Our future business model for kbmMW!

Preface

For many years we have followed the ancient software business model whereby we provide free minor updates and charge upgrade fees for major releases.
Over the years we have observed some serious drawbacks:

• Delay of major functionality improvements until enough has been collected to warrant a major upgrade.
• Delay of bug fixes, as they are sometimes timed with the release of other major functionality.
• Hugely increased administration complexity of SKUs.
• Increased support burden due to the potential differences in functionality between released and non-released code.
• Documentation problems as we cannot reveal major functionality until the major version upgrade.
• Feature slip between major versions.

Since it’s initial release kbmMW has evolved from a relatively small framework into a product with a vast array of features supporting Enterprise level installations. With that the administrative overhead has become too large and is simply taking too much of our time. We are sure that our customers would prefer that we spend time developing cool functionality, rather than on administrative issues. We certainly prefer development ourselves :)

It is for these reasons that we will now adopt a new business model where we no longer target major versions for major functionality updates. Instead we will simply add functionality and release the product immediately when it has been quality assured. To make this a practical proposition requires us to switch to a subscription based update policy.

After many discussions we have evolved the following approach.

kbmMW Editions

We have introduced kbmMW CodeGear Edition that is limited compared to kbmMW Professional Edition in both scalability and features. It is shipped without source but is free.

kbmMW Standard Edition will cease to exist. Users of Standard Edition are encouraged to take advantage of our free CodeGear Edition instead, or upgrade to Pro or Enterprise Edition.

kbmMW Professional Edition will continue to exist in its current form.

kbmMW ProPlus Edition will cease to exist. We encourage existing kbmMW ProPlus Edition customers to upgrade to kbmMW Enterprise Edition.

kbmMW Enterprise Edition has been broadend into a new bundle that also includes:

• One full kbmMW Spider client named developer license without runtime license requirements.
• One full kbmMW InControl Management console runtime license without expiration
• One full kbmMW InControl Repository Server runtime license without expiration
• One full kbmMW InControl development framework named developer license.

The new Enterprise Edition SKU components would previously have cost around US$1200-US$1400/named developer license.

Buy in pricing

The initial cost for kbmMW CodeGear Edition will continue to be US$0/named developer, will not include source but will include a 1 month support subscription where all intermediate updates are available at no additional cost. On every major Delphi release, a new version of kbmMW CodeGear Edition will be released, and at the discretion of C4D specific interim releases may also be available.

The initial cost for kbmMW Professional Edition will be US$399/named developer, includes source, kbmMemTable Pro Additions and a 6-month support subscription where all updates, minor and major that are released within the subscription period are available at no additional cost.

The initial cost for kbmMW Enterprise Edition will be US$699/named developer includes source for kbmMW Enterprise Edition, kbmMW Spider, the kbmMW InControl development framework, kbmMemTable Pro Additions and a 6-month support subscription where all updates, minor and major of all products included in the Enterprise Edition are provided at no additional cost.

We have also changed the runtime license fees for kbmMW InControl Management Console and kbmMW InControl Repository server. Additional licenses are based on 12-month/1 year subscriptions. The price will be US$100/license/year for kbmMW InControl Management Console, and US$50/license/year for kbmMW InControl Repository Server. The kbmMW InControl development framework is included in the Enterprise Edition named developer license at no extra cost.

Support and update (SAU) subscriptions

Our kbmMW support newsgroups will change to be read only for non-subscribers. New newsgroups will be provided for presales support that will be publicly available for presales/sales related questions only.

• An additional 12-month SAU subscription period for kbmMW Professional Edition can be purchased for US$199/named developer license.
• An additional 12-month SAU subscription period for kbmMW Enterprise Edition can be purchased for US$349/named developer license.
• A bundle of kbmMW Professional Edition and an additional 12-month SAU subscription (totaling 18 months) is available for US$550/named developer license.
• A bundle of kbmMW Enterprise Edition and an additional 12-month SAU subscription (totaling 18 months) is available for US$950/named developer license.

