If you were at Autodesk University last week (I wasn't) or at least watching the social media feed from the people you follow on Twitter, Facebook etc. you probably saw something about Autodesk changing how subscription will work in the future. This is anticipating more cloud based software use.
Scott Shepard shared (with Autodesk and blogger for "It's Alive in the Lab") a transcript of a Q&A session regarding what these changes are likely to mean to Autodesk's customers.
This is the text he shared within his blog post:
I (Scott Shepard) attended an internal Autodesk OnAir presentation where VP of Industry Strategy & Marketing, Andrew Anagnost, provided additional information. Here it is in question/answer form:
Q: What does "moving away from perpetual licenses" mean?
A: We will stop offering customers the option to purchase NEW perpetual licenses of Autodesk software. Customers will continue to have several other purchase options, including Desktop Subscription.
Q: Why are we making this change?
A: We are ahead of most of our competition in harnessing cloud and mobile to give customers superior user experiences and to provide more potential customers access to our products through lower prices for many of our products and term payments.
Q: What will be the impact on existing customers?
A: Customers who are on Autodesk Subscription will not be impacted by this change. Customers not on Autodesk Subscription will need to purchase Desktop Subscription to access the latest Autodesk software releases.
Q: What does this mean for customers on Maintenance Subscription?
A: Existing subscribers will continue to have the option to renew their Maintenance Subscription contracts and receive access to the latest Autodesk software releases and other Subscriber benefits. Any new software received as part of a maintenance contract will have perpetual license rights.
Q: What are we taking away?
A: The ability to buy NEW perpetual licenses.
Q: Does this mean customers will lose their perpetual rights?
A: No, if the customer previously bought a perpetual license in the past, that license doesn't go away.
Q: When will we stop offering perpetual licenses?
A: We anticipate it will be sometime in the next 12 to 24 months. Details will be shared as decisions are finalized.
He (Scott) then provided a few additional statements from the Autodesk PR team:
"We are aware of multiple conversations regarding Autodesk’s ongoing business model transformation and move to Subscription. In an effort to provide clarification, we would like to provide some specifics about changes in the sale of perpetual licenses."
"Over the next 12-24 months, Autodesk is planning to gradually discontinue sales of NEW perpetual licenses, and will make NEW seats of our software available through Desktop and Cloud Subscription only."
"Existing customers with perpetual seats will be able to continue using those products per the terms of those licenses. Customers with perpetual licenses that are current with Autodesk Subscription will continue to benefit from product updates and other benefits of Autodesk Subscription."
"We recognize that these changes will impact our customers and that you will have many questions. We plan to provide additional details about our plans as the information becomes available and will provide sufficient advance notice so you can plan for these changes."
Showing posts with label Customer Relations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Customer Relations. Show all posts
Monday, December 08, 2014
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Dept. of Off Topic - Customer Service
I was wandering around the internets and came across this tale of woe, "Dell Hell, 5,500 Hysterical Words Worth". It is a blog post at Consumer Underground.
Be prepared to laugh and cry as well as shake your head. You'll need about 15 minutes to make your way through it. In the end, he returned it and bought a Mac.
When I bought the Dell I am using now I was told I couldn't buy it with my Dell account because the computer was part of their small business group of computers. Apparently a regular "Joe" can't buy this computer or at least not with the regular "Joe" personal account. I needed a business account with Dell to purchase it. I ended up paying for it via other means because I needed it and couldn't get a Mac in time. That's another customer service tale so even Apple aren't immune.
I just couldn't believe that after selecting everything and ready to press GO, sorry you can't use your Dell account to purchase this Dell computer. I even sent a email to Mr. Dell which generated a series of emails and phone calls. All ending with...sorry we can't sell you a business computer if you want to pay with your personal account. Nutty...I thought they like to sell computers? Well they got the sale anyway and 30 days later offered the same computer with more capacity for RAM. Bought mine with 8gb and now you can get it with 16gb...possibly more now.
