Magento Enterprise Edition Is Available for $8900
Varien is the creator and corporate sponser of the open-source e-commerce web application, Magento. On April 15, 2009, Varien announced it would release an “enterprise edition” to it’s widely popular program. The paid version is not targeted towards small online businesses and will provide larger companies with additional support options as well as an annual warranty for the price of $8900.
Some valid criticisms of this new release include the fact that Magento is missing many of the core features one would expect from a shopping cart, such as returns and gift certificates. However, because it is open-source, these needs could be met by the community and as one can see there are over 700 extensions contributed at this time. Many are an integral part of some shops and others are just nice features to have. Some are not free, which is one of the main reasons some store owners have complained about this recent direction. Those without web development skills won’t have any option but to either pay a freelancer or pay for some of the extensions available.
I think some additional free extensions should be made available to those who will be using the community addition. I hope those things that were on the roadmap will not be completely abandoned.
To compare the different versions, visit the Magento website. So far, some of the security features are not available in either but will be for the Enterprise version. Gift certificates (virtual and physical) are available now for the Enterprise edition. As one would expect, a warranty and support services are included in the Enterprise edition as well.
Most store owners, small and large, could use a gift certificate system. However, I think small store owners should commission this by a developer who is familiar with both the Zend Framework and Magento. Any support the store owner needs could be met on-demand style through the support forums or with a technical consultant for far less than $8900.
