AUTODESK SUBSCRIPTION SOFTWARE
The lone exception to the standalone software is Flame, which will continue to be sold and marketed in its current form due to its tightly integrated “hardware component,” according to Autodesk’s Anagnost. This impacts all standalone software sold by Autodesk and not just Media and Entertainment. It contains more details about the move away from perpetual licenses. The company has prepared a Frequently Asked Questions, which may be downloaded from the Autodesk web site.
AUTODESK SUBSCRIPTION LICENSE
For example, a three year desktop subscription to Maya will cost around $4,400 while a perpetual license + maintenance would cost around $5,500 (North American pricing) New multi-year desktop subscriptions can lock in a price and provide a better value than the currently offered annual terms.Perpetual license holders with maintenance will continue to receive updates, as long as the subscription remains active.Perpetual license holders will continue to be able to use their software forever.Customers will be able to purchase perpetual licenses until February 1, 2016.In addition to the main news of the end of standalone perpetual licenses, what are some key aspects of this announcement? And, in fact, a day after the announcement, we’ve heard that Autodesk reps are being proactive and already visiting facilities to discuss the changes. It’s a sensible and smart move, as there are certainly issues which need to be discussed. Why reveal these plans now? The aim of the announcement is to help customers smooth the transition to the new model and prepare for the change over the next year, instead of catching them off guard with a surprise announcement. In addition, to obtain reasonable pricing facilities generally need to buy into longer term periods such as annual commitments. In general terms, subscriptions make financial sense for companies who wish to keep current on their software and have the flexibility to ramp up and down with short-term additions. This makes sense, as the initial investment is much lower with a breakeven point of around 24 months via annual rental pricing. Blazing the way, Adobe’s CC offering has seen subscribers jump from 2.3 million in Q2 2014 to over 3.4 in Q4 2014.Īccording to Anagnost, the majority of customers new to Autodesk have been choosing desktop subscription instead of purchasing perpetual licenses. If you look at ground-breaker Adobe, subscriptions have been very successful for the company and it was the first real-world use case for the post industry. This announcement is expected, as it was foreshadowed in October at Autodesk’s 2014 Investor Day by Andrew Anagnost, who is Senior VP, Industry Strategy & Marketing. This is only for standalone software, and the change does not impact the Entertainment Creation Suites or Network licenses at this point in time (expect news on that in the future). We understand that cost will be important, so we’ve worked out some compelling pricing to make it VERY affordable to move to SOLIDWORKS.Autodesk has announced that they will stop selling standalone perpetual licenses of their desktop software beginning on February 1, 2016.
SOLIDWORKS is proven to deliver a robust return on investment, ensuring users are up to speed quickly and designing great products to give your business the competitive edge. Flexibility and choice is key for customers. With this in mind, maybe it’s a good time to have a look at other options, and clearly SOLIDWORKS would be the natural choice, as it the most widely used 3D CAD system for professionals in the world. Ultimately, users don’t like to be forced down a route they don’t want or need. It’s a big shock and has angered many users, attracting considerable criticism on third party forums. In addition, did you know that Autodesk has now stopped selling perpetual licences entirely? The implication of this is that if you need more licenses, you are forced to purchase Autodesk subscription-based “pay as you go” licenses and if you decide not to pay, you lose access to all of your work. You may have already heard that Autodesk is to raise the price of existing perpetual license plans by over 38% by 2019, phased over three annual price rises.
What are the Autodesk subscription changes?