Autodesk are revolutionising the way that they provide businesses with software, with a new subscription based service, retiring the perpetual license format previously used. The new Autodesk Desktop Subscription gives you the full version that you would usually get with a perpetual license. However, instead of buying the software outright with a lump sum, you can ‘rent’ the software for the period of time, in a similar way that you might pay for web hosting or a domain name.
Far from complicating matters, this new approach is set to have a wide range of benefits:
- More affordable. Shelling out a large lump sum is less than ideal for any size business. For start-ups, freelancers and SMEs, it can feel impossible. This new ‘pay-as-you-go’ option means that high end, up-to-date software is available to businesses that wouldn’t be able to afford it. On the flip side, for larger businesses it’s a great way of spreading costs and improving cash flow.
- Always be current. With the subscription service you hire the most current software version. This means that when the next version comes out you don’t need to spend another large chunk of money updating, you simply move on to the newer version.
- Flexible – only pay for the time that you need the software for. It could well be that you need some software for a big project coming up, but you are not planning to use it for longer than a couple of months. The Autodesk desktop subscription service means that you can hire the software for as long as you need it, and only when you need it. So for example, if you need your software for the months of September, October and November, and then for a new project starting in February, you save money by not hiring the software for the months of December and January.
- Scalable. There will always be ups and downs for a business and the new subscription service means you can scale up and down to meet your company’s software needs at any given time.
- Extra Territory Rights. One of my customers contacted me recently about two members of their design team moving to the Middle East for at least the next two years. Because the company is based in the UK, they could not use their perpetual licenses outside the European Union for more than 90 days. However, with a desktop subscription, the users would be free to use their licences anywhere in the world. This benefit alone helped this customer decide to adopt desktop subscriptions as part of their licensing strategy.
Ok, so there will be some perpetual licenses still available for some time. Autodesk told me that they are on a 2-year plan. The first year starts now and goes until February 1, 2016, when perpetual licenses for single licences such as AutoCAD, Inventor, etc., will end. Design suite perpetual licenses will be available after that date for one more year. By 2017, it seems, new licences for all products, single licences and design suites alike, will only be available on desktop subscription.
Change is often something that people often shy away from. However, in a fast-moving environment like computer software, we predict that decision makers will soon catch on to the large number of advantages in the new Autodesk Desktop Subscription for businesses of all sizes.
How do you feel about this? How will it affect your company’s software purchases? Your budget?
If you are interested in this new way to buy Autodesk software, and would like more information on prices and how it works, please contact the team at sales@cadassist.co.uk or call 0845 872 5555.
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