LabVIEW subscription model for 2022

[WavePacket]

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@Ants_at_work wrote:

Some of my few customers do transfer to Delphi (RAD Studio). It also has partly graphical IDE like Visual Studio, can compile code much smaller than Python, executes faster than Python, can use Python libs (core numpy is written in C++ anyway), has many connectivity libs accumulated over the years, and is able to produce cross-platform code.

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That's a great tool to know about, thanks for sharing! I've begun a couple year arc to derisk myself from being only LabVIEW. They also aren't making the mistakes NI is with there licensing, they offer a perpetual license and have a carve out for very small companies. 

[RS7]

I had a 3 year maintenance licence, so I had not heard about the move to SaaS. I received the first email a few weeks ago, and I thought the price quoted was for a 3 year maintenance, which I was going to pay.

I then paid a little more attention and noticed that for what I was paying for 3 years to actually own the software, I would be paying in 1 year, and have no long term rights to it.

I inquired to make sure I understood correctly, and was told, that is the new model.

I complained - stating what I wrote above. In addition, they are eliminating access to any downloads you actually own - so I had to make sure I download all the current versions of the software, while I still can.

I decided to not upgrade the software, and stay at my current 2022Q3 version. If I have to do any new projects, I will use C# / Visual Studio. May take a little more time, but I think it will be a much better choice going forward than what is being forced on us here.

[1100fps]

I have frozen my license as well. If a customer requires a version past 21, they will be obligated to pay the rental fee, and given the understanding that the fee may recure if continued support is required.

I have no confidence that new features in the software will compel me to start renting a seat.  My world is machine vision, and I get the feeling that NI has abandoned any future development in that area.

There may be some scrappy upstart company that will rise to fill the gap in software.  Hardware is a little tougher. NI has a great range of well built hardware products, but their inability to manage supply chain is hurting them as well.  I'm willing to conceded that Covid was a major factor, but that excuse will not be valid much longer.

'tis a sad thing to watch.

[BertMcMahan]

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@RS7 wrote:

I had a 3 year maintenance licence, so I had not heard about the move to SaaS. I received the first email a few weeks ago, and I thought the price quoted was for a 3 year maintenance, which I was going to pay.

I then paid a little more attention and noticed that for what I was paying for 3 years to actually own the software, I would be paying in 1 year, and have no long term rights to it.

I inquired to make sure I understood correctly, and was told, that is the new model.

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I was of the impression that, upon purchasing the new SaaS version, that you'd be given a *new* license, not a replacement. Thus in your case, you'd actually have your 2022 license permanently, and a second SaaS license going forward. Is that not what you were told?

I complained - stating what I wrote above. In addition, they are eliminating access to any downloads you actually own - so I had to make sure I download all the current versions of the software, while I still can.

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This seems bonkers to me... why don't they provide the installers for anyone anywhere, and let the license handler do the work? Can anyone shed some light on that one? It seems like such a tiny, trivial thing to not let people download their old software. Surely the burden on their download servers can't be THAT high to have someone download an older version of software.

[rolfk]

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@RS7 wrote:

If I have to do any new projects, I will use C# / Visual Studio. May take a little more time, but I think it will be a much better choice going forward than what is being forced on us here.

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Until Microsoft decides that their bottom line is not feeding their shareholder expectations enough anymore and limits access to Visual Studio too. 😁

Soon everybody will be programming GCC I guess.

[rolfk]

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@BertMcMahan wrote:

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I was of the impression that, upon purchasing the new SaaS version, that you'd be given a *new* license, not a replacement. Thus in your case, you'd actually have your 2022 license permanently, and a second SaaS license going forward. Is that not what you were told.

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That's partly true. You keep the ownership of your perpetual license, yes. But the official download site only lets you access those downloads with an account bound to a current SSP or subscription.

You can find that unfair, but you wouldn't expect to get disks or other media to be shipped to you without a valid support contract either if it was still distributed on such media.

