Xero migrates to AWS, gets slapped down by MYOB

Xero's gargantuan migration of more than 700,000 customers from Rackspace to Amazon Web Services has been publicly panned by rival accounting software provider MYOB.

Xero began migrating its customer's data from Rackspace to AWS over the weekend, saying it was on track to be completed over the next few months.

Chief platform officer Duncan Ritchie said in a blog post that moving to AWS would support the company as it aimed to surpass one million Xero users. 

He also took the time for a subtle dig at accounting rival MYOB, which began life as traditional boxed software and has since launched a software-as-a-service product set.

"It’s important to note that our migration to AWS isn’t about us adopting the cloud for the first time. We were born in the cloud from day one, and we have lived and breathed it ever since," said Ritchie.

"We’ve been fortunate in that we don’t have a legacy of desktop software that we have had to maintain and support alongside newer technology — this has enabled us to innovate rapidly and ensure we are constantly able to grow as more small businesses and accounting partners around the world join our growing community."

He added that while the migration has mostly been smooth, a few partners noticed issues with Xero over the weekend which has already been rectified. 

Welcome to the club

In a statement, MYOB general manager engineering and experience Adam Ferguson said Xero's on-boarding efforts were "a bit late", given that MYOB began operating from AWS in 2011.

“We’ve been innovating on AWS for basically as long as it has been in Australasia. Two of our biggest cloud-based products, Essentials and Advanced, are both there,” said Ferguson.

“It’s funny to hear Xero carry on like it’s just discovered the platform.”

MYOB's Essentials and Advanced products are both hosted in AWS, while its AccountRight Live product is hosted in Microsoft Azure. MYOB also sells desktop versions of its products.

“MYOB is well advanced over the rest of the ANZ market on the structure of our data platform. We’re already leveraging our relationship with AWS to offer better products and services for our customers.”

“There’s no doubt Xero will see benefit from its move. We saw the same thing years ago,” said Ferguson.