Critical flexibility needed for “BYO License” on BIMcloud SaaS

[Francois Swanepoel]

Critical flexibility is needed for “BYO License” on BIMcloud SaaS

I post this wish after @SeaGeoff outlines how & why BYO License is not working as we need to to work in his comment about this feature of BIMcloud SaaS.

This is a critical issue with the current setup of “BYO License” on BIMcloud SaaS that is extremely limiting our ability to deliver service to our various clients.

A limitation we never had on BIMcloud with WIBU Keys & even Soft Licenses.

Graphisoft, please make the “BYO License” feature on BIMcloud SaaS to enable us total freedom to join multiple BIMcloud SaaSs, BIMcloud On-Premise & BIMcloud Basic, without the hassle & loss of productivity that is forced on us by your current BIMcloud & Cloud Licensing works currently?

[SeaGeoff]

Thanks for taking the lead @Francois Swanepoel. For reference here is my recent expexperience with BYO licensing:

I recently started a contract position with an Archicad-based firm in Seattle. Part of my offering is I bring my own license. When the firm's SSA terms came due this month they converted their perpetual licenses to Collaborate subscriptions, just like I did last December. They were not using BIMcloud (SaaS or Basic) before now.

I helped set up BIMcloud SaaS for the firm. That was easy and straightforward. The connection between cloud licensing and BIMcloud works well. On my end I enabled the Portable License option (the new name for BYO License). This allowed them to invite me as a Member from their company portal. That too went off without a hitch and I appeared as a user in their BIMcloud almost immediately after accepting the invite. So far so good, right?

The problems arise when it comes time to get to work. Once I join their BIMcloud I cannot login to my own. This is not new, and I expected it, but it makes working as consultant/contractor very difficult. What if I need to access one of my projects to aid the firm(s) I'm working for? What if I am consulting with two or three firms at the same time? So much for Archicad Collaborate.

This is just another blow to Graphisoft's reputation and makes you look greedy. Please reconsider this policy.

[rakurs]

Wow. I was not aware of this. I might end up in the same situation, and while I am not a consultant or a contracted architect in more than one outside firm, and my own projects are all stored locally (actually, in the non-Graphisoft cloud), this might be a really big issue in the near future. 😕

[SeaGeoff]

Crucial to this discussion is the fact this is business decision by Graphisoft &/or Nemetschek, and in fact may not be entirely intentional but rather a byproduct of the new cloud licensing. Changing course does not require the months or years needed to develop new Archicad features. It only requires the willingness to accept how hostile and unfair it is and make amends accordingly.

[rakurs]

I see it that way, too. I have seen software solutions which pose problems when you want to assign two licenses to the same user. You just can't do that. And there are some use cases where someone might want to do that, however expensive it may be. The situation described would actually require something similar, and for what reason? It seems to me that the end result is not intentional, but simply not predicted by the developers. I hope, at least.

[3DE]

If customer is active with BIMcloud SaaS license in one server and on the same computer opens the new "instance of Archicad" and opens on cooperation company BIMcloud SaaS server new project then thy will get this ERROR.

Both companies have Archicad Collaborate licenses and BIMcloud SaaS has "portable option" but this "portability" means in reality it can be active only in "one BIMcloud SaaS" server. It means customer can NOT work on the same computer parallel way with their own "company projects" and "cooperation projects".

Most everyday usual "copy-paste workflow" between 2 Archicad projects is NOT POSSIBLE in 2 different BIMcloud SaaS servers on the same computer 😞

[RahiLo]

I do understand the logic behind why it works this way currently. I'm viewing this more as an adaptation of our workflows rather than a critical limitation.

What I actually see as a positive side to this approach is that you can realistically work with as many projects as needed within a single domain/server. The limitation is that to work across multiple domains, you need to essentially start a "new session" - meaning you close all projects on one BIMcloud SaaS server and open projects on another.

From my experience, this workflow actually prevents the dreaded "unable to send changes" error. This error typically stems from architects/interior designers having 10+ projects open simultaneously across multiple days (not closing projects at end of workday). Somewhere along the line an error creeps in that goes unnoticed, and suddenly you discover that hours or even a full day's work has been lost.

So while I support making the BYO License more flexible for multi-server workflows, I also think there's a workflow discipline benefit to the current limitation that shouldn't be overlooked.

[SeaGeoff]

It does not need to be unlimited. If we had the ability to open projects on our own SaaS server and join two other servers that would cover most situations while still preventing abuse,

[kaurk]

I agree with SeaGeoff 100%, we need to access 2-3 SaaS servers simultaneously then we'd be all good!

As interior architects we're often invited to external servers by architecture firms so that we can collaborate on the interior elements (such as interior doors and glass walls that are tied to wall elements). We need to copy-paste elements from our internal projects to these external projects. 

[Ahti Peetersoo]

An important aspect of using SaaS across different domain servers is that the need to monitor other team members’ work progress does not disappear. This is typically done either by opening an active Teamwork project or by using guest licenses in other SaaS domains, which is a common practice among smaller architecture and interior architecture firms.

Equally important is the ability to exchange and reuse templates, proven solutions, and graphic elements across different domains. It is extremely illogical that after paying for an annual license that includes the right to use a SaaS service, I would still be expected to maintain my company’s archives as plain PLN files on a separate(cloud) server. As of today, BIMcloud Basic for Teamwork cannot be used with Archicad versions later than AC27

From a logical standpoint, a SaaS license should allow, at a minimum, simultaneous access to one company-owned SaaS server and one external (guest) SaaS domain server. A lead architect, who actively designs and oversees multiple projects in parallel, would in practice likely require simultaneous access to several different SaaS domains.

[Kaur]

I should point out, that  SaaS license should not limit the access number of external (guest) SaaS domain servers. We all work for different conractors, and when there are cases, that the contractors have their own Saas server, but the company is dealing with multiple clients at the same time (as we all do), it would be "funny" restriction (what clients will you choose to work with?). It would be limiting for the spreading of Archicad among clients (who do the part of project lead "in-house") and also might turn companies to look around for a less limiting software.