ArcGIS Pro License : Subscription license - will expire when maintenance stops

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03-24-2015 07:15 PM
MarkChilcott
Occasional Contributor III

Hi Peoples,

After discussions with Esri Australia, it is our understanding ArcGIS Pro is only available as a subscription, cloud based license that will expire if you choose to stop paying maintenance.  This would appear to be a paradigm shift in the current permanent license model.

It is also striking there appears to be no Esri documentation spelling this out.

Were other people aware that ArcGIS Pro is a cloud based subscription license, that expires if you stop maintenance?

What do you think?

Additional notes:

ArcGIS Pro licensing:
http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis-pro/licensing

Cheers,

Mark

54 Replies
AndrewQuee
Occasional Contributor III

I believe the issue is that if the access ends when maintenance does, that creates a problem where an organisation may pay a large sum of money for full access to all products, with an enduring licence to continue using them unsupported outside maintenance, with Pro being an exception to this.  I don't have access to the ELA contract, so I don't know what the exact conditions around this are.

The equivalent example would be Microsoft releasing a new replacement version of Word+Power Point (bring the two together into one application, with enhanced online collaboration) alongside the existing standalone products, but can only be accessed online (through 365).  So even if you licenced the full suite, your use of this program would be prevented if you do not keep up your support, even though you had already paid for it.  Which is not how this type of licensing has traditionally worked.

Robert LeClair mentioned that "It comes with ArcGIS for Desktop at 10.3" - so the conclusion I make from that is that if you have paid for a permanent licence for 10.3, you should also have one for Pro seeing as 'it comes with it'.  In the same way that extensions you have licensed also do not expire.

I guess the concern among users is that some time in the future obviously Pro will become the replacement for Desktop, yet Pro is not available under any condition except a subscription model, so if you fail to keep paying, you will lose your entire GIS capability.

GabrielYarlequé
Occasional Contributor

You cannot use ArcGIS Pro if you stop paying maintenance for ArcGIS for Desktop. Remember ArcMap is a perpetual license, whereas ArcGIS Pro is a subscription license tied to your annual maintenance. You will be able to continue to use ArcMap if you don´t pay your maintenace just like now. But you will not be able to use your entitlement to online or ArcGIS Pro if you don´t stay current on maintenance.

TomShindler
Occasional Contributor

ArcGIS Pro is, indeed a subscription license. ESRI has not been very forward with this fact simply because they know it is unpopular. I was at a presentation where it was discussed, and even the staff were sheepish about it.

I believe we need a user insurection to change this model. Esri has been an exemplary organization for most of it's history. This seems to be a major turning point. Support for older platforms is disappearing at a more rapid rate than it used to, and now there is a huge marketing message about ArcGIS Pro's wonderful function, and a timid whisper about the new protection racket that will hold us hostage to whatever they want to charge to keep using it.

I don't know who infected their corporate culture with this parasitic approach, but I'm sure they have been emboldened by the other vendors that have moved this way. That still doesn't make it right, especially in a field where there are so few options.

This summer's user conference should be an opportunity to organize a large voice in opposition to this change. Hopefully Esri's culture has not also abandoned the element of listening to their customers.

EugeneDashiell
New Contributor III

If you do not pay/maintain your license I imagine you lose your rights. Somebody has to pay for the service. The larger issue here is the business model, the cloud, competing software and hardware. This is a very big company and their customer service model is not designed to meet the needs of individuals, but rather of large organizations. We must be grateful that such good software is even available to us, but many of us are not pleased with what seems to be a loss of service to the user. Increasingly some other software options are emerging, and I expect this trend to continue. Can this company respond? I suspect not in the way we might wish.

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GraemeBrowning
Occasional Contributor III

My understanding was that Esri's customer service mission included trying to meet the needs of individuals through to large organizations.

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MarkChilcott
Occasional Contributor III

Hi Peoples,

I am just installing the latest release of ArcGIS Pro, and was interesting in the license agreement that comes up in the dialog that everyone just says “I agree”.

My understanding is that ArcGIS Pro is a “Term License” as per the definition, and is not available as a “Perpetual License”, as per the definitions.

  1. 8. "Term License" means a license or access provided for use of a Product for a limited time period ("Term") or on a subscription or transaction basis.
  2. 9. "Perpetual License" means a license to use a version of the Product, for which applicable license fees have been paid, indefinitely, unless terminated by Esri or Licensee as authorized under this Agreement.

Esri may want to alter the license agreement everyone signs off on.  State that ArcGIS Pro is a Term License only at the very least.

At the very minimum, Esri could stick it in the notes, as you have with the Home Use Program.

All ArcGIS for Home Use Program Products are provided as Term Licenses and are identified on Esri's Home Use Program website found at http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcgis-for-home or Licensee's authorized distributor's website.

Esri may also want to review this:

http://www.esri.com/legal

Cheers,

Mark

RandyKreuziger
Occasional Contributor III

Anyone going to this year's ESRI User Conference should make their feelings known!  We have two concurrent  pools of licenses, one pool of ArcView and another pool for ArcInfo.  Over 400 users share a total 60 concurrent licenses but there is nothing analogous to this in the Arc Pro named user licensing model.  Because we have an ELA we had to pay for the 50 "named users" we have and didn't receive any for our concurrent licenses!

EugeneDashiell
New Contributor III

There is another issue here which has bothered me because much of my work is out of range of cell phone service, or is in locations where the roaming or local service charges are very high, prohibitive. That issue is the movement to the cloud which may be great for areas where cell service is ubiquitous, and data plans are no more costly than plans for dumb phones. I suppose ESRI is moving to the cloud as is every other major IT firm, but for a specific group of users, this is not a benefit, which raises the question, why pay for it? There is a lot of data being served, but for my situation, very little has relevance.

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MarkChilcott
Occasional Contributor III

Hi Peoples,

What I find interesting is there a paradigm shift in the way the licenses are managed - but have you seen an announcement from Esri in relation to the new license model?  Is it obvious from the documentation there is a change?  When you talk to the Esri client managers, why are they so sheepish about it?

It appears to me Esri have implemented a new license model by stealth, and really don't want to discuss it, or the implications of the pricing model, or the business implications to their enterprise customers.

We can sit around and complain about it, or we can stop wasting our breath and do something.  My aim is to make people aware of the change, and to think about the implications.  Then to talk to Esri if they are not happy. 

Esri are a good corporate citizen and do listen to the users.  I believe if people act now, we can make a difference, and we can make a change.  Or we can sit around and complain. 

Do something.  Call your client manager and ask for a meeting.  Bring it up at your local Esri events, bring it up at UC.  Have those conversations with Esri.  As Jack says - you can make a difference.

Cheers,

Mark

MarkChilcott
Occasional Contributor III

Hi Peoples,

This article appears in Sensors and Systems today, one of the most prominent GIS information sources online.  It was written in part based on the discussions here. 

How has cloud computing added friction in the geospatial software space?

https://sensorsandsystems.com/dialog/perspectives/36193-how-has-cloud-computing-added-friction-in-th...

While they refrain from mention of specific software or companies, they are implied.

Suggestion is that esri are generally a customer-centric organization, and suggest the pressure be kept up to them.

Cheers,

Mark