Magento

Magento Certified Developers are our heroes! We love to hear their stories—and help them get recognition by sharing their stories on our blog.

In the spotlight today is Petr Samoilov, CTO for aheadWorks, a Magento Solution Partner based in Minsk, Belarus, with more than 30 staff developers delivering customized eCommerce solutions.

When did you start working with Magento, and what attracted you to the platform?

I became a fan of Magento about 3 years ago. Time has passed so quickly that I don’t remember how long exactly it was. But at that moment Magento 1.1 – 1.2 versions were in use, and our company switched from X-Cart to Magento-related development. Magento seemed to be a very flexible eCommerce platform, and it was growing fast; its extensibility was the key point missing in X-Cart, osCommerce-based scripts, and other platforms.

What do you enjoy most about being a Magento developer?

As a framework, Magento is great to work with. You don’t need to spend your time implementing basic functionality, which helps keep you focused on the main goal.

I also need to highlight Magento’s strong, international developer community. This was something I really missed while developing aheadWorks’ first Magento extension, Product Questions. Now the international Magento community is large, and you can easily find answers to any Magento-related question.

Also, Magento is the right platform for junior developers, as far as it teaches them the best OOP practices and design patterns.

Why did you decide to take the Magento Developer Certification exam?

At aheadWorks our strategy is to keep our development skills at a high level. Certification for aheadWorks developers reflects our high quality, which is why our developers have passed the Magento certification one by one and are encouraged to do that. At the moment about half of our developer staff is Magento certified, and this percentage will undoubtedly grow.

How does it feel to be one of the first Magento Certified Developers? How do you think it will help your career?

It feels awesome, especially when the door of the certification center is closed behind you and you have a piece of paper in your hands saying “Passed”. For me, certification is proof that I’m still in the Magento development stream. Because of my CTO position I code less now, so I need to stay current with the latest technologies.

What types of projects have you worked on? What types of projects most interest you?

aheadWorks is a product-oriented company. We have more than 100 extensions, 76 Magento-related repositories in BitBucket, and about 50 templates. Our products cover the most important functionality needed for an eCommerce platform, functionality that isn’t included in Magento. Also, our own extension store is built on Magento and we did a lot of performance optimization and customization for it.

Would you like to share anything else about aheadWorks?

We are wide open to communication with other developers and love to share our knowledge with the Magento community. For this purpose we created a blog, which serves as a bridge between developers, merchants and customers. We invite anyone interested in eCommerce to visit our blog regularly, because we post up-to-date Magento statistics, write about new services, and announce offers and deals there.

We take part in organizing a lot of Magento events worldwide, so it’s highly probable that you will run into us at one of these events. We love partnerships and do our best to build profitable relationships with others working in the eCommerce space.

Developers: find out how you can join the growing ranks of Magento Certified Developers:

Merchants using Magento specifically seek developers with proven expertise and knowledge of Magento and eCommerce. The Magento Developer Certification gives developers a way to differentiate themselves from the competition, thus enhancing their careers; and gives merchants a way to identify a developer’s skill set when they are hiring.

The Magento Developer Certification is the only Magento-sponsored professional certification program. It’s developed by a team of experts from across the Magento ecosystem to accurately test real-world development skills.

We are offering developers a unique opportunity to take one of the Magento Developer Certification Exams the day before the MagentoLive UK event in London for a special price of $150 (a $110 discount a ! Here’s what you need to know:

When:
November 12, 2012 (Please Note – MagentoLive UK is on November 13)
Where:
Etc. Venues St. Paul’s - Room: Vibrant Room; 200 Aldersgate Street ; London EC1A
Testing Sessions:
Session 1: Monday, November 12, 1pm-3pm
Session 2: Monday, November 12, 3:30pm-5:30pm

*You must register in advance to secure your spot! Seats are limited and registration is confirmed on a first come, first served basis.

Developers who are interested in learning about the exams and downloading FREE STUDY GUIDES should visit the Magento U Certification website

Magento Certified Developers are our heroes! We love to hear their stories—and help them get recognition by sharing their stories on our blog.

In the spotlight today is David Manners, Senior Software Architect for Sitewards, a Magento Silver Solution Partner based in Frankfurt. Read on to learn about his experience becoming one of the first Magento Certified Developers:

When did you start working with Magento, and what attracted you to the platform?

