Update note: RDP hosting has been replaced by JTL-Wawi Cloud; status: 08.2021
JTL Connect is now behind us and brought a lot of news with it. Because there was indeed so much hot news, we don’t want to save it all for the trade fair review in the coming weeks. That’s why we’re showing you three top highlights from JTL Connect today.
A keynote full of bangers
As every year, the keynote speech by JTL founder Thomas Lisson provided many highlights in 2018. After all, every year he provides insights into new software versions and occasionally even into completely new products that we are currently planning. In the past, however, these often emerged fresh from the concept phase and were at the beginning of their development cycle. This year, however, everything is a little different – because announcements about the JTL-Fulfillment Network, JTL-Shop 5 and the new JTL-Wawi hosting caused quite a stir.
Major change at JTL-FFN
After a series of news items about JTL-FFN at the beginning of the year, the second quarter was a little quieter for us. At least externally. Internally, we had decided to take the important step of significantly restructuring the fulfillment network. The changes, especially to the network’s API, should be so far-reaching that the new version will be numbered 2.0. The many new insights we gained in the closed beta and through our own fulfillment business made it clear that an API-first approach and a corresponding new architecture would make the network even more future-proof and flexible.
Does this mean that customers will have to wait even longer for fulfillment to start? No. Because as Dietmar Sicking, one of our speakers at the Fulfillment Roundtable at JTL Connect, said so well: “The FFN 1.0 is basically fully functional. Therefore, we will soon share the JTL-Fulfillment Network in its current form with more customers. Until now, we had limited it to selected closed beta candidates. Meanwhile, a release for version 2.0 is planned for 2019.
JTL-Shop 5 News
As soon as the keynote was over, the question arose: Is it worth waiting for JTL-Shop 5 instead of using version 4 now? The short answer: No. The release of JTL-Shop 5 is also planned for 2019. However, we would like to give you first impressions of the new major release as soon as possible – which is why we are also publishing an open beta here this month. JTL-Shop 5 was already available to visitors at JTL Connect. They were able to test the new OnPage Composer and get an impression of the updated menu structure and navigation.
There was also important key information about the switch to JTL-Shop 5: An upgrade license is not required for the switch to the new major release. As long as you have a valid subscription for JTL-Shop 4, nothing stands in the way of the upgrade. We will soon tell you what else JTL-Shop 5 has in store for you here in the blog at the start of the open beta.
JTL-Wawi hosting
Is that really new? It already existed, didn’t it? The answer is yes and no. Because the completely renewed JTL-Wawi hosting no longer only covers the database, but also the ERP itself. What sounds trivial at first, however, means that you can now use JTL-Wawi hosting on any operating system – good news for MacOS and Linux users. The new hosting listing is a so-called Remote Desktop Protocol Hosting, or RDP hosting for short.
Our new hosting option offers many other advantages, from saving resources to working from anywhere – as long as an Internet connection is available – to significantly increased performance compared to previous database hosting. On top of that, it makes it easier for prospective online retailers to get started, as no complex and costly hardware is required on the user side. In addition to JTL-Wawi and the database, we can also set up other desired software such as image processing and similar tools on our servers. For experienced e-commerce merchants, hosting offers added scalability – there is no need to upgrade or downgrade hardware or IT staff.
Good news: JTL-Wawi hosting is already available from today! You can find price and package information as well as further details on our landing page. In the coming week, we will take a closer look at the outsourcing of JTL-Wawi and the database in the blog.
What else happened at JTL Connect 2018?
In fact, there is a lot more news from the trade fair. We will present these to you in our usual review, including pictures and video, in the near future. The fact is that the event has made another leap forward this year – in terms of visitor counter numbers, but above all in terms of exclusive news announcements, pre-release test versions and special trade fair promotions. And with so much to see, we wanted to give those who unfortunately couldn’t be there this year a taste of the changes that are coming soon and the first product that is already available. More will follow shortly.
