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Hi,
What are the views of the forum re changes away from - BUY/Maintenance to RENT?
I cannot see how it is good for the smaller company (us) and at present fail to see how I could be kept interested other than having nowhere else to go because all vendors going/gone that way.
Smaller companies are often able to receive tax breaks on purchasing an asset but not on a lease. Yes, the entry cost for a smaller company is lower as lower capital outlay BUT the incremental cost of going one day over your lease is horrible.
I can see how it is perhaps better for the bigger companies.
Thoughts anyone?
Tangential thoughts ...
I like by DVD collection. Will it be long before I MUST stream my film and MUST pay everytime ?
My phtographer friend no longer uses Adobe products as the monthly cost is prohibative.
I don't like Office365 or whatever it's called as I might want to finish that letter tomorrow.
I purchased MS Office rather than renting it.
It all depends on your business case.
I would prefer to buy Creo vs rent it. Currently grandfathered in, but it seems that most are going that way.
Yes, every business has its own circumstances.
The broadcast 'accelerated' changes are analogous to our local planning 'consultations' - the change inevitable, my voice unimportant, no attempt to explain how it benefits small businesses and a certainty that our costs will only increase. Or to put it another way, if we are to be forever unaffected or even be better off it would be front page news; it is not.
I feel 'corralled'.
I concede that renting may be better for some. We have rented software specific to project in the past and costed the project accordingly. We will do this whenever it is necessary. But it is still very risky for a small business as delays lead to problems and regardless of whether the Contractors' or Clients' fault it will lead to tears for all.
At a fundamental level I do not approve of the 'escape route' a permanent license offers because it implies poor project management. Reality tends to be chaotic and beyond my personal control. I am a realist. Who expected Brexit and the current shambles? Who anticipated a fudged UK coalition? What on earth is going on in the US? These are not oblique examples, these really do screw up projects. Permanent licenses offer insurance in the form of a flexibility that keeps costs and goodwill keen, business more likely, repeat business more likely, restarts cheaper.
I welcome the opportunity to rent modules on top of permanent licenses.
It is clear that those with permanent licenses will not lose them. However, I would guess that if you are one second late with your maintenance then you will be refused the opportunity to catch up and you will be forced to rent. I see no information to contradict this prediction.
I would further speculate that the maintenance costs will rise until the only sensible financial decision is to rent. I see no assurance to contradict this prediction.
I will go even further and suggest that once the 'mass' of permanent licenses drops below a predefined revenue level then it won't matter if you are up to date with maintenance or not, the right to this Hobson's choice will be summarily removed because PTC will not want to operate parallel systems.
Does PTC have a response?
bfn
As long as you maintain your perpetual licenses with annual maintenance payments PTC can NOT change the fact that you own these licenses and therefore they cannot force you to convert to a subscription.
I would even guess that if you have licenses that are not on maintenance and you want to put them back on to bring them up to date, you could force PTC's hand into accepting a maintenance payment rather than 'convert' them to subscription licenses. All of these conditions would be in your original contratc agreement with PTC.
This is all correct, but PTC controls the cost of that maintenance and they are not opposed to raising the cost of maintenance so high that it will no longer make any financial sense to continue with it. They want everyone on subscription so sooner or later everyone will either switch or pay dearly to stay on maintenance.
Perhaps we should all publish our renewal quotes when the new system kicks in?
Even if only a percentage on last year.
mmmm, not so sure.
If you read the blurb, (presumably crafted by PTC legal), it uses the expression 'on time' with reference to maintenance.
Perhaps PTC have some small company case studies to allay my concerns?
Just a thought,
We have in this country (as I sure many 'civilised' countries have) fair Rent Tribunals for those that for whatever reason choose not to buy a property to live in.
These ensure that errant landlords can be asked to justify unreasonable increases and if required reverse them to a reasonable level.
Does such a thing exist for software maintenance?
UK RPI last month was 2.6% change on the year
Just waiting for that case study to put me in my box
PTC is current using the "carrot and stick" approach. Right now we mostly just see the carrot. If necessary, the stick will come later. The CEO made it clear during the last earnings meeting with investors that they are not opposed to doing what is necessary to get companies to switch to subscription.
I was just told that Nastran is cheaper to lease
Paul
A 'Richard King' works (worked?) for PTC.
For the price it's worth getting for fun. We could get a lot of seats for the price of our annual maintenance.
I shall download the evaluation and have a play.
Charles
Yes it is the same person
Another way to make permanent licenses 'expire' will be to make some newer functionality only available via leasing.
Shhh! Don't give them any ideas. 🙂
PTC has already announced this very thing. Certain new functionality will only be available to those on subscription.
Are PTC representatives unable to respond?
Why won't you respond?
Have you been told not to respond?
I suspect the PTC strategy for the continuation of the perptual license vs. the subscription is either still under development or not yet ready for public consumption.
As of today, PTC has announced the subscription service. They have also announced a 4% increase in the cost of perpetual license maintenance (2018 prices) (see link)
IMO, Anything past those public announcements are business decisions that will likely be made later, based on the customers reactions to the changes or possibly have been made but not divulged based on business strategy. Nothing is set is my general take on the matter, it's evolving before your eyes.
I also suspect the PTC employees on here really don't want to get into this kind of discussion (possibly by direct order or a multitude of other reasons). In general it's not "support" related, it's business related.
Hi Stephen,
I would never state that I understand the complexities and risks of rolling out of a new business model. But there isn't even a hint of 'we hear your concerns' as the renewal date looms large.
Users share information. We learn that leasing is at a similar level to annual maintenance - except leasing switches off at midnight on the last day of the lease. I have the developing uncomfortable feeling that the company's assets will decline in value over time and the meaning of annual maintenance changes.
My other thread regarding contact and advanced licenses is another example of frustration. I can't think of a single bolted connection that was correct without contact. Most customers bolt things together. The value of a basic license must be questioned.
So I just raised a call re licensing (text below). I need to know which way to go. I don't know which way to go. I am 2 months from being presented with a renewal quote without the information to make an informed decision.
atb
Charles
'Leasing is to be introduced in January 2018 and customers will not longer be able to purchase a permanent license. Can technical support confirm (or otherwise) that contact analysis will no longer available in the basic license and that an 'Advanced license' is required if a user wants to perform frictionless contact analysis?
Can technical support confirm (or otherwise) the assertion that new functionality introduced may not be available to companies who own permanent licenses and to access new functionality existing permanent simulate license owners will have to lease to access this functionality?'
Interesting development on the SolidWorks end...
This has to do with "ownership":
I had dropped maintenance for Solidworks a year ago.
Today I get an email stating that SW has a special offer to only pay 50% of the backpay on getting back on-board.
Writing on the wall?
SW did the perpetual maintenance scheme very publically and they really got nailed for it.
Now the backpeddling begins.
just putting this back at the top