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April 2005 -
Survey Says
The
CADDManager Survey for April 2005 was about Software Upgrades.
The issues surrounding upgrades today are many and varied.
We focused on upgrades as they related to having your software
on subscription. The subscription model of software
ownership has had its ups and downs. Some of us like it
and some don't. It seems like Autodesk has made a few
corrections lately to the pricing of subscription so that it may
be financially preferred if you upgrade to every release as they
come out. Even if you wait or skip a release it may still
be financially preferable from a pure dollars and sense
perspective, but if cash flow is an issue you may need to
look closely before jumping in.
From a
management point of view you should be reviewing your software
outlay each year to see what the best approach may be for the
forthcoming year.
Now for
the review of our survey...
see the full results
A Total
Number of Responses: 92
The
majority respondents are on Subscription. 68% vs 26%
So many of you appear to agree that the subscription model works
for you firms.
For
those who are on subscription I appears that the largest portion
(24%) upgrade to the new release as it is shipped. Most
move within 6 months (52%) with only 22% waiting a year or so
because they may not be able or willing to change that quickly.
For
those not on subscription (26%) it appears that the upgrade
speed is largely delayed with the majority not moving within a
year or at all. Does this reflect that migrations to the
latest release are delayed because they cannot find the funding?
Does it show a link between the purchase of subscription and
migration speed?
Whether
subscribed or not, almost sixty percent believe that Autodesk is
rolling out software too fast. 58% vs 36%
These
unscientific results do show a few things that may be worth
investigating at your firm.
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If
you are an early adopter and one who migrates to the latest
tools quickly, subscription may be a way to fund your
technology perspective.
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If you delay your rollouts, you may want to
research the cost effectiveness of subscription against you
rollout timelines and the upgrade costs.
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What others are doing with the rate of
software rollouts from Autodesk and how it affects you
ability to keep up.
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