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Adobe announces the End of Life for Business Catalyst

Adobe Employee ,
Mar 25, 2018 Mar 25, 2018

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Adobe is committed to delivering exceptional software and services to our customers. It’s in our nature to innovate and try new things, and it was in this spirit that we acquired Business Catalyst in 2009. As we re-focus on products that broadly provide our customers with the most value, Adobe is announcing the end of development for Business Catalyst as of March 26th, 2018. New sites will no longer be available for purchase starting with June 18th, 2018. 

Adobe will stop hosting existing sites on Business Catalyst on March 26th 2020. Adobe encourages customers to download their data and migrate to other systems well before March 26th 2020. Detailed how-to information and assistance is available. Customers' data will be retained by Adobe until March 26th 2020, after which date the data will be deleted. Data retention is for the sole purpose of allowing customers to export their data and transfer to another platform.   

We thank our Business Catalyst users and want to help them make a smooth transition to a third-party service. Please see the following for more information on transitioning:  https://secure.worldsecuresystems.com/product-announcement

Please see below a detailed FAQ.

Why is Adobe discontinuing Business Catalyst?

Adobe is committed to delivering exceptional software and services to our customers. It’s in our nature to innovate and try new things, and it was in this spirit that we acquired Business Catalyst in 2009. As we re-focus on products that broadly provide our customers with the most value, we are now announcing the end of life for Business Catalyst. We thank our Business Catalyst users and want to help them make a smooth transition to a third party service.

When will the End of Life take effect?

On March 26th, 2020.

Will this end-of-service affect paid sites as well?

Yes, all sites, including trial and paid sites, partner sites, etc. will be affected by the end of life.

Will data be available for download beyond the service end date?

  1. No. Data will be deleted. We encourage users to download their data before the service end date.

I need help downloading my data. Whom can I contact for help?

BC users may find export instructions in the Business Catalyst Help and Support pages. If you still have questions, please contact our Customer Support team.

How long do I have to export my data?

All Business Catalyst servers will be taken down on March 26th, 2020, after which all customer data will be deleted. Please export your data before March 26th, 2020.

How long will you keep my data? What will you do with it?

We will retain your data until March 26th, 2020 or until you delete your site, whichever is sooner, so that you can transition to another product.

Do you recommend another product for me to use?

While there are other hosting solutions available in the market, Adobe does not recommend a specific product. For basic websites and Creative Cloud users, we provide documentation to help with transition to GoDaddy, should the customer choose this replacement. Moreover, since we’ve seen the emergence of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) website creators that leverage customizable templates to quickly create responsive websites, Adobe is making our own investment in the DIY space and welcomes all interested customers to join our upcoming pre-release program for a new format that will be introduced later this year as part of Adobe Spark.

Will new features be developed?

No, new features will no longer be developed on Business Catalyst. We are maintaining a small team to correct critical issues, but no new work is being done. The Business Catalyst team will maintain the PCI and GDPR compliance throughout the lifetime of the product and develop any new features needed in this respect.

Will Adobe still fix the bugs in Business Catalyst?

We will continue to repair critical issues (related to security, payments or customer data for example) when they appear, however, the work will be limited to bugs that have a high security or high stability risk. We will not be fixing minor items with small impact or that have a workaround which can be used.

Will my site be closed down?

At this time, all sites will continue to be live and the public will see no difference in your site. However, starting with March 26th, 2020 all sites will no longer be live and they will not be accessible either to the general public, or to the site administrators. Please find an alternative platform for your site and data before this date.

Can I continue creating trial sites?

You can continue creating trial sites until June 18th, 2018. They need to be upgraded to a paid plan before June 18th, 2018. The data from these sites, as well as from any other site in your portfolio, needs to be removed from the platform before March 26th, 2020.

Can I upgrade my trial site to paid?

You can continue upgrading trial sites to paid until June 18th, 2018, but the data from these sites, as well as from any other site in your portfolio needs to be removed from the platform before March 26th, 2020.

Can I downgrade my site or make any other plan changes?

Yes, you can continue making any changes to your site plan and extras until March 26th, 2020.

Can I still purchase extras?

