Perpetual Licenses for FrameMaker and TCS

Question

Over on the Framers email list, a user has reported a rumor that Adobe is going to discontinue support for perpetual licenses for FrameMaker and move to a subscription-only plan, as it has with Creative Cloud.

I responded that I thought they were confusing FrameMaker/Technical Communications Suite with the Creative Cloud apps, but also said I'd check here to be certain.

So to clarify:

Is Adobe planning to move to a subscription-only pricing plan for FrameMaker?
Is Adobe planning to move to a subscription-only pricing plan for the Technical Communications Suite and all its apps?
If Adobe is planning to keep both the perpetual license model and the subscription model for TCS, what version of Acrobat is going to be included for its next release, since Acrobat is now subscription only and the version in the current version of TCS is frozen?

(Lynne Price suggested that I start a new thread for this so it doesn't get confused with the earlier question about whether or not Adobe is continuing support and development of FrameMaker.)

Amitoj · Accepted Answer

Adobe Technical Communication line of products: ASA or M&S perpetual channel licensing plans discontinued worldwide from 1 July 2019 This is to announce that, as of 1 July 2019, Adobe Software Assurance (ASA) or Maintenance and Support (M&S) perpetual channel licensing plans (new & renewal) are being discontinued worldwide for the following products:Adobe Technical Communication SuiteAdobe FrameMakerAdobe FrameMaker Publishing ServerAdobe RoboHelpAdobe RoboHelp ServerCustomers will still be able to purchase perpetual licenses of all the above-mentioned products through Channel (Adobe authorized resellers) under Transactional Licensing Program (TLP) and Cumulative Licensing Program (CLP) even after 1 July 2019. Customers who are currently enrolled for Adobe Software Assurance (ASA) or Maintenance and Support (M&S) plans for any of the above-mentioned products will continue to avail of all the benefits for these programs till the expiry date of the current contract.Additionally, customers will still be able to purchase Gold Support for the perpetual licenses of all the above-mentioned products. More details on Gold Support can be found here.Details on the various enterprise buying programs can be found here.If you have any questions, please feel to reach us at techcomm@adobe.com.ThanksAmitoj Singh, Product Manager, Adobe Technical Communication Tools

Lynne A. Price · Answer

I certainly hope the perpetual licenses continue. There have been some significant changes to FM in the last few releases (such as the menu reorganization in FM 2017) and upgrading can be a significant retraining cost for an organization with a large number of writers. Companies schedule upgrades based on technical requirements and staff availability, and not on a renewal schedule.

As a consultant, I have customers using numerous versions of FM. I need to continue to have outdated versions around even if it's only to answer questions about different results between new and old versions.

--Lynne

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