Adobe announces the End of Life for Business Catalyst

[MagdaN]

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 18^th, 2018. They need to be upgraded to a paid plan before June 18^th, 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 18^th, 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 26^th 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 26^th 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 18^th, 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.

[traceyc47556579]

Hi Cristinel

I am hoping that you can provide a status of how Adobe Business Catalyst is going with respect to ongoing hosting to end of life date.

My webpage has disappeared and our emails stopped working a few weeks ago.

I have just found this forum and am hoping you are still available to provide some clarification as to how I should proceed from here.

I am hoping that there is still a way that I can access my webpage design data so that I can transfer it to another host.

Will be eternally grateful

[Liam Dilley]

BC information is on here and the the website:

Product Announcement

Your site will not just go down until the end of life date has it.
Can you provide the link to the site etc?
One of the reasons it is not working could be the domain, not the site (not been paid for?)

[traceyc47556579]

Hi Liam

Thanks for your response.

Our website is Tropixx.com.au

Tracey Castles

Super Fund Administrator

Email:  [No e-mails please. Edited by moderator.]

[traceyc47556579]

Does this mean that I may be able to access the back end of the web page through Adobe and transfer without too much hassle?  Given I sort out the external factors.

I have had no notice of missed payments but will investigate.

Tracey Castles

Super Fund Administrator

Email: (removed)

[Abambo]

You will be able to use any catalyst site up to the very last day. If something is not working as designed, th e must be a different reason. Please look into the initial announcement for detailed information.

[BillyBowyer]

it looks like your missing an A record for the www version of the domain name. Double check that

Do you know how to add A records to the domain DNS?

if not reach out to your tech support and ask them to help. they can find additional info here Add a domain name to your site using an external DNS service 

[traceyc47556579]

Thanks Billy but I do not know what an A record is?

Tracey Castles

Super Fund Administrator

Email:  (removed)

[cristinel@adobe]

Hi Tracey,

Your site has been disabled (both front-end and back-end because it has unpaid invoices. You can access your site admin using your system URL and pay for the outstanding invoices. Once done, your site will be reinstated. The site admin URL is: Administration Login

Cristinel

[traceyc47556579]

Thanks very much Cristel

I have attempted to go into the Admin site but my current password does not exist.

When I try to change the password – it says that the site is currently unavailable and for more information I am to contact Go Online Web Design.

This was the company who originally created our website.

I attempted to contact Adam from Go Online back in June when our emails first stopped working.

The mobile phone I have for him is disconnected and he has not been returning my emails.

I believe that the crux of the problem is that he has ceased his business and did not pass on the requirement for us to pay the $130 fee.

Is there a way we can bypass him and allow me to log on directly and pay the fee so that we can access the admin and regain our web page?

I really appreciate your assistance as you can appreciate this has been an ongoing problem.

Cheers,

Tracey Castles

Super Fund Administrator

Email:  [removed ussnorway]

[traceyc47556579]

http://www.goonlinewebdesign.com.au/

Further to my previous email.

When you click on contact us the page is:

Internal Server Error

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator at webmaster@goonlinewebdesign.com.au to inform them of the time this error occurred, and the actions you performed just before this error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Additionally, a 500 Internal Server Error error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

I hope this provides sufficient evidence that Go Online is no longer operational.

Thanks Again

Tracey Castles

Super Fund Administrator

Email:  [removed ussnorway]

[Liam Dilley]

Hi Tracy,

I think they were on billing you and Go Online is no longer operational.

We have had a process to help people where the BC partner has gone AWOL and we can get a bit action out of BC where we need. You probably will need some help as well looking at getting the site off BC as well before the end of life.

If you contact brett.s@pretty.com.au (our director) about this and said you came from the forums he should be able to help you out here.

[Abambo]

traceyc47556579  wrote

Thanks Billy but I do not know what an A record is?

See here for more information on record types: List of DNS record types - Wikipedia

Basically its an Address translating the name of your site "example.com" and/or "www.example.com" to an internet address number.

[Ques1]

I cannot believe that Adobe is doing this. I have told my customers that BC is stable and is not going anywhere. Adobe has made a liar out of me and devastated my business model. If anyone knows of a class action suit, please provide a link on this forum.

[Liam Dilley]

People already have a couple/few pages back.

[Ques1]

Adobe and Apple have decided that the creative fields do not offer a large enough market cap to make sufficient profits. There is simply not  enough money to be made in advertising and design. Adobe is abandoning their creative suite one item at a time and Apple does not make a viable pro tower. Smaller companies will pick up the mantle as these large corps abandon the creative fields. So go back t Quark, find a new WYSIWYG html editor and scramble to find video and audio software before both companies stop supporting those solutions.

