Following the Draftsight decision Dassault has also decided, or has not be able to come to an agreement with Microsoft, to include SQL with PDM Professional licensing. SQL 2014 will be the last version provided and if companies need anything more then the free SQL Express it is going to cost significantly more. There are a few years before we will be forced to upgrade but according to SW's own compatibility chart PDM2022 and SQL 2014 will no longer be compatible. I estimate it will cost my business \$20,000 to get the same licenses that are already included and who knows what their yearly maintenance fees are. I have not investigated with the Microsoft CAL licensing complexity yet but it could be a bit less or significantly more. PDM Pro is also included in Dassault's increase in subscription fees. Charged more and receive less that is a nice double whammy! I have talked to two VAR's about this issue and also raised it directly with a SolidWorks sales rep. They were all going to highlight the issue to SolidWorks corporate. Anyone signing 3 year subscription agreements now needs to be aware of this change as it will likely affect you. We need to let SolidWorks know downloading these extra costs onto their customers is not a good way to make people happy. Unhappy customers start to evaluate other options.
PDM2019sp5 Release notes: https://files.solidworks.com/Supportfiles/PDMWorks_Ent_Release_Notes/2019/English/SWPDM_relnotes.htm#relnotes_service_pack_5&_ga=2.54744227.96575954.1574859559-e9e6c7d0-d3c3-11e9-9d15-65efadd5c4a1
Response from Jerome Marget of SOLIDWORKS. (Since this is a discussion I can not mark it answered.)
Dear all,
My name is Jerome MARGET and I am a SOLIDWORKS PDM Product Manager.
First, I would like to say thank you for raising this Forum thread and also for being active members. It is highly appreciated to receive feedback about any change we are making.
It is true that discontinuing the PDM/SQL bundles is a topic we are currently working on.
However, I can tell everyone in this thread that NO decision has been made yet. The communication through the Release Note has gone too fast and the best is to ignore that part until further notice.
Very long story short, this topic came to us after multiple customers have raised concerns about the limitations of the SQL license types we deliver: Just to name a few: No Microsoft Software Assurance provided, No transfer to public cloud, No database replication options…
Based on that, we have been thinking of alternatives that would be in the interest of our users’ community. Giving our customers the option to purchase any Microsoft SQL license type from any Microsoft retailer has been one option. However, that is NOT the only one.
In the last few weeks, we have had multiple meetings with Microsoft in order to evaluate the various options we have. In those meetings, I see people from both companies (DS + MS) that are working very hard together in the interest of our PDM/Manage customers.
We are really focused and we will host many more meetings around the topic throughout December. Our plan is to make our decision before 3DExperience World. Once it has been made, we will be sending a general communication to our reseller channel so that they will be able to get back to you all with any potential change.
Furthermore, I will be hosting a session at 3DEXPERIENCE world to take you through the various Microsoft SQL license types and provide guidance on what will potentially change in the next 5+years.
I will also make sure we have enough time at the end of the presentation to answer any question or concern you may have. So I’m looking forward to seeing you all in Nashville. I hope you guys will be able to make it!
But to summarize, NO DECISION HAS BEEN MADE on that yet. We are still working hard on that and we aim for a solution in the interest of our customers!
Thanks to all of you!
Jerome.
Grant
Edit: Added Release note link & screen clip
Edit: Added Response from Jerome Marget of SOLIDWORKS
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