How to prepare your existing BIMcloud SaaS for cloud licensing?

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In January 2023, Graphisoft began offering a cloud licensing option for Graphisoft products in addition to the original hardware and software key accessibility. The new cloud licensing technology introduces some changes to BIMcloud SaaS regarding user, license, and project management.

This article will guide you through the steps required to prepare your existing BIMcloud SaaS for the switch from key-based licensing to cloud licensing.

BIMcloud SaaS user management changes 

After switching to cloud licensing, the user management in BIMcloud SaaS has moved to your Graphisoft ID Company, the account that was used to purchase your BIMcloud SaaS subscription in the new Graphisoft Store. Whoever is a member of your Graphisoft ID Company will be automatically synched to BIMcloud SaaS and be listed as a BIMcloud user with their Graphisoft ID credentials. 

The Administrator of the Graphisoft ID Company will become your BIMcloud Administrator (differentiated with the little blue star on the Manager's web interface) who has, by default, full access to that BIMcloud SaaS. Manual user creation is not possible anymore in a cloud license-based BIMcloud SaaS and BIMcloud users can access BIMcloud SaaS by using their Graphisoft ID credentials.

To prepare for this change and ensure that all your existing BIMcloud users remain available after the license switch, a few preparation steps are required:

• Ensure that every BIMcloud user you want to keep in BIMcloud SaaS is connected to a unique Graphisoft ID. To do this, use the ‘Connect to GSID’ option for each impacted local user.

• Ensure that every Graphisoft ID user you want to keep in BIMcloud SaaS is a member of your Graphisoft ID Company that has been used to purchase your BIMcloud SaaS subscription with cloud licenses. To invite members to your Graphisoft ID Company, please visit your Graphisoft account on the Company Management Portal and use the 'Invite members' function. You can find help for these steps in the Graphisoft ID - Frequently Asked Questions article.

To help you identify and follow up on the users who still need to be addressed before the license switch, new filter options are available under the Users root. Affected users are also marked with a triangle warning icon in the Users list.

Note: Before starting the license switch, please ask all your colleagues to leave all Teamwork Projects and close every Archicad instance to ensure a smooth transition.

Supported Teamwork Project versions

Cloud license-based BIMcloud SaaS supports Teamwork Projects starting from Archicad 22. If you have Teamwork Projects created in earlier versions, please either archive them or upgrade them to at least Archicad 22 before switching your BIMcloud SaaS to the new cloud licensing.

To help identify projects created with Archicad 21 or earlier, a new filter called ‘Legacy Teamwork Projects (< Archicad 22)’ is available under the Projects root. These projects are also marked with a triangle warning icon in the Projects list.

BIMcloud SaaS license management changes

After switching to the new cloud licensing for your BIMcloud SaaS, license management will no longer be handled within the BIMcloud SaaS environment. Instead, it will be managed at the Graphisoft ID Company level.

All available cloud licenses will be listed under your Graphisoft ID Company account, and the Administrator and Contract Manager will have the authority via the License Management portal to:

• Assign or revoke BIMcloud SaaS licenses to members,

• Create license groups for floating license functionality, and

• Enable the portable functionality for BIMcloud SaaS licenses.

Important: After the switch, users will only be able to log in to BIMcloud SaaS if:

• A BIMcloud SaaS license is assigned to their Graphisoft ID user, or

• Their Graphisoft ID user is a member of a group that has floating licenses assigned.

Related articles

Getting started with Graphisoft cloud licensing

How to manage users and licenses in BIMcloud SaaS using cloud licensing

Graphisoft ID - Frequently Asked Questions

Cloud licenses articles on the Support Site