SS4 - stopping support question

As others have said, starting January 1 any SS4 (and earlier) license will have to be node-locked. 

From what I have been told at your next Bentley contract renewal after January 1, you will be charged extra for any node-locked licenses you are still using.

WHAT...?

Haven't we already paid for the software (and the license to run it)? Why are we getting charged again for software already purchased?

For the same reason I haven't upgraded to windows 10 ssv1 works better for me. And I have a lot of customizations to my main menu that can not be transferred to the new version. I also have a 3rd party programs that will not run on connect. 

One user said that he felt like Bentley released a beta program version at the user's expense.  Other discussions with users said don't migrate until you absolutely have too. That makes it hard to want to migrate. I will at some point migrate but it's going to take a lot of time to set up new menus. And have someone rewrite the 3rd party software I added.

I should have added 3rd party apps to the initial list, as that certainly is an issue for some.

QTL and now SLS licensing has scared away many customers for even thinking of signing SELECT ever again so they are stuck with v8i and those who have SELECT just avoid using pool licensing.So moving from SS4 to SS10 for them doesn't make much sense as it has additional administration to register users and even that doesn't help to not get QTL. If there would be an option to block additional usages in SLS we could get many back on track.

The main reason to upgrade to CONNECT is to use newer RealDWG version but other exciting new features doesn't increase productivity or some features even decrease productivity so the transition is not yet justified. This is regarding users of PD/MS working in 2D environment with minimal 3D reality data or point cloud data usage. 64-bit or 32-bit platform mostly for users is irrelevant but missing/broken v8i tasks and positional mapping is what decreases productivity. Some even are still on Windows 7. So starting from U14/U15 it seems is turning point to migrate to CONNECT but still for us locally some critical issues still remain. Bentley should have followed Intel strategy of tick-tock model and not do all at once(64-bit platform + SLS licensing + Ribbon interface +  dropping  features) so it is not surprise that it takes much longer than migration from XM to v8i.

Regarding Inroads to Openroads migration it is disaster as there is no direct replacement for PowerSurvey and they are left with v8i PowerSurvey and CE Powerdraft at same site which also is not reasonable as need to keep to workspaces. For Inroads users also it only recently it started to make sense to use OpenRoads.

I appreciate the insight Oto.  One point you made was the mention of the additional overhead of registering users.  This is a pretty simple operation that only needs to be done once. It can be done individually or in bulk up to 1000 users at a time.  You only need 4 basic pieces of info: First Name, Last Name, Email address, and Country.  If that is truly a barrier than I would like to understand why this is painful to be completed.  Registration is fairly common anymore when you sign up for anything so I don't believe Bentley is breaking new ground here.  I would also like to understand how Alerting a user when there are no more available licenses does not help with reducing or eliminating QTL's.  Are the alerts not showing up, are users ignoring them??  

Thank you,

Glenn

Yes. ORD isn't even on the U14 platform yet. 2020 R2 is still based on the U13 platform.

When ORD was initially introduced, it was lacking so much functionality it wasn't even funny. I forget how many versions in it took to get something as essential for submittals as End Area Calculations. Plans production has gotten better, but much of that was missing in earlier versions. As Rod said, there are COGO functions that still don't exist at this point. The work has to get done, and if the newer software can't provide neccssary functionality, managers are REALLY hesitant to change.

Yes. ORD isn't even on the U14 platform yet. 2020 R2 is still based on the U13 platform.

When ORD was initially introduced, it was lacking so much functionality it wasn't even funny. I forget how many versions in it took to get something as essential for submittals as End Area Calculations. Plans production has gotten better, but much of that was missing in earlier versions. As Rod said, there are COGO functions that still don't exist at this point. The work has to get done, and if the newer software can't provide neccssary functionality, managers are REALLY hesitant to change.