The Advantages of DraftSight Enterprise Plus
We love all the positive feedback we get from our DraftSight customers. Mostly, that feedback takes the form of praising the tools that make their workflows more productive (such as PDF Import, Image Tracer, or Auto Dimension). Or maybe they’re just happy to be spending a lot less on their CAD software. But sometimes, it’s the bigger picture that makes them feel compelled to tell us about.
Recently, we heard from one of our customers who shared with us how DraftSight’s flexible licensing plans allowed them to not only save money, but also let them continue with the workflow that makes sense to them. We thought we’d share their story here for you.
A DraftSight Enterprise Plus Case Study
Due to contractual issues, they asked that we not use their real name, so we’ll call them the Acme Anvil Company (AAC). In reality, they produce architectural and engineering plans for cell tower facilities (not anvils). These projects are typically small, prototype-based, quickly produced drawing sets. To reduce costs, they only have a few full-time designers, and maintain a few dozen contract workers that come and go on their projects as needed. They might contribute anywhere from a few hours a week to full time. Some weeks, only a couple of these ad hoc workers would be needed; other weeks, the company might need half a dozen.
Since they never know how many licenses they’ll be using at any one time, or who will be using them, the team used a network licensing scheme for years. With their network pool of six seats, they were able to keep a rotating staff properly licensed, while keeping their costs down.
When the company’s CAD software provider eliminated network licenses in favor of named-user subscriptions, the team began looking for a solution that would give them the flexibility to continue working in a manner that makes sense for them. In this new one-size-fits-all licensing scheme, every one of their full time and contract workers would need their own license. So instead of a pool of six, they were going to have to purchase just under 30 seats just to satisfy the End User License Agreement (commonly known as the EULA).
AAC did the simple math for its new reality and realized that in order to stay compliant with its (now) legacy software, it would cost right around $55,000 USD per year, which was described as being “a non-starter.”
Enter the DraftSight Enterprise and Enterprise Plus solutions. You may already be familiar with the two main versions of DraftSight, namely Professional and Premium. These are also subscription-based, named-user licenses, but DraftSight also continues to offer a network license model via the Enterprise options. Think of Enterprise to be the Professional version with network licensing and Enterprise Plus is the Premium version with network licensing.
Pricing varies based on a number of factors, but your Dassault Systemes Business Partner can get you a quote. AAC was thrilled to learn that they could cut nearly $50,000 off the cost of its software with Enterprise Plus. Yes, you read that right.
But they had other concerns than just cost. The company had been with its CAD software vendor for years and had some very real concerns about the need to train all the staff on a new CAD platform. But once the team realized that DraftSight looks, feels, and performs so similar to their old software, they reported that they were up and running at the same level of efficiency in less than a day. And getting a standardized installation out to all their users was – as they said “a breeze” by using the Deployment Tool that is part of either Enterprise solution.
Being a high-volume, prototype-driven design firm, naturally they had a substantial number of custom automations to help reduce design time, and to ensure project standardization. When they learned that all their LISP routines, layer state files, and even their Sheet Set Manager files would work just as they expect, their decision to switch was easy.
Even though the transition was in their words, “seamless,” they were also glad to have the security of having full technical support that is a part of their Enterprise Plus license (which is included with Enterprise as well).
A Happy Customer
Needless to say, the “Acme Anvil Company” was thrilled with its decision to switch its CAD software to DraftSight Enterprise Plus.
A&E Director R. Rhodes put it best: “Once we realized that DraftSight Enterprise Plus could do everything our old software could, and that we would save a huge amount on the cost of licenses, it was a no-brainer to make the switch. I just wish we had done it sooner!”
If any of this story sounds familiar to you, maybe you should consider DraftSight Enterprise as well. We’ll even make it easy for you to get started. Just go here for a free, 30-day trail of DraftSight Premium. Once you realize that DraftSight can handle your needs, feel free to contact your Dassault Systemes Business Partner who can help you get started with either of the Enterprise options.
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