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<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="https://communities.bentley.com/cfs-file/__key/system/syndication/rss.xsl" media="screen"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><channel><title>John McDonald's Communities Activities</title><link>https://communities.bentley.com/members/c6a2bad7_2d00_b878_2d00_4e2e_2d00_9a8d_2d00_94b005b74382</link><description>Recent activity for people in John McDonald's community</description><dc:language>en-US</dc:language><generator>Telligent Community 12</generator><item><title>Open Access Complaint</title><link>https://communities.bentley.com/communities/other_communities/licensing_cloud_and_web_services/f/forum/99653/open-access-complaint</link><pubDate>Fri, 01 Aug 2014 01:14:41 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">6dad98f5-dbc9-4c4d-a9ba-e9da8dc6aa8e:37133588-dc21-43c8-bc8b-d43129a2c02c</guid><dc:creator>John McDonald</dc:creator><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Century Gothic;font-size:small;"&gt;I am part of a structural engineering consulting firm that uses several structural analysis software(s) from RAM/Bentley. We have been satisfied with the software up until around a month ago when the comically absurd pricing scheme was explained upon us. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Century Gothic;font-size:small;"&gt;The &amp;quot;Quarterly Hour Usage&amp;quot; billing concept is &amp;hellip; so illogical that it defies the descriptive powers of my vocabulary. If the price of their software needs to increase to meet their business goals, then Bentley should raise their prices. I can review the increased costs, compare it to the benefit of having/using the software, and then make annual budgeting decisions. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Century Gothic;font-size:small;"&gt;For those who are not familiar with the &amp;#39;hourly usage&amp;#39; concept, here is how it works: if one engineer uses the software from 9am until 10.15am, and then a separate engineer, on a different computer uses the same software beginning at10.30 am, then that counts as the use of 2 licenses. In reality, the software usage has not exceeded the license limit; however, according to Bentley, it has&amp;hellip; it has been used twice within the same arbitrary hour. (consider an analogy of renting ONE bicycle &amp;hellip;you ride it for part of an hour, and then your spouse rides the same bike for the remainder of the &amp;quot;same&amp;quot; hour &amp;hellip; you return the bike, and are charged for TWO bicycles &amp;hellip;b/c 2 people rode the same bike &amp;hellip;within the same hour!?!?!? )&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Century Gothic;font-size:small;"&gt;I am lost as to why Bentley would do this. It appears to be irritating several customers. So far as I understand, Bentley offers no method to actively limit (real-time) the usage within each hour.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Century Gothic;font-size:small;"&gt;I&amp;#39;ve had several conversations with 3 different Bentley people so far. Each has mildly expressed sympathy towards my frustrations, yet each has been unable to offer any solution. They have each noted that I am not the only firm who is disappointed with this unique billing concept, and suggested I write to their forum, so that &amp;quot;management&amp;quot; can see the complaints of their customers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Century Gothic;font-size:small;"&gt;Reluctantly, I have done so. Not only am I frustrated, now I am irritated: not only is the burden of monitoring the usage of their software forces on me, now explaining why is also my responsibility&amp;hellip; and I am the customer !?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div style="clear:both;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description></item><item><title>Discussion Starter I</title><link>https://communities.bentley.com/achievements/21025ab1-febb-4fb4-a872-d32a921cb45c</link><pubDate>Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:44:15 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">6dad98f5-dbc9-4c4d-a9ba-e9da8dc6aa8e:099e71ef-f233-4f81-abb0-1a8885da7f9f</guid><dc:creator /><description>Start a discussion in a forum that receives 5 replies.</description></item></channel></rss>