So you should save the downloads in a safe place and then you still may not be able to activate it on a new computer in a few years. Those license servers that allow to activate the license on a computer will not keep records of the serial numbers and associated accounts until the end of the universe. 😁

[Hooovahh]

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@RS7 wrote:

I had a 3 year maintenance licence, so I had not heard about the move to SaaS. I received the first email a few weeks ago, and I thought the price quoted was for a 3 year maintenance, which I was going to pay.

...

I decided to not upgrade the software, and stay at my current 2022Q3 version. 

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I'm in a similar boat with NI pricing us out of our renewal cost.  But I think 2022Q3 is probably a decent version to lock in at.  It has Windows 11 support, and cRIO and RT are apparently 64-bit.  Windows 11 support will likely be through 2027 or so if I had to guess, since Windows 10 support is expected through 2025.  The 64 bit tools is something we've wanted to standardize internally but RT was holding us back.

[RS7]

@BertMcMahan 

Yes - when receiving a subscription, the old license would be permanently present, but at that fixed older version.

If I were to use the new license to create any new software, that software would not be usable with my old license. Hence my comment that the old license would be worthless (if you use the new SaaS license).

The Autodesk model was much better-I got the software subscription for <1/3 the price of a new subscription - eternally, but my old perm licenses were invalidated. This way, I was "credited" for the initial outlay of $ to buy the perm license

[beuvink]

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@RS7 wrote:

@BertMcMahan 

Yes - when receiving a subscription, the old license would be permanently present, but at that fixed older version.

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I was in the understanding that this isn't the case. Wasn't completely clear in the communication, they mention a 'transition of subscription'. Got me fooled. But checking back now in the 'small print' it says that indeed this is the case:

What’s Changed?
• NI moved to a subscription-based model for all new test and measurement software licenses.
(January 2022)
o There is no change to debug/deployment licenses. Those licenses are not transitioning to a
subscription model.
o You will keep your existing perpetual license and receive a new serial number with your new
subscription license.
• Check out the new Test Workflow bundle that includes up to 9 software tools for test and costs up to
76% less vs. purchasing the software separately.
• The price of perpetual SSP increased over 2021.

Still in my case, I didn't/don't expect to upgrade soo, for technical reasons. Have 2021 license, still running 2019. So I didn't go for the subscription model.

Besides this, when going for subscription and upgrading above 2021, that would still give me the 'subscription problem' when actually using the newer version.

If there comes a spectacular improvement in 2022, 2023 I can still go for the triple-price subscription model

If the need to to upgrade from 2021 after 2023 I would be spending the same money.

Paying 1/3 per year for the first 3 years or 3/3 for the last 3 years doesn't make a difference.

So if you plan to upgrade within 2 years. You are better off going for subscription model.

If you plan to upgrade later than 2 years, you are the same off keeping the current license and start subscribing after that.

[Ants_at_work]

I don't see how Test Workflow is cheaper, especially if I need only LabView.

• Included LabView version is not clear. Let's assume its a "Base".
• RT and FPGA modules are also not mentioned = useless license.
  
  

It's so easy to work in the sales.

1. Sales: Do you want to buy?
   Client: Yes/No.
   Client: Here is the list of the requirements for it (a list of 100 yes/no items).
   Software dev: ...
2. Look how well did I sold. I'm such a good manager....with 20% discount. Try to sell with 20% price increase, like the software devs always need to deliver more than in the specs.
3. You want to buy a tomato? I can sell you that...only if you buy the whole supermarket. Let me also develop software like that - you want to connect a DLL to your LabView? Fine I will include your DLLs API in my libs. Go on buy my libs. It cheaper than buying all of the libs separately you know.
4. So what you did during the day? - I sent 13 emails and had 1 sale. Oh great job. And what our software devs did? - It's not working yet. It's a no-go. No salary for you until you finish, and when you finish we won't pay anyway.