Why is there a low cost Annual License Renewal fee and what are the benefits?
Annual License and Support
From version 7 onwards, users purchase a license to use the Pipe Flow Expert software for a period of time. The initial license is normally for 12 months. When the license ends there is a low cost Annual License Renewal fee.
The Annual License Renewal includes Unrivalled Support and ensures that users receive these benefits:
- An ongoing license to use the Pipe Flow Expert software.
- Free upgrades - get major functionality enhancements and always run the latest release of the Pipe Flow Expert software.
- Help with modelling issues – email us your system and we will open it, analyse it, make changes if appropriate, and email back any updates along with our comments.
- Help with operation of the software - how to use a specific feature and help with issues related to the set-up of the program.
- Help with licensing issues - moving your software to a new computer, help in the event of a hard disk crash, and help in the event of a lost or decommissioned computer.
- Telephone support - when needed you can talk to a skilled engineer.
- Ensures we are here to help - the low cost Annual License fee helps us to provide unrivalled support and ongoing upgrades to the Pipe Flow Expert software, which improve functionality and ensure it is compatible with the latest Windows operating system updates.
Why is a low cost Annual License Renewal fee required?
The low cost Annual License Renewal fee essentially replaces the previous Annual Support and software maintenance fee (and is now less cost for the Lite version). Moving to an Annual License model means that users can always run the latest version of the software (which guarantees that it will work with the latest operating system and Window's updates), provides unrivalled technical support and ensures that we are here to help when needed.
At some point most users will need help and support. Users may need help moving a license to a new computer, or they may need help if their hard disk has crashed, or if their computer gets stolen, or if a Windows upgrade caused the software to stop working, or they may need help if there is some other issue. We provide unrivalled world class support and the Annual License fee ensures we are always here to help our users, responding quickly to any issue they have.
As the Pipe Flow Expert customer base grows (and we now have users in over 100 countries worldwide), the cost of providing software updates and great support, means that we now need to charge an Annual License fee. All users benefit from this ongoing development and support, and therefore it is only fair that all users contribute this effort via the low cost Annual License Renewal fee.
Why should I pay an Annual License fee even if I have not needed support?
A user may or may not need our help during the license term, however this cannot be predicted in advance. The low cost Annual License Renewal program provides users with an ongoing license to use the Pipe Flow Expert software and a guarantee that if and when they do need help, there is someone there to assist them. Also by charging a low cost Annual License Renewal fee we can keep the initial license cost as low as possible (rather than having to set it at a higher price).
Most users get great value out of using the Pipe Flow Expert software. It saves them a large amount of time and effort, and provides results that could not be attained without similarly capable software, and they know that we are always here to help when needed. The Annual License fee guarantees that if they need help with a modelling issue, they can save their system, and email it to us with questions. We we will then open the system, analyse it, make appropriate changes and email it back with our comments. This unrivalled support and continued development of the software, is a service that we provide on an ongoing basis, to make sure that users have an updated, current, and working version of the Pipe Flow Expert software on their system.
The time and effort taken to develop the software and provide unrivalled world class support to users, has very real and significant costs which have to be met. If an individual user does not wish to contribute to these costs via the low cost Annual License Renewal fee then they cannot expect to receive such support and services when they need them. If a user needs help at some point in the future then this has to be considered in relation to the actual, and very real operating costs, that are required to provide this help.
As mentioned previously, most users will need help at some point, as old software always needs to be updated for compatibility issues with new operating system updates. The low cost Annual License Renewal fee provides users with a very economic way of maintaining their software, and gives them the assurance of unrivalled support and help when they need it.
Why do you not support old versions of the software?
If a user is running an old version of the software and they have an issue because it becomes incompatible with a later operating system, or there is some other issue, then supporting this user increases our general support costs (because we need to investigate and look in to issues with various different versions of the software).
If the same user was running the latest version of the software then perhaps the issue that they have experienced would not have occurred. For this reason, we do not support old versions of the software and we do not make these available for download (old versions of the software will not have been tested with the latest versions of operating system updates). We want ALL users to be using the latest version of the Pipe Flow Expert software and the Annual Licensing model supports this aim. It benefits users and it benefits us.
The software licenses prior to version 7 were sold on the basis that we expected users to keep their annual support and software maintenance current however our license terms did not make this mandatory, but they did state that a user needed to be within support to receive assistance for free. Moving to the Annual License model means all users with a valid license will automatically receive support when needed at no further cost. We expect users to get many times more value out of the software each year than the price paid for the Annual License renewal.
For more information about Annual Licensing and Support see http://www.pipeflow.com/support
