The Optimizely Configured Commerce SDK and Optimizely Configured Commerce Cloud serve different but complementary purposes within the Optimizely ecosystem. Below is a breakdown of their differences to help clarify their roles:
Optimizely Configured Commerce SDK (Software Development Kit)
The SDK is a toolkit developers use to build, extend, and customize Optimizely Configured Commerce solutions.
Key Features
- Custom Development: Enables developers to create tailored functionality or modify existing features.
- Extensibility: Allows the integration of third-party tools, systems, or APIs into the platform.
- Local Development: Provides resources for developers to work offline or in a local development environment.
- Code Control: Gives developers greater flexibility to build unique features that align with business-specific workflows or industry requirements.
Use Cases
- Businesses need highly customized solutions that go beyond the standard capabilities of Optimizely Configured Commerce.
- This is for developers who want to test and implement features locally before deploying them to the live environment.
- When integrating Optimizely with complex systems such as legacy ERPs, custom CRMs, or bespoke tools.
Optimizely Configured Commerce Cloud
This is the fully managed, cloud-hosted environment where the Configured Commerce platform operates. It delivers scalability, security, and reliability while offloading the burden of infrastructure management from businesses.
Key Features
- Cloud Hosting: Hosted on Optimizely’s infrastructure, ensuring uptime and reliability.
- Scalability: Automatically adjusts to handle increased traffic or load.
- Maintenance-Free: Optimizely manages software updates, patches, and performance optimizations.
- Global Availability: Designed for businesses operating in multiple regions with global infrastructure support.
- Security: Includes enterprise-grade security measures, including compliance with data protection standards.
Use Cases
- Businesses that want to focus on business operations rather than maintaining infrastructure.
- Companies expecting fluctuations in traffic and requiring a scalable solution.
- Organizations need high uptime and reliability for their eCommerce operations.
Important Distinctions Between Cloud and SDK
| Factor | SDK | Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Toolkit for building and customizing functionality. | Fully managed, hosted environment for the platform. |
| Target Team | Developers and technical teams. | Business teams rely on platform stability. |
| Customization | High flexibility for custom features and integrations. | Limited to Cloud version also supports the platform extension at large extent with certain limitation but from this point it sounds like we can only customize the platform through configurations. |
| Management | Requires development resources to build and deploy changes. | Managed entirely by Optimizely, including updates and maintenance. |
| Hosting | Local or self-hosted for development purposes and production purposes. | Hosted by Optimizely with global availability. |
By leveraging Optimizely Cloud capabilities, you can achieve robust, scalable, and tailored eCommerce experiences with minimized operational complexity, while using SDK version you can have more controlled, customizable website and also have control on infrastructure, upgrades and the deployments
