Understanding the Autodesk “Switch”

Since the introduction of term-based subscription licensing from Autodesk, the options for customers and the way they purchase licences has changed considerably. New perpetual licences were discontinued for new sales in 2016, with those on maintenance plans offered the option to switch to subscription in 2017. There are several implications to switching, but first, it is important to understand what it means.

Let’s start by separating the various “switch” scenarios.

1. Subscription to a Collection: an existing individual product subscription is converted to an Industry Collection
2. Maintenance to Subscription: a maintenance plan is converted to a subscription for a comparable product
3. Maintenance to a Collection: a maintenance plan for an individual Autodesk software product is converted to a subscription to an Industry Collection

The first scenario involves moving an existing subscription to an Industry Collection and is only available to customers who are already on a subscription for an eligible product or design suite.  This does not change the current licensing model, it solely changes the product currently subscribed to.

Scenarios 2 and 3 on the other hand involve relinquishing a perpetual licence on maintenance plan for a subscription, entirely moving to the new licensing model. At the time of switching, you can choose to move to the same Autodesk software product (option 2), or to an Industry Collection, such as the AEC Collection (option 3). These options are only available 90 days before your maintenance plan expires, with new subscription contracts active the day after expiration.

The key difference when moving to subscription from maintenance, is that your price, for same product switches is approximately the same as your maintenance plan, significantly lower than a newly purchased subscription. Moving to a Collection affords an approximate 60% discount when compared to a new Collection subscription. 

To explore your licensing options watch our video explanation.

As a general rule of thumb, for customers who use two or more Autodesk software products per user, moving to a Collection is often the best route. The Architecture, Engineering & Construction Collection (AEC Collection) has seen considerable improvements since its introduction. Additional products such as Advance Steel, Fabrication CADmep, Robot Structural Analysis to name a few, are offering customers additional functionality, improved workflows and in some cases, lowering the overall licence requirement.

There are a myriad of options and considerations for your licence management – and we recommend you talk to us. We can evaluate your requirements and advise on the best options for you moving forward.