5 Sitecore 10 pro tips from our MVPs

With any product software release, there are breaking changes and considerations to keep in mind when evaluating and upgrading to the latest version. Below, our Sitecore MVPs share a handful of tips for navigating Sitecore XP 10.

1). Keep security best practices and governance in mind when using containers.

As with any shiny, new tech tool, with power comes responsibility. Containers offer many benefits, as we’ve outlined in our Sitecore XP 10 highlights post. However, it’s important that the team building the containers understands best practices around what to put in the containers, such as only passing sensitive data at run time and using the appropriate tools and controls to verify the signature of containers. A good Sitecore partner will have a strong development team that has a security-first mindset.

2). Don’t use Azure Search on any new or in-progress Sitecore implementations, as it will be completely removed in a future release.

Azure Search is deprecated and will be completely removed ​in a future release​. If you are starting a new Sitecore project, we recommend using Solr as your search engine. For more tips on switching to Solr, check out our recent post, 3 ways to ensure your Solr-enabled Sitecore application runs smoothly.

For additional documentation around this change, see the Deprecated / Removed section of the Sitecore 10 release notes.

3). Be aware of the product support end dates for your Sitecore version.

It’s important to keep tabs on when both mainstream and extended support end for your version of Sitecore. Mainstream support covers things like ensuring the latest version of Google Chrome browser remains compatible with Sitecore’s back-end content editor and providing access to Sitecore product defect patches. Extended support centers more around keeping your application secure. Remaining on a version beyond its extended support end date is a security risk, as you will no longer receive important security updates. We strongly recommend upgrading to a newer version before the corresponding end date.

Two upcoming product support deadlines to be mindful of include:

• December 31, 2020: Mainstream support for Sitecore 9.0 ends.
• December 31, 2021: Extended support ends for Sitecore 8.0/8.1 and mainstream support ends for Sitecore 9.1.

For all upcoming product support dates, see Sitecore Project Support Lifecycle.

4). Make sure your development teams are set up for success with powerful laptops.

Developing on Sitecore 10, and using the recommended DevOps tools, requires workstations powerful enough to support working with these new technologies. At a minimum, a standard developer workstation needs at least 16 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage.

5). Read through Breaking Changes, as this may impact sites that are upgrading to 10 from an earlier version of Sitecore.

As you plan for your Sitecore upgrade, read through the breaking changes listed in the release notes, so you can account for potential recoding of existing functionality during the development phase before bugs come up during testing. For example, Sitecore 10 has several xConnect and xDB API changes that require a developer to modify the API or add additional parameters, so existing data functionality continues to work post upgrade.

See the Breaking Changes section of the Sitecore 10 release notes for additional considerations.

For more information on Sitecore 10, or if you are looking for an experienced Sitecore partner to help your company achieve your marketing technology goals, contact us.