You can continue purchasing extras until March 26th, 2020. Please note that all extras expire on March 26th, 2020 and can no longer be used after that date.

Can I continue sending newsletters?

The e-mail marketing features will continue to work for the duration of your site. You can continue sending emails until March 26th, 2020 at which point all newsletter credits remaining in your account will expire.

Can I still redeem my commissions?

You can continue to redeem the commissions available in your account until March 26th 2020.  Following this date this feature will not be available anymore.

What happens to the commissions below $500?

At this time, we are researching technical options to allow redemption of lower commissions. Please stay tuned for further announcements from the Business Catalyst team.

Can I extend the validity of my extras beyond March 26th, 2020?

No, the validity date for your extras can no longer be extended. All extras not used until March 26th 2020 will be forfeited.

Will I be able to use Adobe Muse or Dreamweaver to update my site?

Yes, until March 26th, 2020, if your desktop app still functions properly.

Will I still have technical support for Adobe Business Catalyst?

Yes, until March 26th, 2020. However, after June 18th, 2018, our support team will give a higher priority to cases about the off the platform migration questions, in addition to critical security, compliance, and availability issues.

 
 

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replies 474 Replies 474
Explorer ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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Magda,

This is devastating to many of the partners, especially those with projects in current development. More-so because we have been pushed in recent times to become more dependent on BC, particularly in terms of SSL, I personally have just moved complex DNS setups to the platform. There has also been a huge partner push for further development through the App Store, BC Gurus, BC Academe and many others, so partners are financially invested in the platform.

Does Adobe really see not benefit in continuing the platform? And more importantly developing and improving the platform into the future? If not, then why simply shut it down and not sell it on to someone who is prepared to continue developing such a platform?

I understand that you are probably unable to answer most of these questions. But they need to be posed. We as the partners are upset and angry, we have invested ourselves into this platform, and many of the small businesses who have specialized in developing solely on this platform will struggle to remain afloat in the coming years.

Thanks for reading, Peta

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New Here ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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Hi Peta and everyone,

I certainly can understand your situation. I'd like to offer our assistance to Adobe and its Business Catalyst Partners, and recommend SeoSamba  - Digital Transformation Solutions & Private-label Marketing Automation Platform | SeoSamba  - as a modern all-in-one marketing solution.

A fundamental difference that I'm sure you'll be sensible to is that SeoSamba interfaces with open sources Content Management Systems, so that a situation like the one faced by all Adobe partners today can't happen with the same kind of dire consequences/urgency to migrate away.

Our agency support staff will be happy to help you migrate your sites over to either WordPress or SeoToaster, and your contacts to SeoSamba.

I encourage everyone to open up a free account at https://www.seosamba.com , take a peek around, and contact us as they see fit.

Best,

Michel

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Engaged ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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And really, the ONLY person who has put themselves out there in terms of answering ANY questions, is unable to answer them.  Great.

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New Here ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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This is nothing compared to the fact that Adobe Muse will no longer be updated. The only reason my company got Adobe is to use Adobe Muse which is the best. I can't believe this:

Adobe Muse Product Announcement As Adobe continues to re-focus on developing products and solutions that provide our customers with the most value, we are now announcing the end of new feature development for Adobe Muse CC. On March 26, 2018 we will release the final feature improvement release of Adobe Muse. We will continue to offer technical support to all active Creative Cloud customers until May 20, 2019.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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No, sorry, but BC is more catastrophic to the customers. you have here a deadline in March 2020. This makes 2 years for a transition to an other product. That’s not a lot, if you are heavily dependant on BC. Muse will continue to work for 3, 4, 5, 6 years or more. There will be no more new features, but you can let the product die gracefully. With BC you will go off-line after the terminal date.

I’ve seen Europe Online going dead. Customers got switched of the internet at the time the minute the company was out of business. That was early in the internet times. A replacement provider took time to get selected...

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer

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Enthusiast ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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Why is Adobe just closing BC down? It has many committed partners who have been loyal to BC for years. And thousands of websites. Why not sell it as a going concern? This is a very destructive act.

