How to mitigate software licensing surprises

It’s unsurprising to see legacy providers shifting their business models from perpetual software licensing to subscription-based pricing. Some do it with a measure of grace. But lately, some licensees of virtual desktops and applications have been confronted with abrupt changes and even forced to accept and pay for unwanted features. However, there are ways for alienated customers to protect their best interests.

This past year has been rife with complaints over a substantial licensing change by Citrix after it was acquired by private equity firms and merged with TIBCO Software. Those changes remarkably parallel a playbook that VMware customers experienced in the wake of their vendor being acquired by Broadcom.

For those paying close attention, substantive changes were foreshadowed in 2023 when it was quietly noted that perpetual software maintenance licenses would not be renewed upon expiration. Even those paying attention back then have been hit with what they consider even more egregious changes, and some are citing licensing cost increases of 300% or more.

Specifically, some organizations have griped that while they asked for renewal terms six months or more before their deadlines, those requests went into a dark hole until as little as 30 days remained on their current agreement. That’s too late for an organization with substantial numbers of users—or even just a few—to evaluate and prepare for a switch if they so desire.

When they receive a replacement, er, “renewal” proposal, surprises abound. First, separately licensed products are now “features” within a universal license. For most, that means paying for shelfware they’ll never use while absorbing sometimes astounding price hikes from what they were accustomed to.

Some organizations are coming away from licensing discussions convinced they can only obtain 3-year or 5-year agreements! So much for pay-as-you-go subscription models and winning your customer’s trust every day.

Moreover, many are being shifted to new support models while being gaslighted the changes are in their best interests. Only select customers—by invitation only—are being offered platform licenses and support. Most are being shifted toward channel partners. Not only that, but channel partners handling 2,000 or fewer licenses have themselves been shifted to a third-party provider.

How to protect your interests

If you’ve yet to receive a renewal offer from your vendor or channel partner, there’s no time to lose. If you already agreed to a one-year license, prepare for your next renewal date.

First, start planning immediately to ease the transition to desktop-as-a-service (DaaS). The writing is on the wall for terminated support of legacy applications, no matter who the vendor is. So, there’s no time to get ahead of the game like the present. Develop a timeline for your next renewal date. Here are some steps to plan for:

• Demand your sales representative answer your renewal questions and keep demanding until you get an informed response.
• Take advantage of modeling and cost estimator tools that can help IT model configurations and better understand resource needs and budget impacts for a shift from legacy VDI to DaaS.
• Determine what virtualized applications to modernize, migrate, or retire–this is something all organizations should be doing no matter their circumstances, as it likely will save money now and ease a transition whenever it comes.
• Determine the cloud service that can best suit your DaaS needs for the long term, including ease of integration and collaboration with third-party tools and services.
• Prepare users for upcoming changes to interfaces and processes. Involve them early in the process to both gain feedback and demonstrate the expected benefits.
• Find the best consolidated management tools that can help enterprises and MSPs manage scaling, security, and updates.

Large vendors are continuously looking to cut costs, and that’s not likely to change. Support is costly, whether it’s continuing maintenance of older products or hand-holding customers that vendors no longer view as premium. The more you can control your situation, the better off you’ll be.

For more insights into DaaS, read Gartner’s Magic Quadrant report, notably its overview of Microsoft Azure Desktop.