If you want to own the software license and have access to the newest releases, you want perpetual software. Buying software can be expensive, though.
While a perpetual license may be used indefinitely, it has a short lifecycle. It will become obsolete at some point in the future. To keep up with the latest software, you will need to upgrade your software periodically to ensure compatibility. Using a product that has reached the end of its update options, fixes, and patches will expose your system to risks such as spyware, viruses, and malicious software. If you hire new employees, you will need to buy additional licenses.
If they leave, you will be stuck with useless licenses. With a subscription license , there is more flexibility since you only pay for what you use.
This means you can add licenses and remove them as needed. When upgrades and new features are released, subscription holders receive updates in real time. These are included in the subscription price. If the customer deploys the new MAK during this time, either manually or in a scripted way using slmgr.
If the customer doesn't deploy the new MAK during this time and tries to renew the license later, the device could become limited or blocked in some functionalities until getting reactivated. For assistance with this type of deployment, you can submit a Technical Presales and Deployment services request.
Your customers will be able to get CSP server subscription license keys and downloads from Microsoft Admin Center. For more details, see Software Tab under Billing. For auditing or compliance purposes, you may need to check a list of users who have either accessed Server subscription software keys or downloaded Server subscription software. Use the procedure below to access this information.
You must be a Global administrator, Account admin, Referral admin, or Marketing content admin to see these activity logs. Sign into the Partner Center dashboard. Select the Settings gear icon, then Account Settings , then select Activity log. Enter the date range for the activity you want to see. The activity log will display a list of users who have either accessed software keys or downloaded software during the time you specified.
Note that software subscriptions purchased prior to October 14, , will not have the auto-renew capability and will expire as indicated at time of purchase. To reduce cash-flow pressure and increase accessibility for customers, partners may now change billing-frequency preferences for software subscriptions.
They may split large payments into several charges over time, which will put more expensive services within reach for smaller businesses with limited cash flow. Previously, one-year and three-year product SKUs supported only one-time billing. Partners using the Partner Center catalog will see the available billing plans on the review screen prior to purchasing. Through Jan. Following Jan. Beginning January 22, , partners will need to specify a term for software subscriptions in addition to a billing plan.
Until January 22, , partners can purchase software subscriptions without including the term value. However, in alignment with the construction of new commerce transactions, starting January 22, , partners will need to pass the term and billing cycle plan they intend to purchase and avoid hard-coded values. You can cancel a software purchase within 30 days of the purchase date. If you cancel within this first day period, you will not be charged an early termination fee.
After 30 days, you can no longer cancel a purchase. See Note for key restrictions to this cancellation rule. To learn about what happens after you cancel a software purchase, see also Important note after these steps. The following steps to cancel a purchase apply only to software that qualifies for cancellation within a specific cancellation window, such as within the first 30 days after purchase.
You must be an Admin agent to cancel a purchase. The following steps describe how to cancel a purchase in the Partner Center dashboard. For example, a company choosing the subscription model can scale up and down the number of licenses in use rather quickly as the size of their workforce changes. Further, subscription licenses provide predictable expenditure patterns — gone are the days of large cash expenditures every few years for major upgrades to perpetual licenses. Also, publishers often add new features to subscription licenses that may not appear in perpetual licenses for years.
This attribute means that team members can elevate their productivity, often to a point where the efficiencies more than offset any additional licensing costs. In many cases, this factor negates the potential payback period advantage of perpetual licenses referred to in the preceding paragraph.
Indeed, both models have strengths and potential drawbacks. Software publishers such as Microsoft and Adobe seem to promote their subscription offerings more than their perpetual license offerings. Moreover, Intuit recently announced that it will sell QuickBooks Desktop only as a subscription offering. The debate between perpetual versus subscription licenses continues, and it will likely continue for the foreseeable future.
In the long-term, you should expect that subscription licenses will prevail. However, you have a significant business decision to make in the interim regarding almost all software titles you use. Therefore, carefully consider your options, particularly in light of the six factors outlined above, to help ensure you make the best decision possible.
You must be logged in to post a comment. Defining Your Options. Comparing The Alternatives. Perpetual Licenses. Subscription Licenses.
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