The Saga of MYOB, Mamut and Digital Rights Management (DRM)
Mamut buys MYOB UK
MYOB Technology Pty
(Australia) pulled out of the UK market in May
2008 with the intention of either selling or closing the UK operation.
Mamut Software ASA of Norway bought the MYOB UK Business Division later
that year. Initially they told consultants that MYOB licences would be
safe.
Mamut announced that file reconfirmations would stop on
December 31st 2011. File reconfirmations had become necessary since MYOB
lodged Digital Rights Management in their software five years earlier -
supposedly to protect from software piracy. The computer which logs the
licence
reconfirmations is apparently owned and operated by MYOB Technology Pty
in Australia.
After some pressure from MYOB specialists Mamut decided to upgrade MYOB Mac products to version 19. This upgrade was purchased from the North Amercian distributors of MYOB, Acclivity LLC. In 2011 they issued version 20. In 2009 Mamut brought in QTAC as a replacement for the MYOB Payroll and DOSH as a cashbook system for PCs.
Meanwhile Mamut stopped selling MYOB products for PC.
Mamut software
Mamut
are now the sole distributor of MYOB products in the UK. They are
offering a migration path for PC users to the equivalent Mamut product,
however Mamut One is not a product we would recommend. Compared with
MYOB it is difficult to use and expensive. Mamut have claimed they do
not control the licence agreement for the
MYOB software, nor the licence activation process. Mamut maintain that
they do not have the option to continue to sell, support or licence the
MYOB products beyond the dates determined by MYOB Technology Pty.
However they are prepared to issue confirmation codes for MYOB if you
pay for a Mamut Enterprise licence.
However it is clear that
Mamut have the ability to create an alternative file reconfirmation
process for Mac MYOB datafiles. It seems to be a commercial decision
(rather than a technical or legal decision) that they refuse to do so
for PC users.
The reason is probably simply that Mamut believe that their existing PC
products offer a viable alternative to MYOB. They have therefore
encouraged MYOB PC users to accept various upgrade offers.
Mamut
claim there are many customers who have successfully and happily
migrated to their PC products. The feedback we have received is that
those who have tried Mamut’s PC products
find them either hard to use, weaker at key functionalities, or
expensive, or a mixture of these three. Some, are threatening legal
action. Some have just surrendered their Mamut licences and walked
away. The Mamut Mac upgrade Mamut AccountEdge has fared better. Most
users we have spoken to seem happy. However some ex-MYOB MYOB users also
resent being asked to pay a compulsory annual support fee
merely to be able to view historic data.
VISMA acquire Mamut
On 5th July 2011 Nowegian software house VISMA acquired Mamut asa under the Norway Stock Exchange. At 12 Norwegian Kronas, Mamut Enterprise makes £80 million. This compares to the £1million paid by Mamut for the MYOB UK franchise. Mamut is about to be delisted from the Norwegian stock exchange.We wrote to ask that the new owners of Mamut ASA consider licencing a PC MYOB product for distribution in the UK. The CEO of the new parent firm in the UK can be reached at Oystein.Moan@visma.com We are still waiting to hear back from Mr Moan and what his takeover will mean for MYOB/Mamut/Acclivity software in the UK. No news, in this situation, is not good news.
MYOB Australia Stall the Decision to Sunset MYOB UK products
On December 7th 2011 MYOB Australia announced that it would continue to provide Activation and Confirmation functions for MYOB UK products beyond 31 December 2011. They suggested that this was following 'a number of requests from continuing users of these products for an extension of this date'.However they stressed that users should still take action to plan your transition to a replacement accounting system.
MYOB Announcement
We have been in contact with senior managers at both Mamut and MYOB Australia. Neither have been able to give us any hope for a certain future for MYOB in the UK. We are not convinced that Mamut will continue to provide free phone support into 2012. Many MYOB users are already experiencing problems with file confirmations.
UK MYOB User Group
In October 2011 Simple Accounting Ltd joined with other MYOB users to form the MYOB User Group to provide manual file reconfirmations and support users. By January 2012 it has over 200 members and is successfully issuing confirmation codes.
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