June 27, 2025
Apidemia, the web development and consulting company, is partnering with TagOnTrack Inc., an e-commerce logistics technology company, to provide a custom solution for migrating a OctavaWMS from legacy Laminas MVC to Dotkernel Headless Platform, using Mezzio microframework with Laminas components.
This collaboration can be beneficial on two fronts:
- Modernizing a mature WMS platform by replacing outdated architectural components with a future-proof solution;
- Documenting every step of the way for use in other legacy projects.
'There is no clear path for these old systems to migrate to the new way of doing things.', says Julian Somesan from Apidemia. 'Laminas MVC has been dead for years. It's way too bloated. Its own developers won't touch it any more. Mezzio fixes everything wrong with MVC: it's easier to get started with it, to grow your system and to maintain it. We need to let go of MVC once and for all and embrace middleware. We at Apidemia aim to do just that and see what this migration implies for a real-world project, not just on paper.'
The Problem
OctavaWMS, developed by TagOnTrack Inc., currently runs on Laminas MVC - a framework whose architecture is considered outdated and is expected to be officially discontinued in late 2025 - along with API Tools, which now only receives security updates. While the platform itself remains robust and widely used, relying on aging technology brings several risks:
- Rising maintenance complexity and costs.
- Increased exposure to security vulnerabilities.
- Development bottlenecks that slow down bug fixes and the rollout of new features.
The Proposed Solution
The best path forward is to modernize the architecture by transitioning to Mezzio with Laminas components. Both Mezzio and the broader Laminas ecosystem are actively maintained and follow modern PHP standards, making them a reliable foundation for long-term growth. This shift brings several strategic benefits:
- Future-proofing the platform, which serves as the backbone of the business, ensuring long-term stability and adaptability over the next 20+ years.
- Only having to update dependencies, rather than your custom code.
- Easier maintainability of your platform and implementation of new features.
- Being able to expand your platform both horizontally and vertically.
Who Is Apidemia?
Apidemia is a web development and consulting company that has been working with cutting-edge tools for decades. They blend hands-on development, leadership-level support (via fractional CTO engagements) and infrastructure services. Their offer is ideal for companies seeking modernization, API-driven design or occasional CTO-level guidance without a full-time hire.
Since 2005, they have used Zend Framework 1, 2, and 3, then moved toward Laminas and the Mezzio microframework. The PSR-compliant architecture defined by Laminas has proven itself to be all-around better than anything that preceded it. Standardization of architecture and coding has done wonders for the PHP ecosystem.
Apidemia has adopted the PHP community's most recent design recommendations and implemented them into their applications. Their developers have decades of experience under their belt while working on projects large and small. They welcome challenges that seem to stump battle-hardened developers.
Who Is TagOnTrack Inc.?
TagOnTrack Inc. is a U.S.-based logistics technology company building the next generation of fulfillment infrastructure for e-commerce. The company develops OctavaWMS, a powerful cloud-based warehouse management framework designed specifically for modern 3PLs, fulfillment providers, and prep centers serving multichannel sellers across platforms like Amazon FBA/FBM, Shopify, Walmart, eBay, and WooCommerce.
Currently undergoing a full architectural rebuild, OctavaWMS is evolving into a modular, developer-friendly platform that enables fast configuration, custom workflows, advanced integrations, and support for multi-warehouse operations. It includes built-in tools for inventory control, order routing, carrier label generation, returns, and AI-assisted receiving and inspection - all designed to improve accuracy, speed, and cost efficiency.
TagOnTrack supports fulfillment operations primarily across the East Coast and is driven by a mission to make enterprise-grade fulfillment tools accessible to small and mid-sized e-commerce businesses — empowering them to compete in a market dominated by retail giants, and enabling logistics providers to modernize without costly, rigid systems.
What Did Apidemia and TagOnTrack Inc. Discuss?
The limitations of Laminas MVC and the need to move away from its obsolete architecture were obvious. TagOnTrack Inc. needed a custom solution for migrating their system and decided that the best way forward was to hire devs who have worked with what is now seen as the better alternative for Laminas MVC: Mezzio microframework with Laminas components.
To guide the migration, Max Gasumyants, co-founder of TagOnTrack Inc., reached out to Apidemia for their expertise in PSR-compliant architecture and hands-on experience with both Laminas and Mezzio. After several discussions, the two teams agreed on a phased collaboration. Rebuilding such a large, business-critical system in-house presented two key challenges:
- The learning curve of the new architecture;
- Performing the actual migration would stretch their time and budget even more.
The talks with Apidemia have convinced them that to avoid mistakes, Apidemia should overview the migration as the TagOnTrack Inc. devs are shifted progressively to the effort. Max believes that this collaboration not only strengthens their own product but also contributes valuable insights to the broader PHP community as it moves away from legacy frameworks.