Dear All,
Let me assure you that Autodesk is listening. I work on the AEC industry team at Autodesk, and would like to offer an explanation about the upgrades you have received.
In an effort to simplify our product offerings, Autodesk discontinued new licenses and Subscription for the AutoCAD Revit Suites last year. This change gives customers two ways to purchase Revit products - through standalone licenses of Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, or Revit Structure or by purchasing a license of Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium and Ultimate editions, which include Autodesk Revit which is a a single application that includes features for architectural design, MEP and structural engineering, and construction. As a result of the discontinuation, AutoCAD Revit Suite customers' Subscription entitlements were changed to Building Design Suite Premium, which is the most comparable offering because it includes all of the products in the AutoCAD Revit Suites, plus additional products and services. Our aim was to ensure that AutoCAD Revit Suites customers experienced a smooth transition to a product that would fully support their workflow needs.
The upgrade to Building Design Suite Premium from the AutoCAD Revit Suites came at no cost to Subscription customers, however, as you have experienced, customers will see a difference in their Subscription renewal fee. What may not have been explained to you is that recently Autodesk increased Subscription renewals fees on most of our products, with the exception of our Design and Creation Suites. This price increase was in-line with standard software price increases over time, a practice that we don't implement often, but was necessary to support our investments in changing technology to support our customers' needs. It should also be noted that as an Autodesk customer you do always have the option of declining subscription renewal but this would prevent having access to many of the additional services provided as part of the Autodesk Subscription program.
Autodesk is committed to adding value to our Subscription program. In addition to providing access to new releases, technical support, and flexible licensing, Subscription customers are now entitled to Autodesk 360 cloud services. Subscription customers receive 25GB of cloud-based storage per seat, and 100 cloud credits per seat that can be applied to cloud services such as rendering, energy analysis, and structural analysis. These cloud services are particularly beneficial for firms that need to perform compute-intensive tasks like rendering or analysis, but cannot or do not want to invest in the expensive hardware required for these tasks.
The model for Autodesk's Design and Creation Suites is not unlike Microsoft's Office Suite or Adobe's Creative Suite. Building Design Suite was created to be a comprehensive solution to help our customers take full advantage of BIM workflows and their model-based designs. You may not use all of the tools in the suite every day, just as you may not use all of the products in the Microsoft and Adobe suites. However, even if you use two products in Building Design Suite on a regular basis, it's more cost effective than purchasing or maintaining Subscription fees for those products individually.
The feedback on this forum has been valuable to me, and I assure you that Autodesk is considering ways to give you more flexibility in how you license our products. I welcome your ideas on this topic, either in this forum or by contacting me directly at angi.izzi@autodesk.com.
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Angi Izzi
Sr. Manager, AEC Industry Strategy & Marketing
Autodesk, Inc.
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-02-2013 11:47
From: Robert Collins
Subject: Autodesk's Free upgrade with a hidden agenda
Judith-
When I accepted the upgrade, I went with only the Standard Suite which did not include the Revit stuff. My bump is only $30 per renewal. I've actually started using the other modules, (self taught) and see where it will be useful to me in the long haul, so $30 is a bargain. While AutoCAD Architecture has been relegated to the "Red headed step-child" of the team, I don't have the time or the resources to move to the "wunderkind". I wonder when we are going to be forced to be Revit-ized.
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Robert Collins AIA
VP Real Estate Services
Wise Way Foods
Merrillville IN
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