraphQL implementation: https://developer.ibm.com/open/projects/openapi-to-graphql/
The presence of GraphQL will provide a modern alternative to respond to common needs in Commerce projects like:
- Tailoring responses to only include desired data
- Definition of higher-level services built by orchestrating lower-level ones (‘Backend-for-Frontend’)
An aggregation layer will enable different payloads for different clients like mobile, affiliates, or marketplaces without the need for additional custom development and also the ability to introduce the BFF concept in your architecture, thus reducing the time to market to engage new channels: https://medium.com/mobilepeople/backend-for-frontend-pattern-why-you-need-to-know-it-46f94ce420b0
Takeaways
To wrap it up, here are some takeaways for you to take into consideration if you are going through a process of re platform your eCommerce infrastructure.
- HCL Commerce is not WebSphere Commerce any more. It’s been three years after the big announcement: (https://www.hcltech.com/press-releases/products-and-platforms/hcl-technologies-acquire-select-ibm-software-products-18b)
- HCL Software invested a lot in the product (finally!) and HCL Commerce is not the old-fashioned framework supported by IBM.
- The architectural facts we’ve just described show a product able to attract talent and offer a flexible set of choices to the customers.
If you want to know more about HCL Commerce, please visit our site and contact us.
Article written by Marco Fabbri, CTO at Orienteed Italy.
