Updating software service agreement?

[gdrive001]

My SMA is about to expire and at a cost of over $3200.00 to do so I am wondering what are the pros an cons of should I not re-new at this time.

Guess what I am asking is any one ever had any major issues by not re-newing? My employer has asked me to justify the cost before he will shell out the cash...

[John Kingston]

We haven't in probably five years. It all depends on what you need. Problem is when / if you do decide to, they backcharge for all the years you didn't upgrade.

[JamesMannes]

What version are at right now?

It could become an issue down the road if you use CAD a lot and/or you load or send programs to/from customers.

If you are at 3.7mr3 or 4.2 you could be alright to not renew, but keep in mind if you don't renew now and you want to upgrade later, you will pay $$$ for the time you didn't keep the SMA current.

[T Miller]

Download all the latest versions you can while your sma is stil good. Maybe even some of the older ones They should work as long as the date is not past your sma date. I still run 3.5 and have had no sma for around 3 years. Sometimes I wish I did but you can get most of the help you need right on the forum faster then calling support. Still will depend on your product and needs
I just check castings so 3.5 is all I need for now anyway.. On a side note if you don't keep it up you will have to pay all back years as well when you do want to upgrade.

[Wingman]

What version are at right now?

It could become an issue down the road if you use CAD a lot and/or you load or send programs to/from customers.

If you are at 3.7mr3 or 4.2 you could be alright to not renew, but keep in mind if you don't renew now and you want to upgrade later, you will pay $$$ for the time you didn't keep the SMA current.

We are at 3.73 and 4.2 right now and we did not renew. I am thinking there will be a major change soon like an MR1 and I know we are going to need it.
I am pushing for the SMA but so far there are no takers. Hmm.

[#2#]

Right, so this year it is $3200 and if you decide next year to sign up again (maybe you need the tech support or want to upgrade the software) they will hit you for $6400. We keep our sma up to date b/c when I started we were past due. The boss wanted to upgrade and I wanted an upgrade. It was at 3.2 something when I started. So, we were several years past due. He pays it yearly now b/c it is easier to get $3200 a year from the $ guys than to pry out the $16,000 we needed to bring us up to date.

[dandrewsca]

Another thing you might want to verify is, are they going to lock your map out... where I work when we upgraded our software our map got locked so we have to call B&S to calibrate our CMM. This isn't really a problem other than the huge difference in the calibration cost, which is over $1500.

[#2#]

Well, think of it this way, how much does an online seat cost now days? Lets just say $32,000. At $3,200 a year, you could go without for 10 yrs and then just purchase a new seat of pc-dmis and break even. Of course, you will miss any updates you would have gotten in between.

Also remember if you don't pay the SMA, they won't send you the nice coasters/frisbees/microwave light shows/table leg de-woblers (aka 4.0 cds).

[bw_bob]

Download all the latest versions you can while your sma is stil good. Maybe even some of the older ones They should work as long as the date is not past your sma date. I still run 3.5 and have had no sma for around 3 years. Sometimes I wish I did but you can get most of the help you need right on the forum faster then calling support. Still will depend on your product and needs
I just check castings so 3.5 is all I need for now anyway.. On a side note if you don't keep it up you will have to pay all back years as well when you do want to upgrade.

You don't have to do that. When I stopped our SMA on the offline version I was running 3.2063 & when I loaded it on my laptop I put 3.5 mr2. That was the last version released before letting it expire

What everyone else has said it depends on your needs. I keep ours up to date. Tech support will call you back if it is.....

[Matthew D. Hoedeman]

Well, think of it this way, how much does an online seat cost now days? Lets just say $32,000. At $3,200 a year, you could go without for 10 yrs and then just purchase a new seat of pc-dmis and break even. Of course, you will miss any updates you would have gotten in between.

Also remember if you don't pay the SMA, they won't send you the nice coasters/frisbees/microwave light shows/table leg de-woblers (aka 4.0 cds).

Have you tried that yet? It's pretty cool to see!

[#2#]

You don't have to do that. When I stopped our SMA on the offline version I was running 3.2063 & when I loaded it on my laptop I put 3.5 mr2. That was the last version released before letting it expire

What everyone else has said it depends on your needs. I keep ours up to date. Tech support will call you back eventually if it is.....

There ya' go Bob, I changed it to what I think you meant.

You should be able to download and use any version that has/had a release date prior to the expiration date stored on your portlock. It shouldn't matter if you download it before or after the expiration date.

[Wingman]

There ya' go Bob, I changed it to what I think you meant.

You should be able to download and use any version that has/had a release date prior to the expiration date stored on your portlock. It shouldn't matter if you download it before or after the expiration date.

If you have 4.2 running and they come out with an MR1 AFTER your expiraton date then you don't get the release, correct?

[JamesMannes]

My SMA is about to expire and at a cost of over $3200.00 to do so I am wondering what are the pros an cons of should I not re-new at this time.

Guess what I am asking is any one ever had any major issues by not re-newing? My employer has asked me to justify the cost before he will shell out the cash...

Keep in mind also if you have a couple of shops owned by the same person/people that a discount is provided if you ask for it.

We (me) found out about this through the course of discussion here many years ago now. We are a subsidiary of a large conglomerate. All totalled we have something like 18 CMM's. You get quite price break when you put all of thosae on one P.O. As an example we pay roughly $1400 a year for the SMA.

[bw_bob]

If you have 4.2 running and they come out with an MR1 AFTER your expiraton date then you don't get the release, correct?

You get whatever is released up to your exp date.....nothing after

[bw_bob]

Keep in mind also if you have a couple of shops owned by the same person/people that a discount is provided if you ask for it.

We (me) found out about this through the course of discussion here many years ago now. We are a subsidiary of a large conglomerate. All totalled we have something like 18 CMM's. You get quite price break when you put all of thosae on one P.O. As an example we pay roughly $1400 a year for the SMA.

You got that right James. We have something like 38 licenses & The sma for my 3 machines & some other stuff was like 5 grand total..