Maintenance Software. . .the end is near!

For those of you who have not heard or who have not yet made the move from maintenance plans to subscription plans you need to keep the date May 6, 2020, in mind.  Why?  Because Wednesday, May 6, 2020, is the absolute last day companies can make the move from maintenance to subscription and receive a discount for their maintenance software.  After this date, if a customer is on maintenance, they will only be offered the option to renew their existing maintenance contract and will not be offered the option to convert to subscription with a discount. 

If a customer’s contract expires within 90 days after May 6, that customer has the option to switch prior to May 6, to take the discount.  The new contract will not take effect until the original expiration date though.

Once this switch has been made it should be known that serial numbers (as you know them currently) will be gone from within your Autodesk account.  From that point forward your serial numbers will now be known as subscription numbers.  However, this should affect your users little since subscription software is all based on login credentials. 

Here’s how it works for single-user (formally standalone) software:

• The contract manager (person who purchases the software) must sign into the company’s Autodesk account.
• The contract manager must create user accounts (first name, last name, and e-mail is all you need).  At this point users will receive an e-mail asking them to verify themselves. 
• The contract manager must then assign the software he/she wants the specific user to activate.
• The user will then verify their account by clicking on the link in the e-mail he/she received and creating a password. 
• The user will then launch the software for the first time and be asked how he/she wants to activate the software.  The user will select “sign in” and enter his/her e-mail address and Autodesk password to activate the software. 

This is all explained in more detail in this blog:  Managing Autodesk Desktop Subscription (TERM) Licenses

Here’s how it works for multi-user (formally network) software:

• The contract manager (person who purchases the software) must sign into the company’s Autodesk account.
• The contract manager must generate the network license file and copy it to the server. 
• On the server, someone (usually the IT person) must download the Autodesk Network License Manager (LMTOOLS).
• The Autodesk Network License Manager (LMTOOLS) must then be configured to read the license file. 
• The user will then launch the software for the first time and be asked how he/she wants to activate the software.  The user will select “use a network license” and enter the server name. 
• OPTIONAL:  someone in the organization can create a deployment image which will include the software and it’s setting of already selecting the “use a network license” option.  The users can simply double click on the deployment icon and it will install the software without them ever having to select an option when they initially launch the software. 

This is all explained in more detail in this blog:  How to install Autodesk Network Licensed Software