I just got an email that Wonderware is now offering a subscription based model. This seems to be the trend in software licensing and I know other companies like Kepware is now offering the same. Its definitely funny seeing Wonderware being ahead of Ignition in something.
Is Inductive going to offer this at some point?
Is this a trend you actually like?
Introducing a subscription-based pricing model is almost invariably a prelude to dismantling a perpetually-licensed pricing model. I’m not a fan of introducing such uncertainty into an environment where capital equipment can last decades.
It would work well for us. Assuming that it came with upgrade protection included. Maybe having tiered based subscriptions based on tags and or users would be an even better option.
I use it on other softwares and it works for us.
I can definitely see pturmels point on projects where the software will be in use for many years. Like all things, it depends on the circumstances. But I can definitely see where having both options is a good thing.
It has helped us convince at least one customer to dump wonderware. If they have to pay ransom for development, the one time price of Ignition becomes much more appealing.
With the exception of very small installations (of which I’m not totally schooled up on what Ignition offers) any vendor holding a customer to ransom based on tag count is the equivilant to ISPs back in the day charging by data cap and not bandwidth. It’s archaiac and impedes progress, whether its perpetual or subscription based. I think Ignition breaks the mould here and other vendors will need to follow soon enough.
If you have a customer (or bean counter to report to) who cringed at capital expenses but not so much at increased opex, then I see how subscription models can be nice. I guess a relatively easy work around for that would be a lease-to-own model.
CapX vs opX is a good point. In some cases, it’s hard to get larger capital expenses approved. And likewise too high a subscription cost can be hard to get approved. One solution is to look at the upgrade protection support as the subscription (reasonably affordable, so approval is generally a non-issue) and break the capital expense up by starting with a Vision limited single client license and adding one client at a time (same cost as buying them all at once, and eventually you hit unlimited). This flexibility can make it much easier to move to Ignition than some products.
There’s definitely a trend towards subscription-based software and the main benefit I see goes to the seller who gets predictable income. The buyer often ends up paying more, not less, in the long run. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t want Ignition to go subscription-based–especially if you had to buy a year’s subscription just to do a bit of dev work for some small changes in an old project (WW, I’m looking at you).
yeah I disagree. not everyone needs unlimited tags. not all customers will want to spend xx,xxx dollars for an ignition license to monitor 300 tags. as an integrator, I cant win a bid if I am bidding against someone that is accomplishing the same thing as I will with Ignition, but is using a software that costs a 5th of the cost of Ignition due to a restricted tag count.
Ultimately, it is up to Inductive to decide if they would prefer to stay with the unlimited model, or they would like to be more competitive for the smaller projects. I am sure that there are alot more projects out there under 1000 tags than over.
On those smaller projects, would a limited single client license (which allows one remote client in addition to a local client) do the trick? Or even an Edge client? Both are low $,$$$ which makes them competitive with anything I’m aware of that isn’t drastically lower functionality. I’ve found these options fit nicely for anything but the smallest projects (where C-More or something like it may make more sense due to combined hardware and software cost, as much as I prefer Ignition).
Although I’m sure they’re out there, I haven’t run into a low tag count project that required more than the single local plus one remote client included with a Vision limited single client license (still unlimited tag count, which is helpful in some small single machine projects that still end up with a lot of tags as more functionality is added).
I agree that there needs to be some sort of tag limit for smaller projects, there needs to be some way to remain competitive at the small end and you can’t sell unlimited licences for a few thousand dollars, that’s why I prefixed “with the exception of”. But I think once your in the 1000’s of Tags, tag count licensing and client count licensing is out dated.
@cmason, you should talk to your sales contact at IA to discuss limited licenses. Some options are by special request, and tailored to an end-user.
Nice try Schneider marketing team! 
I have been back to systems that have been in operations for years. If you are a small size company or municipality most likely you will not install something that is subscription based
yeah its not for everyone. it fits well for certain models. alot of companies are doing both now. I cant think of a good reason not to have both. dont shoot the messenger!
I think that would be Wonderware’s marketing and customer service devolving, not evolving.
Subscription based anything is pretty much ruining all goods and services right now.
In most cases you shouldn’t consider the cost of the subscription, consider the cost of the subscription over the lifetime of the product/service. I’ve never seen it be anything less than double the cost of buying flat out.
I am only 25 and I have painfully observed the growing short sighted-ness of companies. Why spend $5,000 for a 10 year product when you can spend $1,000 a year? Maybe Common Core math is making multiplication too confusing, but the costs never add up for subscriptions.
And even worse, as mentioned by others’ here, subscriptions tend to make it so you lose control of the thing you paid for.