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.”
Townend’s observation highlights the delicate balance Cisco must maintain.
By extending lifetime licenses, the company prevents a potential exodus while buying time to develop migration strategies that could eventually lead customers to Webex or other Cisco solutions.
Despite questions about innovation, BroadWorks continues to command an impressive market presence.
Dom Black, Growth Director and Principal Analyst at Cavell, noted: “Although Webex is Cisco’s core focus for their calling and collaboration platform, Broadworks still has the largest global base of cloud calling users out of any major platform.”
This market dominance likely influences Cisco’s cautious approach to license transitions.
With over 40 million users globally as of 2023, any abrupt changes could disrupt a substantial portion of the global telecommunications infrastructure.
Cisco publicly reaffirms its commitment through official statements, telling UC Today: “Cisco works through our Service Provider partners, each of whom has active software agreements that typically renew at intervals ranging from three to five years, to provide BroadWorks to end customers.”
License Extension: Benefit or Delayed Inevitability?
While Cisco presents the license extension as beneficial to customers, some industry observers view it as merely postponing difficult transitions while protecting revenue streams.
The licensing approach reveals tensions between customer expectations and Cisco’s business objectives.
“It’s clear that the trend for UC products is converging towards a common platform, even more so with medium organizations and large enterprises. And Microsoft has that trajectory dialed-in,” Cropley said.
Cropley’s comparison to Microsoft’s unified approach suggests that Cisco may be fighting against prevailing industry trends.
Rather than seeing the license extension as customer-centric, he interprets it as defensive positioning.
“I can only see that the decision by Cisco to extend the lifetime licenses as a desperate attempt to hold on to their already small and dwindling market share – kicking the license model transition down the road, leaving it to be a problem for another day.”
This perspective frames the license extension as a stopgap measure rather than a sustainable strategy, potentially leaving customers in limbo regarding the platform’s long-term viability.
Yet, Cropley explains how he thinks it is an issue that will eventually have to be dealt with, and fallout is inevitable.
“When faced with increased license costs, they inevitably lose a portion of otherwise loyal customers,” he explained.
“The sensible approach for enterprises is to reassess other solutions on the market.”
Future Path for Cisco
Cisco’s extension of BroadWorks lifetime licenses reflects a balancing act between preserving legacy revenue streams and navigating the shift toward modern subscription models.
While the move reassures existing customers and partners, it also underscores the challenges of maintaining a decades-old platform in an era dominated by cloud-first solutions like Webex and Microsoft Teams.
The high-margin, capex-driven BroadWorks business remains lucrative for service providers, but Cisco’s dwindling investment in the platform signals a gradual sunset, leaving users to weigh short-term stability against long-term innovation.
Industry analysts view the decision as pragmatic but not transformative, buying time for service providers to transition without immediate disruption.
With BroadWorks still supporting millions of users globally, abrupt changes could destabilize a significant portion of the UCaaS market.
However, the lack of forward-looking development raises questions about whether Cisco is delaying the inevitable.
Cisco BroadWorks – is extending licencing really the right decision?
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