Modern Authentication (OAuth 2.0) with MYOB Exo Business

In Early 2020, Microsoft announced its intention to end support of Basic Authentication for Office365 Exchange Online Services. Their aim was to encourage more secure methods of authentication – namely, Modern Authentication (OAuth 2.0).

This change affects MYOB Exo Business sites using an SMTP integration to Office365. Modern Authentication is now the current standard if you are also upgrading your office applications or moving to Exchange Online.

Additionally, in this document, we provide a comprehensive Glossary with terms and acronyms commonly used in the context of integrating with email services.

Why integrate MYOB Exo and Office 365?

The main goal of the integration is to let you send emails from MYOB Exo. The Mailshot feature relies on this integration, letting you send emails, invoices, and other documents in batches directly from MYOB Exo. This can save a significant amount of time, especially when operating with large numbers of invoices and customers.

On-premise Outlook Client Integration 

MYOB Exo Business is an on-premise ERP system built on a Microsoft SQL database. As a result, you can tightly integrate MYOB Exo with a locally installed Microsoft Outlook client. This integration lets MYOB Exo Business access the Calendar, Contacts, and Email functions, which means:

• It allows the user the same familiar and feature-rich ‘send email’ window,  
• Items sent via MYOB Exo will accumulate in the Sent Items folder, 
• Email Signatures can be used for outgoing mail messages,
• Any Rich Text Email content (including attachments) will be automatically modified to give the best possible experience for the recipient,
• You can drag and drop items from the Email into MYOB Exo Document management.  

A direct, on-premise integration between MYOB Exo and Outlook relies on a locally installed Outlook client. As many organisations transition towards using Office365 and Outlook in the cloud, this integration requires extra configuration. MYOB Exo cannot communicate directly with Outlook online using this method of integration.

With questions regarding the correct installation of the Outlook Client and MYOB Exo Business please contact our support team at support@kilimanjaro-consulting.com. 

Integrate MYOB Exo to Outlook online with SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) assists with creating the Email Services Integration in MYOB Exo Business. Using SMTP allows users to send emails without the need for a local Outlook client. This involves connecting to mail services through Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and an SMTP server to Office365. While SMTP via Outlook can still use Basic Authentication, it is advisable to configure Modern Authentication due to the potential rejection of emails by some servers and recipients. Modern Authentication configuration requires extra steps that are detailed below.

With questions regarding the correct SMTP configuration please contact our support team at support@kilimanjaro-consulting.com. 

SMTP in MYOB Exo’s Mailshot

Many businesses choose to set up an SMTP relay service via Microsoft Exchange in addition to using the Outlook client for normal emailing. 

This is useful for sending bulk emails from MYOB Exo, which is more efficient and can bypass some anti-spam rules. Regardless of your MYOB Exo profile settings, in Mailshot, you can choose to switch between sending emails via your locally installed Outlook or via SMTP – as long as SMTP has been correctly configured. 

SMTP Relay Service

SMTP requires a relay service to communicate with Office365. You can utilise your Office 365 SMTP Relay capabilities which is the most common approach. Third-party commercial SMTP vendors such as Mailchimp, Mailgun, Amazon SES, or Elastic Email can also provide this service. Third-party relays will add your company’s public IP Address to authenticate using a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record.  

Kilimanjaro Consulting’s ExoHosted platform maintains an in-house SMTP relay service that is used for all MYOB Exo Business tenants. This is a simple and secure SMTP relay alongside the benefits of hosting MYOB Exo in the cloud. 

Instructions to set up SMTP with Modern Authentication

These links to the Microsoft Online learning give the most recent options, configuration steps, and requirements for the different SMTP options available with Office 365: 

• Option 1: Authenticate your device or application directly with a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 mailbox, and send mail using SMTP AUTH client submission 
• Option 2: Send mail directly from your printer or application to Microsoft 365 or Office 365 (direct send) 
• Option 3: Configure a connector to send emails using Microsoft 365 or Office 365 (SMTP relay)  

Options 1 and 3 are the most common for MYOB Exo Business sites. Configuring a connector via an SMTP relay is the most resilient and commonly used method; however, requires a more intricate setup – usually done by an administrator or MYOB Exo software partner.

Authenticating the device directly with Office365 (Option 1) is the simplest option for an end user to set up. Although, it requires your current Windows login password to be specified in the MYOB Exo Configurator, which in turn may require frequent change and renewal.

Option 2 is best suited to MYOB Exo email services and internal business alert notifications within your own email domain.

Glossary of commonly used terms relating to configuring email  

• Office 365: A suite of cloud-based productivity tools and services provided by Microsoft, which includes Exchange Online for email services. 
• Exchange Online: The cloud-based email service component of Office 365, offering features like email, calendar, contacts, and tasks. 
• Outlook: Microsoft’s email client application for managing emails, calendars, and contacts. Outlook can be used as a desktop application or accessed through the web (Outlook on the web). 
• Outlook on the web: The web-based version of the Outlook email client, accessible through a web browser. 
• IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol): A standard email protocol used to retrieve and synchronize messages from a mail server to an email client. 
• POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3): Another standard email protocol used for receiving messages from a mail server to a client. Unlike IMAP, POP3 typically downloads messages to the client, removing them from the server.
• SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol): A protocol used for sending emails between servers. It is also commonly used for sending emails from an email client to a server. 
• Basic Authentication: A simple method of user authentication where the username and password are sent in the clear. Deprecated for many Office 365 services due to security concerns. 
• Tokens: Security tokens generated by an authentication system (such as OAuth) to prove the identity of a user or application. 
• Single Sign-On (SSO): A session and user authentication service that permits a user to use one set of login credentials to access multiple applications. 
• Modern Authentication: An authentication method that enhances security by using OAuth 2.0 tokens for user authentication. It enables the use of features like multi-factor authentication and is recommended over Basic Authentication for accessing Office 365 services.  
• OAuth 2.0 (Open Authorization 2.0): An open standard for access delegation, often used in the context of Modern Authentication. OAuth 2.0 allows third-party applications to access resources (e.g., email, calendars) on behalf of a user without exposing their credentials. It is commonly used with services like Office 365 for secure authentication. 
• Exo Email Service: This is a background server service that uses SMTP Mail to send automated rules-based notifications to email recipients. Primarily from the customized Exo Business Alerts. Example – User X just attempted to modify the bank account information of a Creditor Account or the credit limit of a debtor account.  

If you have any more enquiries, please email us at sales@kilimanjaro-consulting.com or call 1300 857 464 (AU) or 0800 436 774 (NZ).