In a move that we've been pushing for since subscription was first introduced in May 2015, Swiftpage has announced a major change to it's subscription policy with reference to perpetual Act! licenses. For context, Act! is one of the last CRM products to offer perpetual licensing sales, and this has traditionally confused customers as to what their options and benefits are. That is changing.
Perpetual License Change: For Act! Premium, the sale of “perpetual licenses,” as they are known today, ends effective January 7, 2019. Act! Premium will now be sold on a 100% subscription basis.
“Perpetual licenses” are being retired as an option for Act! Premium because the term no longer captures the limitations of this license type. These licenses have:
Beginning January 7, 2019, subscription customers will be able to purchase “Inactive Licenses” only at the end of their subscription if they elect not to renew, at a cost of 2.5x the annual subscription price. They will be made aware of the above limitations during the purchase process.
We imagine this will cause some concern amongst those that "just want to own" their software, but this has more to do with outdated expectations than Swiftpage changing the rules. In truth, Swiftpage offers a perpetual product in Act! Pro for those smaller teams that prefer ownership over subscription because Act! Pro does not include ongoing support, WebAPI integrated services, or upgrades.
For those objecting to the new walk-away pricing structure, we're not telling anyone to buy it. Quite the opposite actually. If this recent licensing issue with protexis has taught us anything, it's important to have an ongoing support relationship with the publisher to safeguard your software investment.
Still unconvinced? Consider the following four scenarios:
Summary
It literally makes no sense, budgetary or otherwise, to buy your CRM software and you heard it here first. Do not do it. CRM works within a constantly changing and evolving software eco-system that often has to integrate with many outside applications for optimal business use, and this task is not made easier by using unsupported versions of the software.
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