I started working with Magento in September 2011, when I moved to Germany to work for Sitewards. I had experience with e-Commerce software in the past but had never really looked into Magento until the first project hit my inbox. It was a challenge at first but there are so many good resources out there that I was able to pick it up quickly.

What do you enjoy most about being a Magento developer?

I love the fact that Magento can fit nearly any client’s needs. People run their shops in so many different ways, yet Magento seem to be able to deal with any requirement.

Why did you decide to take the Magento Developer Certification exam?

I‘m always interested in learning new things and developing myself personally. I had been developing for Magento for a couple of months and wanted to learn the “right” way of developing. So I took the Magento developer training course and then the next logical step seemed to be to take the exam to prove that I had succeeded in learning something new.

How does it feel to be one of the first Magento Certified Developers? How do you think it will help your career?

It feels great to have passed the certification exam. I think it will help me progress as a developer, and also help my company get the clients they want.

What types of projects have you worked on? What types of projects most interest you?

I’ve worked on a range of projects and each one has been completely different, which for me is great. I love the challenge of working on something new. For example: My previous project involved a lot of back end work, with an emphasis on product importing. Whereas my current project involves mainly front-end work.

Would you like to share anything else about your work, your interests, or your hobbies?

I love to run and play rugby, which can be hard to do in Germany. I find that staying physically active helps me to stay focused and work through some of the toughest roadblocks I encounter when developing. I’ve often found the solution to a particular problem while out running or on the field.

David Manners works for Sitewards GmbH, a web agency established in 2005 that is passionate about building effective websites. Sitewards specializes in creating global corporate websites and e-commerce solutions while leveraging Magento’s Enterprise Edition technology. As a Magento Silver Partner we are always interested in developing our staff’s potential and therefore support further training and certification. Stop by and visit us at our offices in Frankfurt, join us for a chat on our Facebook page.

Developers: find out how you can join the growing ranks of Magento Certified Developers:

Fundamentals of Magento Development teaches developers the architecture, terminology, and core functionality of Magento, along with best practices of extending the platform. There are countless reasons for you to take this course, but the top ten are:

10. Clarify and capitalize on what you may have learned in the video version of this live class.

9. Receive a printed copy of the course presentation.

8. Review and receive copies of solutions for the course exercises.

7. Get personalized, one-on-one assistance completing course exercises.

6. Get answers to questions that may pertain to your specific use case.

5. Engage with other students and learn from the experiences they share with the class.

4. Receive instruction tailored to the specific needs of students in the class.

3. Spend five days of focused, uninterrupted time learning Magento development.

2. Learn from the source: Magento trained experts with years of experience.

1. Prepare for the Magento Developer Certification exam and get ready to jumpstart your career.

It was with great pleasure and a couple of really long flights that I left my home in Charleston, SC to visit Australia's most populous city, Sydney, for the second offering of Fundamentals of Development on the Australian continent.

The twelve attendees and I held court a few minutes from the famous Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This was my twenty-third time teaching the Fundamentals course, and it remains true that every class is different. Each student has distinct needs for the training, whether they are just getting acquainted with the framework or they are an experienced professional learning best practices from the source. Judging by the feedback which we've received since the training wrapped up, Magento continues to deliver overwhelming value for the experience.

The live Fundamentals course, along with the other technical offerings from Magento U, teaches students the architecture and techniques that will help them get their work done right the first time. This is due in large part to the fact that Magento U instructors were/are developers first. Stack that working experience up with the in-class collaboration among peers and it is easy to see that the time spent in a Magento U course pays for itself by making subsequent work more efficient and by providing a network of fellow developers to call on in the future, including the instructor. It's with great pleasure that we not only hear from students one year on, but we see them releasing modules in MagentoConnect, see them participating on public forums, and see them achieving the ultimate milestone in Magento development: Certified Developer status.

So, despite the fact that we've done this dance a couple dozen times already, it is with genuine pleasure and pride that we look forward to the upcoming classes in Los Angeles, Newark, London, and Berlin. Come join us.

Take your Magento development skills to the next level with a new training course for advanced Magento developers: Magento Checkout - Part I: Shopping Cart and Price Calculations!

The checkout process in Magento is customized in most projects and those customization's are often complex and critical to the business. A high level of knowledge is crucial; knowing how to avoid pitfalls, efficiently debug and address common performance issues can save time during an implementation.

