VTEX vs HCL Commerce (Websphere): A Comparison Guide
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VTEX vs HCL Commerce (formerly Websphere)

Inflexible, monolithic platforms can't keep up with the needs of a modern digital-first organization like yours. Learn how commerce leaders are making the switch from HCL Commerce to VTEX in an average of 90 days.

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VTEX is on another level

VTEX is growing fast, with more than 3,000 customers in 40+ countries.  HCL Commerce, on the other hand, has been dropped by the analysts from the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce report and continues to see business leaders move off their solution to modern commerce platforms like VTEX. Here are the main differences between the VTEX Commerce Platform and HCL Commerce (formerly Websphere).

In 2020, we achieved some remarkable milestones:

More than 2,500 active customers trust VTEX

Motorola
Coca-cola
LEVI'S
C&A
Carrefour
Vans
ABInbev
Stanley Black & Decker
Sony
Adidas
Eletrolux

VTEX vs HCL comparison (Websphere): Commerce platforms from different eras

It may seem counterintuitive, but there was a time it made sense for enterprises to build a full IT infrastructure to support their e-commerce operations. However, once SaaS solutions like VTEX arrived, organizations could respond faster to business and customers’ needs with lower costs and greater flexibility.

Here are the main differences

VTEX Commerce Platform
HCL Commerce (Websphere)
General
  • Microservice, API-first, and multi-tenant SaaS commerce solution Single, monolithic, on-prem application
  • Cloud-native, runs in public cloud infrastructure like AWS. Needs to be installed and managed in a local IT environment
  • Users are always on the latest version - updates are automatic Users are typically on a down-level version - applying updates is manual
  • Serverless, low-code development platform for extensions and integrations Hard to use, integrate, and extend
  • Scales automatically only the services that need more capacity Manual scaling process - does not scale efficiently
  • Low maintenance and total cost of ownership High maintenance and total cost of ownership
Architecture
  • Microservices-based with over 100 independent services A monolith separated into a few large modules
  • API-first and 100% API enabled APIs added after the fact - not all data and services exposed
  • Cloud-native multi-tenant SaaS solution On-premise or self-managed single-tenant cloud solution
  • Built from the ground up as a headless commerce platform Supports a headless mode - not originally architected for headless
Upgrades
  • Continuous - over 12,000 enhancements and updates in 2020 alone Updates provided quarterly or semi-annually
  • Automatic - no lengthy upgrade cycles, regression testing or refactoring of custom code. Manual - require refactoring of custom code and lengthy regression testing cycles
  • Upgrades are automatic so users are always on the latest version Upgrading to the latest version requires a complete reimplementation, which is time consuming, expensive, and resource intensive
Scalability
  • Automatic - no need to manage servers and environments Manual - requires a cloud-ops engineer to deploy additional resources
  • No need to monitor, plan, or scale resources for peak events Peak events must be planned for ahead of time and require constant monitoring
  • Services scale up and down dynamically as each one requires more or less capacity Entire modules must be scaled together, which consumes more compute resources and is less efficient
Extensibility
  • Offers VTEX IO, a low-code and serverless development platform Must create and manage development tools and dev-ops processes
  • Custom code and extensions are maintained separate from platform code Developers need to directly modify platform code
  • VTEX takes care of all the servers and environments for you Users need to maintain separate environments and servers for development, test, staging, and production
  • Upgrades are automatic and your customizations won’t break when a new version or enhancement is applied Custom code needs to be refactored when vendor provided updates are applied
  • VTEX Master Data Management lets you customize and orchestrate commerce and customer data without modifying platform database schema Data structure extensions require the manipulation of platform database schema
Applications and Integrations
  • Serverless - you don’t need to create and manage environments and servers for your applications and integrations Need to host and manage servers and environments for all front-end applications and integrations
  • Versionless APIs provide access to all VTEX services and data objects APIs were added after the fact and are versioned
  • Over 1,000 pre-built applications and integrations Limited ecosystem of pre-built applications and integrations
Customer Success and Support
  • 24x7 support. VTEX provides Customer Success Managers that serve as partners to help you meet your business goals Standard L1/L2 support services depending on which version you are on. V7 is in extended support
  • VTEX Customer Success helps you maximize traffic, conversion, and sales without paying an extra fee Experts to help make the most out of the platform and optimize operational processes requires separate contacts and fees
VTEX Commerce Platform
HCL Commerce (Websphere)
Microservice, API-first, and multi-tenant SaaS commerce solution Single, monolithic, on-prem application
Cloud-native, runs in public cloud infrastructure like AWS. Needs to be installed and managed in a local IT environment
Users are always on the latest version - updates are automatic Users are typically on a down-level version - applying updates is manual
Serverless, low-code development platform for extensions and integrations Hard to use, integrate, and extend
Scales automatically only the services that need more capacity Manual scaling process - does not scale efficiently
Low maintenance and total cost of ownership High maintenance and total cost of ownership
Move to VTEX
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