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Keren Aminia: “The Magento Community is Stronger than Ever”

Editor's note: 2014 has just begun and the entire Magento community is keen to know about Magento plans and strategic ideas for this year. We were curious to hear about the brightest upcoming events and new educational opportunities we can apply to study Magento deeply and extensively. So, we addressed all our questions to one of the most competent persons in the Magento world – Keren Aminia.
Keren Aminia Twitter Profile

KEREN AMINIA


DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS
As Director of Business Operations, Keren leads Events Strategy and Execution for Magento and is the Executive Producer of Magento events spanning the globe, including the award winning Imagine conference. Keren’s tenure with the company has seen her champion many successes while under the previously held role of CFO, including oversight of the Finance and Operation Organizations, HR, Business Affairs and Administration.

Keren kindly found time in her busy schedule and answered our most pressing questions about Magento, and we are highly grateful to her for this exclusive interview.

aW: How do you assess the results of the previous year for Magento?

Keren: Magento closed 2013 on a high, surpassing 208,000 Community Edition customers and over 2,600 Enterprise Edition customers. The Magento community is stronger than ever. Our 200+ partners and 7K+ extensions represent a $1B service ecosystem, a real juggernaut of innovation, which we’re taking aggressive steps strengthen and improve.

We took an important step in November by becoming part of eBay Enterprise. This combination of the extensive ecommerce, multichannel and marketing capabilities of eBay Inc. together under one umbrella offers an unmatched portfolio of capabilities that seamlessly deliver integrated commerce solutions to drive merchant revenue and growth.

aW: What are the strategic plans of Magento for 2014?



Keren: <!We will continue to build out the joint eBay Enterprise and Magento solution for mid-sized retailers>In the coming months, we will continue to build out the recently announced joint eBay Enterprise and Magento solution for mid-sized retailers. We are also pushing forward with our product development and invite partners and developers to provide feedback on Magento 2 updates available on GITHUB. Last but not least, watch for updates on our annual Imagine eCommerce event, which will take place from May 12th – 14th at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

aW: What countries or regions Magento is going to enter or amplify in the nearest future? Maybe, Asia or East Europe?

Keren: We will continue to expand our efforts across Europe, Australia, Asia and Latin America.

aW: What kind of new functionality for CE or EE ver. you plan developing this year?

Keren: We continue to aggressively advance the development of the platform. In 2014, we plan to enable further integrations with eBay Enterprise’s modular omni-channel solution suite and marketing and fulfillment services, and to provide merchants with a responsive design reference theme inclusive of checkout. We also plan to continue to improve performance and scalability and update our core technology by creating a more modular extensible architecture, ensuring a strong base for future growth for Magento and our partners. You can track the progress of these platform modernization efforts work by visiting the Magento 2 GITHUB site mentioned above.

aW: Can we expect something special from the Magento-related conferences this year? Especially from Magento Imagine 2014.

Keren: Imagine 2014 is going to be at an exciting new venue, the Hard Rock hotel in Las Vegas.  We are looking to create some incredible experiences for the conference as well as to increase the number of breakout tracks and education opportunities at the conference.  Exciting announcements regarding speakers will come out in February.  Join our Imagine mailing list at [email protected] to be the first to hear the news.

 

We are also planning to hold at least three MagetoLive events around the world to bring the excitement of Imagine to key international markets. We published dates for MagentoLive UK and MagentoLive Australia, and will announce the date for MagentoLive Germany soon.

From an events perspective, we have exciting plans for 2014. Be sure to watch the events page on Magento.com as well as the @Magento Twitter handle for all Magento event details.

aW: What supplementary activities Magento is going to intentionally elaborate this year? Training, certification, conferences or else?

Keren: <!Look for a new certification focused on Magento Solution Specialist>We are committed to continuing to strengthen the overall quality of Magento expertise and support around the world. We have aggressive goals for training, certifications and engagement with the Magento ecosystem in 2014.

Look for a new certification focused on Magento Solution Specialist. This is our first non-technical related certification.  In addition, we will be expanding our portfolio of On-demand and Online Instructor-led training for continued global reach of Magento U courses.

aW: In what countries do you conduct training and certifications? Maybe, you are going to expand that list of countries?

Keren: Classroom training is offered globally with classes in our key markets in Europe, United States and Australia. Late in 2013 we expanded into Eastern Europe and we will continue that expansion in the coming year to include Canada and India. We started offering training sessions at Imagine and Magento Live events in 2013 and we will continue that as well.

aW: How do you estimate partners’ contribution into overall Magento development and promotion?

Keren: Magento's open framework has been incredibly fertile ground for partner innovations; partners play a critical role in advancing development of the platform at speeds that no competitor can ever hope to achieve on their own. This is why the Magento community has no peer in the industry and why Magento continues to enjoy the incredible momentum that it does in the global ecommerce platform market.

<!Magento Community Edition changed the world of online commerce>aW: What is your favorite Magento product and why?

Keren: My favorite Magento product is Magento Community Edition.  It has changed the world of online commerce more than any other shopping cart.  From the outset, it has created tremendous opportunities for developers and merchants to enter the world of ecommerce and to grow thriving businesses with minimal investment.

aW: What Magento conferences you are going to participate personally this year?

Keren: As the event lead for Magento, I’m going to be at every single Magento event, most of the industry events where we have Magento representation and will also help advise partners on the events that they host themselves (e.g. MeetMagento, Bargento etc).  I am looking forward to visiting places I have not visited before, learning more about the enthusiasm of our community and meeting in person the wonderful members of our ecosystem.

aW: What are your personal plans for this year year?

Keren: I am planning to continue creating ways to engage our community in inspiring experiences that promote collaboration, innovation and success for our customers, partners and all the members of our ecosystem.

aW: Perhaps, you have something to add at the end?

Keren: I am thankful everyday for the wonderful opportunity I have to work at Magento, and to be part of a world-class company like eBay.  I love my job and the ability to make an impact on the continued success of many businesses around the world.