The concept of lifetime licenses is becoming increasingly rare in today's market.
After all, companies like Microsoft are specifically moving away from one-time purchases and are pushing to subscription-based models.
But it is also an acknowledgment that the modern world moves fast, and so trying to keep a lifetime license open for software can prove challenging.
Thankfully, not many UC companies have to contend with this reality.
However, one major player is left with such a legacy decision: Cisco.
Cisco's Lifetime License with BroadWorks
Cisco's $1.9 billion purchase of BroadWorks in 2018 carried over the company's lifetime licenses it had previously offered.
BroadWorks is a carrier-grade, cloud-based unified communications software platform that service providers use to deliver cloud-based calling, messaging, and collaboration services to businesses.
It allows businesses to access a range of communication features from a single, network-based system, including call control, unified messaging, and private voice networking.
UCaaS services based on BroadSoft have been in the market for twenty years, with the average term around ten years.
Many of the former BroadSoft-based UCaaS offers have seen significant success, racking up hundreds of thousands of users and delivering revenue streams into the tens of millions for the service providers concerned.
The margins are as much as 80% because most BroadSoft-based licenses are paid upfront as a one-time cost.
However, Cisco is dwindling its support for the BroadSoft platform, which has seen a steady decline since its acquisition.
Cisco has been pushing more and more for users of its other products to go to Webex, creating migration guides to move from Cisco's on-premises solutions like Unified Communications Manager (UCM) to Webex.
As a result of this strategy, Cisco has previously said features like extended call center reporting (ECCR) functionality in BroadWorks would be nearing end of life.
"I've seen a few companies retire their 'perpetual' or lifetime licenses recently in favor of a recurring subscription model, and it never goes down well with their customers,"
Graham Cropley, Global Head of Consulting at LoopUp, told UC Today.
Yet this places them in a difficult position with BroadWorks users: do they continue to honor the lifetime licenses users got with Broadworks despite their ambitions with Webex?
Murmurings of a sunset or a five-year extension to the BroadWorks license have since prompted Cisco to release a blog to set the record straight.
Released last week, the blog mentioned how Cisco is committed to provider-hosted call control via Cisco BroadWorks.
Responding to UC Today's question on the licensing matter, a Cisco Spokesperson said: "We deeply value our partnerships and are dedicated to empowering our Service Providers with the tools and support they need to deliver innovative and reliable services, ensuring their success in meeting the evolving needs of their customers."
However, how does the industry feel about this affirmation by Cisco of its position on BroadWorks?
Strategic Repositioning or Market Retention?
Cisco's continued support of BroadWorks lifetime licenses represents a significant pivot in its approach to the growing emphasis on Webex as its flagship collaboration platform.
The company has said its strategy for service providers is Cisco BroadWorks, and it remains "a pivotal component of our solutions portfolio that we expect to remain a key part of our growth strategy for the future."
However, Matthew Townend, Managing Director at Cavell, views this decision as pragmatic rather than innovative.
"I think it is a logical move for Cisco,"
he told UC Today.
"I have started to see Cisco start to be more service provider friendly. You have two choices: you force the people on BroadWorks to move - and maybe they go to Webex, and maybe they don't. Whether it drives innovation, I am not sure, but it gives service providers a bit more time to make decisions."