Adobe has also discontinued Muse so how can Adobe let so many people down like this? I notice Adobe and has three new web products for making websites. Why would anyone try any of the new products after this abrupt shut down? Small businesses are facing ruin. If they survive this none of them will rely on Adobe products.

Our trust in Adobe is broken.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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Business decisions. Products that do not get over some magic line or are declining or do not get the customer support Adobe expects are vowed to disappear. Happened all the time and will happen all the time.

But it's a real and serious problem to all the customers that build a business model on this.

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer

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New Here ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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ça c'est sûr ! Poursuivre avec Adobe sur de nouveau produits ce sera sans nous ! Perdre du temps de formation, du temps de développement de solutions et  du temps pour convaincre les clients que c'est un bon produit ... tout ça pour tout mettre à la poubelle sans préavis. C'est honteux !

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Engaged ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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Aside from the flimsy Spark, what CMS platform does Adobe have??

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Explorer ,
Mar 27, 2018 Mar 27, 2018

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I don't understand why Adobe didn't sell BC to another entity instead of just shutting the doors.  My clients were excited about having a full-enterprise solution in one place.  As far as I know there is nothing like this anywhere.

Your decision to kill BC will costs your developers time and money.  We've wasted time and spent money learning the platform but now we have to search for another solution, probably multiple solutions to move our client's web sites to.

This isn't the first time Adobe has pulled the rug out from under their loyal customers.  There was Contribute, Adobe Edge Animate and other solutions that were simply discontinued without giving us an alternative.  At least when you discontinued Freehand, Illustrator was a great alternative.  Granted, I will never trust Adobe with any new solution they come up with.  I'll definitely not jump on board because if the ship sinks, you won't give us a life preserver.

Bad form, bad form!

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Explorer ,
Mar 28, 2018 Mar 28, 2018

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Trust in Adobe is destroyed.

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Explorer ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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How is this LEGAL?

At the very least this is incredibly bad faith, I suspect there may also be the potential for legal recourse. Unconscionable and a huge breach of trust. Particularly with the ridiculously short notice. Lead times for large sites are often upwards of 16 weeks, this will kill some projects MID-DEVELOPMENT.

I bought into BC at the beginning for something like 2K and this will beggar me in the time necessary to migrate complex sites. One in particular is a 30K completely custom site which went up last year - it will take me THOUSANDS of hours to migrate to a new system and I can't charge this to a client.

I can imagine some of the bigger firms and app developers who have based their entire business model around it will be in an even worse position.

Absolutely disgusting Adobe. Also cancelling my CC subscription and boycotting.

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Contributor ,
Mar 27, 2018 Mar 27, 2018

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Adobe's announcement to END the life of BC is not simply abandoning a piece of software that been superseded, its breaking a long term partnership with many international parties, in effect its a divorce notice from Adobe, and where a divorce takes place so does legal affairs. What Adobe are doing here is unethical, and the way they have handled this so far is nothing short of abominable.

$113 Billion dollar frankenstein enterprise (as of 2018) that tramples all over its faithful customers.

Definitely NOT feeling the love Adobe.

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Participant ,
Mar 27, 2018 Mar 27, 2018

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Keep it personal, Adobe is just a brand. Adobe manages will never take ownership of what they have done when it is not directly point at them but just at the brand that they don't have an ownership of. Name and Shame them!

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Participant ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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Just heard the news and I am completely shocked!

I don’t know how this can be legal.

I am a one-man operation, using BC exclusively since Adobe launched it and do not know what to do about this.

The costs involved in moving some sites is going to be big and who is going to pay for that?

I can’t even think about some of my older sites (online stores etc) that have been out in the wild for quite some time with email, blogs, complex stores etc, what am I supposed to do with them?

Also, just went on to support chat and they couldn’t even give me someone to contact about it.

Don’t know what to do, this is a nightmare Adobe.

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Explorer ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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I echo your sentiment and am in the same boat.  Magda, I just pitched a client on the benefits of migrating from WordPress to BC and how it is backed by Adobe. I even had them sign an  agreement and now this communicated like this? And your recommendation is open source and Godaddy?!?  I’ve Been a loyal Adobe products fan for over 20 years and even teach it at a college here and as a course leader.  This as put such a sour taste  in my mouth that short of cutting me a cheque for over 50K for Business losses this year I will do all in my power to migrate to something else,  yes that means the Adobe Creative Suite too.  I will be recommending other software for my students as well.   This is a PR blunder that will have long lasting ripple effects with this guy I tell you.

