While opting for a renewable subscription may not give you “ownership” of the license (which means you need an active subscription to use the software), it can deliver a lot of attractive benefits.įirst, the upfront cost is less than a perpetual license. With the advent of the internet and the cloud, solutions like Acronis Backup can be offered on a subscription basis. Without it, the solution may not provide adequate protection against the modern threats – but it means that in addition to the lump sum purchase price, the additional cost of maintenance can result in up to 40% more over three years. With a perpetual license for Acronis Backup, for example, you need to have an active maintenance plan to receive software updates and technical support. That pace of change can also impact the solution itself. That might have been fine in the past, but considering how quickly IT needs change, data volumes increase, online threats evolve, and technologies advance, perpetually licensed software may not offer the flexibility you need. The name “perpetual” hints at the first consideration – you’re making a long-term commitment to a solution. While perpetual licenses are great for those who prefer the idea of “owning” their software instead of “renting” it through a subscription, there are some serious drawbacks given how data is used today.

Then you can decide which approach fits your company’s needs when looking at a solution like Acronis Backup. We thought we’d take a look at the differences between traditional one-time purchases (called perpetual licenses) and subscriptions, explaining the benefits of each.

In fact, Gartner projects that 80% of current software developers will offer subscription-based options as soon as next year. And while some customers might prefer buying a box and keeping the installation CD on the shelf, the benefits users gain from subscriptions are driving the subscription revolution. The same is true in the software industry, where companies increasingly are replacing the one-time-purchase license for their product with cloud-based subscriptions. From minor things like always eating the same food to serious examples like staying at a bad job, our comfort zone makes it difficult to try new things – even when we know the change will be good for us in the long run. Everyone knows that change can be difficult.

Acronis perpetual license