The ease of using Docker
It was early 2018 and version 9 of Sitecore Commerce had just been released. The technology of Docker for Windows was still in its infancy and in terms of stability there was no comparison with Docker for Linux. Despite this, we chose to take up the challenge and opted for Docker. How come? Because Docker makes the complex setup of Sitecore Commerce a whole lot simpler and easier.
Docker makes it easy to select and download your preferred version of Sitecore and run it on your own PC, with no in-depth knowledge required. The Mercury Dockerized demo is a great example of this: it enables, for instance, a technical sales employee to start working with Sitecore after reading a short guide.
Milestone
It took a great deal of time and perseverance, but our early decision to choose Docker resulted in a Github repository, including Dockerized setups for Sitecore XP and XC. This open source repository has been the foundation of our Sitecore Commerce development ever since and is available for everyone to use.
Last summer, the Sitecore community initiated a separate Sitecore Docker Github repository that includes the setups for the XM and XP Docker. That gave us an idea. With our Docker and Sitecore Commerce expertise, we added an XC setup, which we delivered at the end of October 2019. It marked a milestone: there is now a single Github repository containing the Dockerized versions of Sitecore XM, XP and XC.
Embraced by Sitecore
During the Sitecore Symposium 2019 in November, Sitecore announced that it had embraced these community-driven improvements. Sitecore also revealed that it will be offering official Sitecore Docker Images from mid-2020 based on the community's efforts. This is a big plus for developers who will no longer have to build the Docker Images themselves. It also means that official support from Sitecore will be available.
Our pioneering and evolving Docker Images for Sitecore XP and XC have allowed us to make a valuable contribution to the Sitecore community and have also served to further develop and improve Docker itself. We have therefore made working with Sitecore even easier and more efficient – a result that we are very proud of.
Do you want to get straight down to business? You can, in the Docker repository.