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Explorer ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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I agree... I also teach a local Adobe products course. Makes me look stupid for investing so much time and money into such an unstable company. I have been an sales agent for Adobe for many years, and will have to somehow find a way to salvage my reputation. Adobe may be able to 'ride out" bad press, and even bad business decisions. I don't believe I can.

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Explorer ,
Mar 29, 2018 Mar 29, 2018

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Cl*ss action l*wsu*t might be a remedy. If nothing else extend out the shutdown process.

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New Here ,
Apr 02, 2018 Apr 02, 2018

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Hello,

I am business catalyst developer too. But I am having knowledge of Wordpress,Opencart,Shopify too. So I've decided to move my all Business Catalyst informative sites to wordpress and BC ecommerce sites to either in opencart or in Shopify. So if you want to move your BC sites to Wordpress/Opencart/Shopify then you can contact me on info@skylogicinfosolutions.com. In addition, the price will be very nominal. So if anyone instrected please contact me.

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Engaged ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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Magda,

Thanks for pushing this notification to us partners ON A SUNDAY - ONE DAY prior to your announcement to the general public.  AS a paid partner Adobe didn't even have the decency to send me an email.  I STILL haven't been personally notified.  This is disgraceful.  We were encouraged to bring other businesses to BC to put their entire online business in one basket, because Adobe is a reliable partner, as opposed to other platforms.  We put OUR reputations on the line, and are ON the front line in defending this ridiculous decision on Adobe's part, with literally no support from Adobe.  You should all be ashamed of yourselves.  How many countless partners have you just put out of business.   How many other businesses are being put through the hardship of having to pay, yet again to rebuild.    How many businesses will literally LOSE data or information that cant be ported to other platforms.   Your recommendations for alternatives are laughable.   Godaddy is your best answer?   Give me a break.   The more successful your "Partners" were, the worse its going to be for them to have to find alternatives.   Partner?  I dont feel like a partner.  I feel duped and abandoned.  Your so called Partners are what made you.  They are your Ambassadors in the community.  You are NOT going to be happy with what this does to your reputation going forward.  I will never be able to trust your products again.  Too many times you have quashed GOOD products in order to kill potential competition.  As people move away from BC over the coming months, we will be exploring all ternatives to ALL your products.

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Adobe Employee ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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Hi Neil,

Our official announcement came today for everyone, we did not issue any notification on Sunday.

The emails are currently being sent, and all partners with at least one active paid website or one active trial will receive this information.

Magda

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Explorer ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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Magda,

Is there at least an explanation as to why they are doing this? Is there any comment as to whether any consideration was given to those of us who earn our livelihood on the platform?

We will all appreciate a little transparency here.

Joe

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Adobe Employee ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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Hi Joe,


I can assure you that this decision was not taken lightly, and that every possible avenue was considered before reaching this end. I cannot comment on the business reasoning behind the EOL decision, but I can assure you that the BC team will do everything in our power to help with this difficult transition.

Magda

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Explorer ,
Mar 26, 2018 Mar 26, 2018

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That's great to hear. Some financial assistance will be much appreciated as we have to transition over 50 sites, some of which are very complex, to another platform without the ability to charge our clients for the work involved. We are a company of less than $1M in sales, and expect this decision will cost us as much as $250,000 or 25% of our annual gross income, not to mention the time we will have to spend doing this transition for free rather than billable work. Having not taken the impact to us so called "partners" lightly, the effect of keeping the platform running for Adobe must have been deemed to be a significant risk to Adobe's core business. Other products must be being evaluated the same way. Adobe surely must have made some resources available for those who will be financially devastated by this decision. I hope that someday Adobe will be able to tell us why they did this. That would go a long way to help retain some confidence that the same decision will not be made about the other Adobe products we currently rely on. We will all certainly be looking for alternative products as "plan B" , just in case this happens again.

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