Migrating SAP Commerce to a Headless CMS

Migrating Spartacus from SAP SmartEdit to a true Headless CMS: A Step-by-Step Guide for a smooth Transformation

Are you looking to modernize your Spartacus storefront by moving from SAP SmartEdit to a headless CMS like Contentful? This guide will walk you through a structured, phased approach to make this transition seamless, along with key considerations for a successful migration.

Introduction: Why Migrate to a Headless CMS?

Migrating your SAP CMS to a headless solution like Contentful is a powerful way to increase flexibility, improve user experience, and empower your business teams. With a Headless architecture, content and front-end presentation are decoupled, giving your team the ability to rapidly deploy and manage content while scaling your Spartacus (Composable Storefront) storefront.

Tool to help you migrate (Contentful)

If you’re considering a migration from SAP Commerce CMS to Contentful, you might want to consider reading through Our Blog Post.

Step-By-Step Migration

Phase 1: Start Small with Low-Traffic Pages

To kick off the migration, start with low-traffic pages such as FAQ pages. These pages allow you to test the integration between Spartacus (Composable Storefront) and your new CMS, gain business buy-in, and showcase the new CMS’s capabilities with minimal risk.

Benefits of Starting with Low-Traffic Pages:

• Allows the business to gradually adapt to the new CMS
• Minimizes potential disruptions to high-traffic areas
• Provides a controlled environment for testing

Phase 2: Component Mapping – From SAP Components to Headless

Once you’ve selected the initial pages to migrate, it’s time to map the CMS components used on these pages. This mapping step involves identifying which component types are essential for each page, such as:

• CMSParagraph
• Carousel
• Media

Component Mapping Process

1. Create Component Definitions in Contentful: Set up Contentful to host equivalent components for each component type currently used in SAP SmartEdit.
2. Develop Angular Components: Decide whether to build new Angular components or adapt existing ones. For existing components, create wrappers to convert Contentful data into a format compatible with Spartacus components designed for SAP SmartEdit CMS.

Read more about Converters

Read more about Components

Below is an example of a converter from a new TypeParagraph to an SAP CMSParagraph.

import {Injectable} from "@angular/core";
import {CmsComponentData} from "@spartacus/storefront";
import {of} from "rxjs";
import {CmsParagraphComponent} from "@spartacus/core";
import {AbstractConverter, NcrEntry} from "@ncremental/ncr-contentful";
 
 
export type TypeParagraph = NcrEntry<{
    title: string;
    html: string;
    classList: string[];
}>;
 
 
@Injectable({
    providedIn: 'root'
})
export class CMSParagraphConverter extends AbstractConverter<
    TypeParagraph,
    CmsParagraphComponent
> {
    override async convert(source: TypeParagraph): Promise<CmsComponentData<CmsParagraphComponent>> {
        return {
            uid: source.sys.id,
            data$: of({
                content: source.fields.html,
                container: source.fields.classList.join(' '),
                title: source.fields.title
            })
        };
    }
}
 

Phase 3: Set Up Routing for Migrated Pages

With your component mapping in place, you can begin routing migrated pages through Contentful. Update the routing in Spartacus (Composable Storefront) to pull content from Contentful for these pages, directing traffic to the new CMS.

Read more about possible Routing

home: {
  regex: /^\/?$/g,
  contentfulType: "ncrPagesBlank",
  filter: () => ({ "fields.slug": "home" }),
  canActivate: [CmsPageGuard],
},

Phase 4: Scale Gradually to High-Traffic Pages

Once your low-traffic pages are live, you can gradually transition more high-traffic pages to Contentful. This incremental approach ensures that each new page migrated is stable before moving on, allowing for adjustments along the way.

Key Considerations for a Smooth CMS Migration

As you expand your migration efforts, there are a few additional considerations to address to ensure a seamless transition to Contentful.

Analytics

Many analytics platforms rely on CMS data for page differentiation. Verify whether your analytics setup is tied to SAP SmartEdit, and adjust tracking as needed to include the new Contentful-based pages.

SEO Attributes

SEO metadata, like page descriptions and titles, might be stored in SAP SmartEdit CMS. Ensure Contentful has the necessary fields to handle this data to avoid any SEO impact from the migration.

Automation Potential

For larger sites with hundreds of CMS pages, automation can streamline the migration. Consider automating page creation, content transfer, and other repetitive tasks to improve consistency and save time.

Handling Page and Component Restrictions

If your SAP SmartEdit CMS setup restricts content visibility based on factors like user group or behavior, replicate these restrictions in Contentful. Options include:

1. Custom CMS Logic: Implement restriction logic within your new Headless CMS platform if supported.
2. Middleware Solution: Use middleware to manage complex access restrictions.

OpenID Connect (OIDC), which is supported by SAP Commerce, is one way to handle secure data sharing for user-based restrictions, allowing Contentful to apply appropriate restrictions based on verified data.

Caching Strategy

While most headless CMS platforms offer built-in caching, custom restrictions may require a more tailored caching approach. Consider using your own caching mechanism to incorporate user group data or restriction parameters, while still leveraging the headless CMS platform (i.e Contentful)’s caching for performance.

Conclusion

Migrating from SAP SmartEdit to a true Headless CMS is a transformative journey that can elevate your Spartacus (Composable) storefront’s flexibility and scalability. By starting with low-traffic pages, carefully mapping components, setting up routing, and gradually scaling, you can make the transition smoothly. Don’t forget to address key areas like analytics, SEO, and caching to ensure a seamless experience for users and administrators alike.

With this guide, you’re well-equipped to embark on your headless CMS journey.

Ready to enhance your eCommerce platform with Contentful and SAP Commerce? Reach out to us today to request a demo and see how our integration tool can transform your business. Visit our contact page to get started.

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