We are excited to announce the availability of our first course specifically designed for the experienced Magento developer: Magento Checkout. It is a six-part series designed to give the experienced Magento developer an in-depth understanding of the architecture of Magento checkout!

Available Now:

Magento Checkout - Part I: Shopping Cart and Price Calculations (First class Sept 5 – Pre-register now!)

Experienced Magento developers will learn how to make customizations related to the “Add-to-Cart” functionality and the process of calculating the prices of items in the Shopping Cart. After Part 1, students will be able to:

• Identify and describe key elements of Magento Shopping Cart architecture
• Customize/extend the process of adding products to the Cart
• Use “Quote”, “Quote Item”, and “Quote Address” operations for creating new extensions and customizations
• Identify and describe the “Total Models” schema in Magento
• Use the “Total Models” architecture for extending/customizing the price calculation in the Magento Shopping Cart

Part 1 is delivered with a live instructor through our online training center and is 15 hours (12 hours of instruction and 3 hours of in-class coding exercises)! This allows you to immediately practice what you have learned under the guidance of the instructor.

The first class is scheduled for September 5, 7, 10 & 12, 2012 from 8am to 12pm Pacific Time and we are now taking early registration! This class will fill up register now to secure your spot!

Additional parts in the series coming soon:

• Part II: OnePage Checkout (On-Demand Format)
• Part III: Shipping
• Part IV: Payment
• Part V: Order Placement
• Part VI: Taxes and Discounts

For a complete course description, list of pre-requisites, and course outline go to: Magento U Course Description: Magento Checkout

With three Magento Certified Developers and more coming, Magento Silver solution partner, MediaCT extends their core values.

Tell us a little about your business, and how you became involved with Magento.
MediaCT is an e-commerce agency with over 10 years of experience. Our roots lie in helping businesses with there websites and online marketing. We’re dedicated to Magento since 2008 and from the very first day we have enjoyed working with the platform. It’s very satisfying being part of the growth of our clients. We focus on building high-quality Magento stores and providing marketing and ecommerce consulting services. Our company is founded in Groningen and also located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

What are the key factors behind your success with Magento?
One of the key pillars of our company is to have highly trained and entrepreneurial staff. Our designers, developers and consultants have in-depth knowledge and experience with Magento and e-commerce. But our most important pillar is to provide outstanding customer service. Currently our customer satisfaction rate is 97 percent. We find it extremely important to have a fast response rate and crystal clear communication with our clients. And of course our clients appreciate these business ethics.

In contrary to many competitors we don’t stop working on e-commerce projects after the initial development. We cherish the collaboration with our clients. We proactively inform our clients about about business opportunities, interesting e-commerce news and new Magento features. We have skilled e-commerce consultants on board and marketing partners around us who help our clients make strategic business and marketing decisions.

This approach reaches the core of our companies culture. It’s our passion to help out entrepreneurs and organisations with their online business. These core values sets us apart from other Magento and e-commerce developing competitors.

Why did you decide to have your developers take the Magento Developer Certification exam?
We decided to give three of our back-end developers the chance to take the Magento Developer Certification Exam because we want to take our business to the next level and to prove our skills. Our next goal is to certify all of our developers.

How many Magento Certified Developers do you current have on staff? How will having these certified developers help your business?
Currently we have three Magento Certified Developers. Our believe is that certifying our employees will improve our business and help us provide premium quality work. That said, we firmly believe in setting a standard for the Magento development business. The certification proves our knowledge. We’re confident that the certification keeps us ahead of our competition and gives our (future) clients even more confident to trust us.

What types of clients and projects do you typically take on?
We love working for clients who have passion for e-commerce and we love projects that are marketing-driven. The clients we take on are ambitious and eager. We also strive for long-term relationships. To realise this goal we proactively feed our clients with new information and possibilities. Not only do we enjoy working for our existing clients, our clients love the proactive and innovative relationship.

To find out more about how MediaCT can help you build a better eCommerce business with Magento, visit their listing page on our website.

Developers: find out how you can join the growing ranks of Magento Certified Developers:

Watch the video for a quick snapshot of how this on-demand course can give you the insight you need to be able to create a basic module with a controller, create and use models, and create database table via setup scripts. The course also includes a copy of “Magento Connect Extension Developer’s Guide”!