In the case that a subscription period is missed by more than 6 months the associated license will be finalized, meaning that the customer retains the right to use the software but forfeits any rights to updates or support. To get back into the subscription a new license will have to be bought at 20% discount, to replace the original.

CodeGear Edition users can purchase access to the support news groups and intermediate updates for US$99/named developer per 12 months.

When?

This new licensing model will take effect upon the release of kbmMW v. 2.70. As with previous releases, we only provide support for the latest kbmMW version, which means that kbmMW v. 2.5x and kbmMW v. 2.6x will be end of life regarding support when kbmMW v. 2.70 is released. Earlier versions of kbmMW have for a long time been end of life.

Existing users?

Existing kbmMW Enterprise v. 2.5x/2.6x license holders will receive automatic upgrades to kbmMW v. 2.70 Enterprise Edition with a free SAU subscription period ranging from 1 month to 6 months depending on the time of purchase of the kbmMW Enterprise Edition v.2.5x/2.6x license according to this list:

• Where purchased within 3 months prior to the release of kbmMW v. 2.70: 6 months free SAU subscription.
• Where purchased between 3 and 6 months prior to the release of kbmMW v. 2.70: 3 months free SAU subscription.
• Older licenses: 1 month free SAU subscription.

Existing kbmMW Professional v. 2.5x/2.6x license holders will automatically be upgraded to kbmMW v. 2.70 Professional Edition, and receive the same SAU subscription upgrade periods described above.

Customers that upgrade to kbmMW Enterprise Edition v.2.6x or kbmMW Professional Edition v.2.6x during the 3 month period prior to the release of kbmMW v. 2.70 will also benefit from a 6 month free SAU subscription period.

Users of kbmMW CodeGear Edition will automatically get an update to kbmMW v. 2.70 CodeGear Edition with one month free SAU subscription starting from the release of kbmMW v. 2.70.

Upgrade to higher level

Upgrades from kbmMW CodeGear Edition to kbmMW Professional Edition or kbmMW Enterprise Edition do not qualify for any upgrade discounts. Similarly are kbmMW CodeGear Edition SAU subscriptions not upgradeable to subscriptions for the higher level products.

Customers updating from kbmMW Professional Edition to kbmMW Enterprise Edition will be able to do so by paying the difference in the buy in price. In case an existing support and upgrade subscription is running, it will also have to be upgraded to the higher level by paying the difference between the two subscription prices. The run out time of the subscription is not affected.

Upgrade from kbmMW ProPlus Edition to kbmMW Enterprise Edition will cost US$330/named developer license after the release of kbmMW v. 2.70.

Graceperiod?

Upgrades made before the introduction of this new licensing policy will be honored. Hence it is possible for existing kbmMW ProPlus users to upgrade to kbmMW Enterprise Edition for US$130/named developer license according to our old pricing structure. Similarly kbmMW Professional users can upgrade to kbmMW Enterprise Edition for US$250/named developer license.

License holders of very old versions (0.9, 1.x) will be able to upgrade according to the old upgrade model until the introduction of the new licensing model. So if you are an existing 0.9 or 1.x user it is the time now to make your upgrades if you want to get a great price!

At release of kbmMW v. 2.70, we will offer a 20% discount on upgrading from kbmMW v. 0.9 or 1.x.

It will be still be possible to upgrade from competing products (ASTA/AstaIO, RemObjects, RTC SDK, dbOverNet) for the old upgrade price (US$200 for a kbmMW Professional Edition named developer license and US$450 for a kbmMW Enterprise Edition named developer license) prior to the introduction of this new licensing model. At release of kbmMW v. 2.70, we will offer 20% discount on competitive upgrades.

Download?

We will be releasing a portal, similar to www.turbomiddleware.com, called MyC4D from which subscribers can download updates etc whilst they hold a valid subscription.

Volume discount information

All prices are subject to our volume discounts.

• 1-5 of the same licenses/subscription: 0% discount
• 6-9 of the same licenses/subscriptions: 10% discount
• 10-19 of the same licenses/subscriptions: 20% discount
• 20-49 of the same licenses/subscriptions: 30% discount
• 50 of the same licenses/subscriptions: 40% discount