At the end of July 2016, Autodesk is changing its licence model once again. This time, users will no longer own their software but rent it. What has already been the case since February 2016 for the stand-alone licences of AutoCAD, Revit and Inventor will then also apply to further products and to the Autodesk suites.
For Autodesk, this change has the advantage that the rental model allows it to forecast its revenue better, and it hopes to increase that revenue as well.
Users do not always welcome this model. Anyone who previously upgraded every 2 to 4 years will quickly start doing the maths and realise that the change can mean higher costs. For some SMEs, to such an extent that they would rather switch to a different CAD system.
It remains to be seen whether the rental model will catch on or fail. From 1 August 2016, AutoCAD users have to decide whether to go along with it or to look for alternatives.
We can feel the uncertainty, as more and more customers and prospects are contacting us in order to make the right decision for their requirements. As we are not a CAD reseller, we can help our customers independently and freely to set the right course for the coming years or decades.
But it is not only our consulting that is in demand: we are increasingly receiving requests to port the functions and add-ons in use to other CAD systems. CAD systems under discussion include BricsCAD, Allplan, SolidWorks, Siemens NX, Cadida CAD-Editor and others.
In practice, a switch has to be well planned. Questions arise: “How does the CAD system integrate into our environment?”, “How much effort does training take?”, “How good is the support?”, “How long does a switch take?”, “When does a switch pay off?” and many more. Important questions that deserve plenty of time.
You are welcome to put your questions to us.
kununu