First they moved customer support to india and the Philippines but the margins still were not enough. Then they moved us to a subscription model (the cloud) to eliminate piracy and have a never ending cash stream, but the margins still are not enough for them. Now it has become apparent that they have come to the conclusion that their is just not enough money. Apple and Adobe will be announcing end of life for their creative products one at a time over the next few years.

Adobe will accelerate their products that have a larger audience like Acrobat and Apple will keep pumping out consumer products like the iPhone. These companies were built on the backs of creatives but the dollars and cents just don’t make sense to their leadership or stock holders. So... Consider the death of the Pro tower and Muse the beginning of the end. Get out their and find new solutions before you are forced to.

[Abambo]

Thanks for enlightening me! So you really believe Adobe will shutdown the cashcows?

[TheBCMan]

Its not really a cashcow anymore, Adobe did not invest enough resources into keeping BC relevant against other products and would have been losing sites and business over time. Many customers were very long term small to medium businesses that were perfectly happy to spend their X dollars per month for their site and this was a big bulk of the clients.

While I don't think it would take the money Adobe paid for Magento to improve BC it would take time and there are no guarantees. Buying other big companies also increases your share price which is more than likely the reason.

What Adobe should have done is pass the flame, I know they did consider this and actually talked to people / companies about it. I guess the offers were too low, they changed their mind... who knows.... In the end they screwed over a ton of companies and turned some loyalists into people that would never touch an Adobe product again (not me, but I know people that are going to go bankrupt from this). I think it would be bad press for Adobe to sell off something they couldn't get it right when all they have to do is buy something else and their share price goes up.

[gleeren65]

Hello All,

I don't know if everyone has heard of what the team at Code Production has created so I am posting it here. I have not been on this board for a few weeks.

THIS MAY BE THE NUMBER ONE SOLUTION FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SIMILAR TO BC. WEB APPS, CMS THE WORKS!!!

They have duplicated the entire system.

Adobe Staff,

If possible can you bulk email this to all partners? This would go a long way in showing that you care what happens once the doors close on BC for good. It is amazing what the team at Code Production has created.

I would also ask that those partners a that have an immense number of websites receive financial assistance from you Adobe to transfer to this new system. This does not include me, but I am asking on behalf of some of the sad company stories I have read in this post.

Main Page

https://codeproduction.co/treepl-cms

CMS Test Drive

https://codeproduction.co/action-panel-umbraco-preview

Editor Test Drive

https://action-panel-dev.businesscatalyst.com/home-treepl

[traceyc47556579]

Hi MagdaN

Can you please provide an up to date status of how the end of life is going.

Our web page has disappeared and our emails stopped working a few weeks ago.

I have only now found this forum and am hoping that you may be a point of contact that can confirm that the system is now down or maybe it is my individual circumstances that have resulted in this status.

Really appreciate an answer.

Cheers,

[birgits2648990]

Hi Tracey, did you get an answer from anyone. My/our site has disappeared and cannot get emails and cannot get onto support. I sent a message through Facebook and got a sandard response, that 'they are very busy!

[robr37116891]

With this site still work after March 26, 2020. Adobe Muse CC In-Browser Editing I have a site hosted on another server not Business Catalyst, and I am wondering if In-Browser Editing will still work after that date?

[birgits2648990]

Why have you taken down my $25K website? I am VERY VERY annoyed. In Australia there is no one who I can contact about this MAJOR problem. I cannot log onto support Because my SITE does not exist anymore! I have been on the phone for over 1/2 hr to Adobe here in Austrlia, with no answer.
HOW and WHO can I talk too about my site...as it does not exist anymore and HENCE I cannot get onto support!!
Don't send an email, as my website is down, emails are not coming through!
Thanks - 0499 999 807

[Carolyn Frost]

Hi birgits2648990,

Please use our Contact Us form via the link below.  This will create a ticket to the Business Catalyst team and we can help you with your issue. Be sure to provide your site name, site ID number and any other relevant information.

https://www.businesscatalyst.com/contact

See:

https://www.screencast.com/t/sn1myiqz2f

Thank you,

Carolyn - BC

[Robyn256505227lry]

We purchased a business in 2018 after the owner of the business had passed away.

We were under the impression that we were receiving all Adobe Catalyst communications as we had taken over managing the account and transitioning clients from it before the shut down. However, today I have been sent an email about unclaimed commission. For some reason this communication had gone to the original business instead of us as the new owners.

I contacted Adobe Help and they said I had to post here to see what we can do to collect the unclaimed commission. Any help would be much appreciated.

[Nancy OShea]

This forum is dead since Business Catalyst shut down its servers.  I don't know what "unclaimed commissions" means or if you're entitled to anything.  I'm not an attorney. But as I understand it, any unclaimed monies owed to the deceased would belong to deceased's estate & legal heirs.

Did you contact Adobe Support?

Online Chat: https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen
Phone M-F, during normal business hours: https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html