Autodesk is ending sale of AutoCAD licensing model. Effective January 31, 2016 Autodesk will discontinue selling new perpetual (standalone or network) licenses of most standalone products and transition AutoCAD Products to subscription only. AutoCAD, is the flagship product of Autodesk that has helped millions of design professionals globally to create stunning designs and speed up documentation work. The subscription model will allow greater flexibility as Autodesk is offering consumers ways to align the software according to individual/business needs along with low cost trials and multiple machine/device access and immediate cloud access.
Commenting on the move, Pankaj Gauba, Country Manager Channels - India & SAARC said “Autodesk’s leadership position has been earned through many “firsts” and on-going innovation over the past 30 years – first mainstream CAD product with AutoCAD, first to introduce BIM to the market, first to offer a cloud-based PLM and simulation solution and now the first to develop full blown CAD in the cloud. The gradual transitioning to subscription-only model is another in the series that will benefit the business and consumers interests alike. Autodesk is committed to finding solutions that will ease the transition to subscription-based models. Throughout this transition, we will work with our partners and customers to ensure that these changes do not prevent the purchase and use of Autodesk software.”
New licenses for these products will be available for multi-year, annual and quarterly terms. Active maintenance subscription agreements on previously purchased perpetual licenses will continue to be renewable. In the first phase of this transition, new seats of most standalone desktop software products will generally be available only as a desktop subscription beginning February 1, 2016. This will have significant benefits for all stakeholders including the channel partners and customers – from individual to SMBs:
- It means access to more technology as the software is continuously evolving, has real time access to latest versions & product enhancements and the cloud services provides added design capabilities and processing power.
- Most importantly, it offers better customer experience as software purchasing, accessing, and deploying is simplified and with just one click, phone call or email, consumers will have access to learning and problem solving tools.
- The subscription model will lead to an ongoing customer relationship, which is value based, have long – term products, and cost benefits.
Autodesk is doing several things to make the transition as smooth as possible for customers. Providing a full year of advance notice for time needed to assess options, allowing maintenance subscribers to continue renewing and receive the benefits and also making Autodesk Account the one place to manage all Autodesk products, subscriptions and services. Autodesk is currently running on offer to Save up to 25%* with special desktop subscription pricing on Autodesk products – till January 17th 2016.
