When Bentley Systems announced its bold Autodesk License Upgrade Program, the company’s primary intention appeared to be siphoning Autodesk’s user base. The program is directed toward Autodesk users unhappy at being forced to switch to a subscription model.
The announcement caused quite a stir, inciting a somewhat prickly response on Autodesk’s In the Fold almost immediately.
Written by Carl White, Autodesk’s senior director of business models, the headline “Not So Fast Bentley: Separating Fact from Fiction” pretty much sums it up. Autodesk was very clearly displeased with the program, going so far as to call it “disingenuous” and suggesting that despite the sensational headlines, the program would not solve problems for customers.
Then it was Bentley’s turn to counter. In a recent press conference, the company addressed some of the confusion and questions about the program.
Perpetual Licenses: Who Owns What?
After the initial announcement of the program, Autodesk insisted that it is not cutting off its users from their perpetual licenses and that users can still use the software they have purchased for as long as they want. According to Autodesk, perpetual licenses of Autodesk software are “evergreen.” Users will not lose the right to use the software and users subscribed to a software maintenance plan can still receive updates and technical support.
Bentley countered by stating that the lack of upgrades and of the ability to choose a perpetual license greatly devalues perpetual ownership in the first place.
“If you can no longer upgrade a product, then it loses value,” explained Bob Hewitt, vice president of business intelligence and sales operations at Bentley. Hewitt also pointed out that while users can still continue with existing maintenance plans, they can’t sign up for any new ones.
The Value of Trading in Licenses
According to Carey Mann, chief marketing officer at Bentley Systems, Autodesk users will be able to trade in their existing Autodesk licenses for credit on comparable Bentley software.
The Autodesk License Upgrade Program is aimed at users who feel like there's no way out of subscription licenses. (Image courtesy of Bentley Systems.)
What exactly is “net value,” though? The Bentley site, You Have a Choice, promises Autodesk users “full credit.” Is there a difference?
Hewitt clarified:
- Autodesk users who have subscribed to a software maintenance plan will be able to trade in their perpetual licenses for the full value of the software.
- Autodesk users who have not subscribed to a software maintenance plan will be credited for the value of their software, accounting for a rate of depreciation for every year the software was not covered by the maintenance plan.
Subscriptions and Term Pricing: Not Either-Or
After discussing the finer details of the program and how it works, Bentley’s executives turned their attention to software-as-a-service, a trend in software that can provide easy access to up-to-date tools.
In its original riposte to Bentley’s program, Autodesk described one of the advantages of a subscription license, which would enable users to try out tools “without the risk of a large upfront expenditure.” Hewitt explained that Bentley has offered this type of subscription license for a decade yet continues to offer perpetual licenses.
Autodesk, on the other hand, has already stopped selling perpetual licenses altogether as of Jul. 31.
Mann explained that options for perpetual licenses and for subscriptions would remain available with Bentley software, which should serve as a selling point for those users who like to own their software—and possibly convince Autodesk users to change sides.
“We’ve observed that users prefer having a choice of both options and we’ve seen users move in both directions over this time,” said Hewitt. “I think that the argument that technological innovation and efficient software delivery is directly dependent on a commercial licensing model is disproven by our own ongoing experience.”
Keeping Up-to-Date with Software
Hewitt pointed out that Bentley is being careful to avoid preventing users from losing access to their software, which is a big deal in the infrastructure industry in particular, where projects can go on for years.In large-scale infrastructure projects, things can drag out for years—which can become an issue if users lose access to software. (Image courtesy of Bentley Systems.)
“The key point isn’t whether a user is adopting every update we make available,” said Singh. “It’s the flexibility we are giving them.”
“Of course they get access to all of the regular updates, they get access to all of the older versions, they get access to our best-in-class on-demand learning … at a country level, they get pooled rights for their software,” Singh continued.
The back-and-forth between Bentley and Autodesk has put a spotlight on the issue of whether users should have a choice between a subscription model or a perpetual license. The general trend leans toward term licensing, but are users too accustomed to the pattern of buying software once and using it forever? Will a complete switch to term-based licensing put vendors at risk, as users start to feel abandoned and to shop the competition? Let us know what you think in the comments below.