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SELECT subscription changes for 2014

I've just had a very lengthy email from Bentley regarding the above. To be honest I'm not sure that I understand most of it and would be grateful if someone could explain. How is this likely to effcet our company which has 7 MicroStation licences and one MXSite on SELECT and a couple of non SELECT MicroStation licences. 

What if we don't want to opt in to SELECT OPen Access, as the chances of use buying additional licences are slim?

Why do individuals have to be identified? I have access to SELECT and can download and install updates to all our users as required. 

What project level information do you require and why? 

The use of 'Quarterly Term LIcensing' will alienate the smaller companies especially if they start getting invoices for over usage. 

Any help with the above would be appreciated.

Parents
  • As we continue to expand the Be Communities support forums, this is definitely the appropriate place to discuss SELECT Open Access.

    With the introduction of SELECT Open Access and our continuing commitment to User Satisfaction,additional experts are now monitoring the SELECTserver and Product Activation support forum (this forum). We are here and ready to address your questions regarding SELECT Open Access.

    In the near future, additional documentation will be made available within the Wiki section of this Community to further expand upon this new and exciting SELECT Program.

    Feel free to ask your questions, we will respond individually as soon as possible!

        
     

  • Unknown said:

    As we continue to expand the Be Communities support forums, this is definitely the appropriate place to discuss SELECT Open Access.

    With the introduction of SELECT Open Access and our continuing commitment to User Satisfaction,additional experts are now monitoring the SELECTserver and Product Activation support forum (this forum). We are here and ready to address your questions regarding SELECT Open Access.

    In the near future, additional documentation will be made available within the Wiki section of this Community to further expand upon this new and exciting SELECT Program.

    Feel free to ask your questions, we will respond individually as soon as possible!

    Thanks for the response. Could you let me have answers to the questions in my original post.
  • stuartw said:

    For 2014, Bentley is introducing SELECT Open Access, which provides any subscriber with unrestricted portfolio-wide access so they can employ the best and most comprehensive mix of Bentley applications for all disciplines for every project. Subscribers also benefit from: 


    To follow on from DavidG's post how is this going to work? What are the mechanics of this. I assume that users can't just download and install new programs and start using them. 

    As an aside we have an ICT Policy that prohibits users from downloading and installing programs, which makes the above not much of an advantage fro us.

    Please could you (Bentley) have a response to this.

  • stuartw said:

    With SELECT Open Access, the purchasing barriers to the most effective software utilization are eliminated so that all Bentley applications are at your service. Usage of any Bentley application in excess of license pools is conveniently and automatically invoiced as Quarterly Term Licenses at the end of each calendar quarter.


    This is the bit that I see as a problem. As we can't restrict licence usage how much over usage are we allowed before we are "conveniently and automatically invoiced".?

    Please could you (Bentley) have a response to this.

  • stuartw said:

    The term Quarterly Term Licence is, I believe, new. So is a Quarterly Term Licence different to a perpetual (SELECT?) licence?

    I’m assuming that a Quarterly Term Licence now relates to the invoice that you issue quarterly? If we don’t opt in do we still get a quarterly bill for over usage?

    Yes, the term Quarterly Term License is indeed new. A Quarterly Term License is not a perpetual license; rather it is more like a leased license. You are not purchasing a license for perpetual use, but only renting the license based on your needs.

    With the current Quarterly Term invoice rate, the purchase price of a perpetual license is equal to approximately 7quarters, or a little more than 2 years. You would need to determine if your account’s usage needs would warrant the purchase of a perpetual license or if it is better to use a Quarterly Term license instead. (Is your usage based on varied, cyclical, or project based needs or more steady and constant?)

    All users (both those who opt into SELECT Open Access and existing users who default to Basic Access) will be able to take advantage of Quarterly Term Licenses and will receive Quarterly Term License Invoices. The invoice rates for Basic and Open Access members differ slightly- with Open Access rates more favorable.

  • Unknown said:

    Will this On-Demand system include on-demand pricing info?

    Currently, anyone with a credit card can have an AutoCAD product running in the time it takes to download.   With the current system it can take days for an existing customer just to get a price.  I'm not sure where new customers, if there are any, even know where to start.

    We are currently working on a mechanism/interface to allow users more visibility into the pricing structure of products. This visibility coupled with the Open Access program would allow a user to view pricing information, download software, and begin to utilize programs immediately without the need to purchase a license. The Quarterly Term License Invoice would then be generated based on usage of the product.

    It is important to note that pricing visibility also includes being contacted by your Account Manager at the beginning of the 2nd month of the quarter with an estimated invoice amount based on usage thus far to ensure that there are no surprises.

  • Let me start by saying that this topic is a great discussion to have in detail with an account manager so that you can evaluate your usage with your account specific details. However, there are a few things that are considered before a Quarterly Term License is invoiced:

    • Usage is being evaluated across all sites in an organization per country
    • We are also taking software under-utilization into consideration
    • Finally, the first three occurances of usage above your owned products will be overlooked.

    After looking at all of these factors, if you reach more than three occurrences where you use over what you own, then a Quarterly Term License will be issued.

Reply
  • Let me start by saying that this topic is a great discussion to have in detail with an account manager so that you can evaluate your usage with your account specific details. However, there are a few things that are considered before a Quarterly Term License is invoiced:

    • Usage is being evaluated across all sites in an organization per country
    • We are also taking software under-utilization into consideration
    • Finally, the first three occurances of usage above your owned products will be overlooked.

    After looking at all of these factors, if you reach more than three occurrences where you use over what you own, then a Quarterly Term License will be issued.

Children
  • Unknown said:

    Let me start by saying that this topic is a great discussion to have in detail with an account manager so that you can evaluate your usage with your account specific details. However, there are a few things that are considered before a Quarterly Term License is invoiced:

    • Usage is being evaluated across all sites in an organization per country
    • We are also taking software under-utilization into consideration
    • Finally, the first three occurances of usage above your owned products will be overlooked.

    After looking at all of these factors, if you reach more than three occurrences where you use over what you own, then a Quarterly Term License will be issued.

    I have spoken to my Account Manager who really hasn't given me any more information than what I have got from this thread.

  • Unknown said:
    • Finally, the first three occurances of usage above your owned products will be overlooked.

    Is that per day, week, month or quarter?

  • After a lengthy conversation with my sales manager last week I was informed that our license (we only have 1 for an office of 5 engineers) is used on an hourly basis (had no idea) so that if within a calendar hour 2 people use the software (even if the first person closes the software) you are technically going over the allowed usage.  So if this happens I believe 3 times within a month (or quarter not sure) that is considered peak usage and you get charged for it.  This is insane!  I have never had any other software with this type of license regulation.  If I own a license I should be able to use it one instance at a time at any time of the day on any computer.  Maybe you can have the option of going over if you wish but I should be able to turn off this feature so that I don't get overage unless I specifically allow it to happen.  They do offer another option which is restricted mode which will lock the license in on a computer for that calendar hour once it is open and closed.  That means your license is held hostage for the rest of that hour even if you closed the software, again that's crazy!  I will not be using this software anymore for new projects.  I will be using RISA 3d which has the good ol' usb dongle which I can pass around as I please.  The only reason I will be renewing for a few more years is just in case recent projects (or those in plan check) need work or in the hopes that Bentley will change their policy.  

  • I think it will help if I specify that we were only using STAAD Pro.