As part of its cloud strategy, changing its customers' purchasing habits by shifting them to software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscriptions, AutoDesk announced a major change in the licensing of its products and contracts.
Autodesk will release new subscription plans to users and terminate those based on serial number (serial number and product key).
As with most SaaS vendors, these plans are designed for named users and provide a range of administrative, support, security, and reporting capabilities for businesses of all sizes.
Maintenance, Support and Subscription Options
The change that was to be implemented in May 7, 2020, changed to August 7, 2020, due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic: “we don't want to introduce change at a time when the business is going through a tough enough phase.” says in a statement by the official portal Autodesk News.
In Autodesk Licensing Change, customers who have active maintenance contracts will have two options:
- Keep up with current support and maintenance assuming an average price increase of 20%;
- Switch to subscription at the current support and maintenance price.
AutoDesk advises that if customers do not accept the current trading offer, no updates will be available as of May 7, 2021, when maintenance plans will be retired.
As part of the closing of the Autodesk Licensing Change and Maintenance plan, the latest version of the Design and Build Suites will be released in April 2020* for download by customers and the last renewal date for these Suites will be April 16, 2020.
What is changing?
AutoDesk is also making changes to its subscription line and removing multi-user subscriptions in favor of named user subscriptions.
- As of February 29, 2020, Autodesk no longer markets new two- or three-year subscriptions with multi-user access, nor does it accept renewals;
- As of August 7, 2020, they will no longer market new annual subscriptions with multi-user access – with renewals ending on May 7, 2021;
- Maintenance plans will retire on May 7, 2021 and can no longer be renewed.
With Autodesk Licensing Change from August 7, 2020, at the first renewal of a customer, each multi-user subscriptions can be traded for 2 named user subscriptions.
If an organization chooses not to make this change on its first renewal, the offer on its second renewal will be exchanged for 1 x Named User Subscriptions. See examples below:
- For example, if you have 20 multi-user subscriptions, you can exchange them for 40 Standard subscriptions for 40 named users for a suggested retail price (SRP) similar to what you pay today.
- Then renew at a continuous discount until 2028.
- At the time of switch, choose to upgrade to an industry collection and access a wide selection of tools that help you overcome any design challenge, today and in the future.
- At switch time or later, choose to upgrade to a higher plan and get more advanced features such as single sign-on and detailed user reporting.
This is expected to impact approximately 20% of the AutoDesk customer base.
Price Increases - Autodesk Licensing Change
February 2020
New multi-user subscriptions are priced at 2 x named user prices, which represents an increase from 14 to 33%. BIM 360 Docs & Build also increase 15%.
March 2020
New named user subscriptions for most products will increase by 5%.
New License Types
AutoDesk licensing will soon have the following variants:
- Standard
- Premium
- enterprise
Standard is aimed at “individuals and small businesses”, while Premium is for larger companies looking for administrative tools, security and… reporting. Premium will also feature SSO features and a higher level of support.
What do I need to do to transition to the Named User model?
Customers who have a subscription with multi-user access or maintenance plan: On the first renewal after May 7, 2020, we will help you transition to a Named User-type plan through exchange offers that keep your costs stable today and predictable by 2028.
Maintenance plan exchange offer
On its first renewal, before May 7, 2021:
- Exchange an individual or network maintenance plan seat for a Standard subscription for a named user, for a price similar to that paid in 2019 for the maintenance plan.
- Then renew at a continuous discount until 2028**.
- At the time of switch, choose to upgrade to an industry collection and have a wide selection of tools that help you overcome any design challenge, today and in the future.
- At the time of switch or later, choose to upgrade to a higher plan and get more advanced features such as single sign-on and detailed user reporting.
- After the switch, Network Maintenance Plan customers will also have the opportunity to take advantage of the multi-user switch at their next renewal after August 7, 2020.
What if I don't accept the maintenance plan switch offer on Autodesk Licensing Change?
- In this case, on the second renewal you can exchange a discounted multi-user subscription (in the switch to subscription offer) or a Network Maintenance Plan seat for a Standard subscription for a named user at a suggested retail price (SRP) similar to the one paid today for your seat or subscription.
- If you do not switch and keep your network maintenance plan seats, prices for this type of plan will go up by 20% on August 7, 2020. Subscriptions with multi-user access will be closed August 7, 2021 and can no longer be renewed.
Quick Reference to Transition Options on Autodesk Licensing Change
Products that will not be affected now
The products below are excluded from the exchange program. Therefore, keep renewing in the same way.
| arnold |
| CFD Premium, Ultimate |
| flame |
| Flame Assist |
| Flame Premium |
| flare |
| Helius PFA |
| ETO inventor |
| Chandelier |
| Moldflow Adviser Premium, Ultimate |
| Moldflow Insight Standard, Premium, Ultimate |
| Moldflow Synergy |
| Netfabb Local Simulation |
| TruComposites – Ultimate |
| VRED Core |
| VRED Render Node |
| VRED Server |
Autodesk Governance and Auditing: How Can We Support Them?
4Matt Tecnologia will help you take control of your Autodesk installations and contracts to prepare for an audit or optimize contracts using our Software Asset Management methodology, or Software Asset Management – SAM.
Staying on top of Autodesk licensing rules is a full-time job and requires experts who are often hard to find. Outsourcing Autodesk Contract Governance allows you to hand over all license management tasks to a team of trained and up-to-date experts who manage Autodesk environments of varying sizes, every day.
We'll take care of proactively managing any licensing rule changes and applying them to your environment, providing you with everything you need to make the right decisions, both technically and strategically when renewing an Autodesk contract.
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