I must say even with my last experience with Dell that it hasn't been as bad as Dell Hell. I've probably been party to the purchase of around 50 Dell pc's over the last 8 years and all prior interaction with them was very positive.
We recently had some difficulty with our bank and ATM fraud. Pretty scary to see a large chunk of your account get removed via an ATM that is 60 miles from you and you've never used. At least the bank resolved that part of it. Getting new cards and shutting down the olds ones was a nightmare. We talked to a half dozen people and everyone had a conflicting story. We thought we were talking to "Shirley" from the TV commercial.
Here's to good customer service, if you can get it!!
Be prepared to laugh and cry as well as shake your head. You'll need about 15 minutes to make your way through it. In the end, he returned it and bought a Mac.
When I bought the Dell I am using now I was told I couldn't buy it with my Dell account because the computer was part of their small business group of computers. Apparently a regular "Joe" can't buy this computer or at least not with the regular "Joe" personal account. I needed a business account with Dell to purchase it. I ended up paying for it via other means because I needed it and couldn't get a Mac in time. That's another customer service tale so even Apple aren't immune.
I just couldn't believe that after selecting everything and ready to press GO, sorry you can't use your Dell account to purchase this Dell computer. I even sent a email to Mr. Dell which generated a series of emails and phone calls. All ending with...sorry we can't sell you a business computer if you want to pay with your personal account. Nutty...I thought they like to sell computers? Well they got the sale anyway and 30 days later offered the same computer with more capacity for RAM. Bought mine with 8gb and now you can get it with 16gb...possibly more now.
I must say even with my last experience with Dell that it hasn't been as bad as Dell Hell. I've probably been party to the purchase of around 50 Dell pc's over the last 8 years and all prior interaction with them was very positive.
We recently had some difficulty with our bank and ATM fraud. Pretty scary to see a large chunk of your account get removed via an ATM that is 60 miles from you and you've never used. At least the bank resolved that part of it. Getting new cards and shutting down the olds ones was a nightmare. We talked to a half dozen people and everyone had a conflicting story. We thought we were talking to "Shirley" from the TV commercial.
Here's to good customer service, if you can get it!!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Accountability - A Strategy a Customer Could Love?
Read a blog post on this site today that Seth Godin provided on his blog.
There are numerous comments in various user groups, forums and newgroups suggesting that Autodesk could be more transparent, communicate better with it users/customers. The story goes that a publicly traded company must be very careful how it shares future leading communication(s). If done incorrectly it can affect that companies ability to collect and claim revenue earnings. I don't pretend to understand the subtleties of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Regardless every customer would appreciate greater insight into what we can expect from future versions of the software we rely on so heavily.
The concept is similar to the the "Take your child to Work Day" where Autodesk would bring a client(s) to their office and let them shadow someone around the office for a day. This would give that customer greater insight into what it takes to make software or whatever sort of person the customer wants to shadow.
The question is would Autodesk do it? Would customers want to? How many customers would get to? Is this something that Autodesk could pull off at Autodesk University in the form of video documentary and worksessions?
There are numerous comments in various user groups, forums and newgroups suggesting that Autodesk could be more transparent, communicate better with it users/customers. The story goes that a publicly traded company must be very careful how it shares future leading communication(s). If done incorrectly it can affect that companies ability to collect and claim revenue earnings. I don't pretend to understand the subtleties of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Regardless every customer would appreciate greater insight into what we can expect from future versions of the software we rely on so heavily.
The concept is similar to the the "Take your child to Work Day" where Autodesk would bring a client(s) to their office and let them shadow someone around the office for a day. This would give that customer greater insight into what it takes to make software or whatever sort of person the customer wants to shadow.
The question is would Autodesk do it? Would customers want to? How many customers would get to? Is this something that Autodesk could pull off at Autodesk University in the form of video documentary and worksessions?
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