Busting the Top Myths About the Transition to Named User

NOELLE RUIZ: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our session today. My name is Noelle Ruiz, and I'm a senior marketing and communications specialist here at Autodesk. Today, we'll be talking about the top myths of the transition to named user, and we'll be addressing some of the common concerns to help you prepare and feel more confident in your transition. Let's get started.

So before we begin today, we'll recap the key dates of the multi user trade in offer, then we'll jump into the top six myths you see here related to the transition to named user. These are the most common concerns we've heard from customers, and today we'll be busting these myths one by one. Then we'll wrap up with helpful resources that you can use in preparation for your transition.

Let's quickly go over the key dates to remember. If you have an active network maintenance plan, to receive your two for one offer, you'll want to trade in before May 7th, 2022. August 7th, 2022 marks the end of renewals for one year multi-user subscription and extra territory rights. And finally, the last day to take advantage of the two for one offer for multi user subscription is before August 7th, 2023.

Now let's jump into the common myths.

Myth number one. I can't switch license types without being in the office, and I don't want to reinstall. Changing your license type is easy, and you have two methods to choose from. You can have your users update their licenses manually on their own devices, or you can automate the update across all user devices with a support tool provided by Autodesk. You can find this tool on the Autodesk Knowledge Network.

Just remember, for both options, users must be assigned to their products beforehand. Once the update is complete, users will need to restart their software and sign in. But they can continue to use their products uninterrupted while the tool is running.

Either options can be done remotely or in the office. If you choose to automate the update, as long as your users can access the company network, there's no need for them to be on premise to complete the update. And reinstall is not needed, even when upgrading from a suite to a collection.

Myth number two. I'm going to lose my previous version access. If you are in a supported version of your Autodesk product, you will not lose access to the previous versions. You can access the latest version of your product, and up to five versions back, automatically via AVA, which is the Autodesk Virtual Agent. Once the new version of your product is released, your previous version access will roll up to be five back from the newest version.

Since Autodesk products may have different version release dates, the latest version may not always be the same from product to product. So for example, if AutoCAD releases its new version before Revit, you may have access to AutoCAD 2021 through 2016, while another user may have access to Revit 2020 through 2015, until the new Revit version is released. If you're not currently on a supported version, you should either plan to upgrade or work with your Autodesk representative to request an exception if needed.

Myth number three. I must add and assign all of my users manually. The premium plan offers administrative features that further automates user management. For example, you can create users via single sign on. Once single sign on has been enabled for your domain, any user who authenticates on your domain without an existing Autodesk account will automatically have an account created, and will be added to your user list. And when a user leaves your company, they're automatically removed from your list.

In the future, with the premium plan you'll also be able to sync groups from your Active Directory with Autodesk Account. So you can assign groups of users to a default set of products based on their permissions in Active Directory.

Myth number four. My users are going to start getting Autodesk emails that will confuse them. Communications delivered to named users are always driven with intent and purpose. Users will always be notified of important events, such as when a new account is created in their name, or when there are new products assigned to them.

But they also have the option to opt into or opt out of educational emails from their profile. This gives each user the choice to customize their communications and their preferences.

Myth number five. My users must sign in every day and stay online to use the software. This is another common misconception. Users are not required to sign in and use their products every day. Sign in details are cached for 15 days, making it easy for users to stay up and running without the hassle of having to sign in every time. But users can also choose to bypass having their sign in details cached by simply signing out of the product.

Even more, users with a single user subscription can work offline for up to 30 days at a time. This can be beneficial for users who work remote with limited internet access. Users working offline will be notified three days before reaching their 30 day limit. And after, they'll be prompted to reconnect to the internet.

However, it's important to know that usage data during this time, and while users are working offline, will not be recorded. Also, the maximum time for a user on flex to work offline is 24 hours. So it's best for users who need this benefit to be on single user subscription. And if you have users who need to work offline for more than 30 days at a time, talk to your Autodesk representative or partner about alternatives.

Myth number six. The reporting you're giving me isn't helpful. While network licensed reporting tools can provide some high level information, there are unique types of data that can only be provided in the named user environment. Let's walk through a few use cases which are all available in the standard plan.

First, you'll want to look at which product versions your users are using. For example, if you see a user on a 2017 version of a product, you can have a conversation with them about upgrading. There's many benefits of upgrading to newer versions, like having access to the latest features, staying current, reducing the risk of downtime if a version reaches end of support, or avoiding version conflicts that can occur when collaborating with team members across projects.

For the second scenario, you'll want to see how many days on average users are using their products. If there's low to no usage with a product, that's a good sign to check with your user to understand why. It may be that more training is needed for your users to get the most out of their products.

Similarly, you'll want to see if a user is using all of the products in a collection. We commonly see that users with industry collections are only using one product in that collection. If they're under utilizing their collection, it's a great opportunity to understand why and how you can support them.

Admins can also see which individual products are under assigned. This is an insight available to all admins, and can help ensure that you maximize your investment by making sure no product goes unassigned to a user.

Even more, admins with the premium plan will see inactive user insights that summarize the number of inactive users in a team in the last three months. This insight nudges the admin to check the user's usage details and by user reporting, where they can also see a report of inactive users for a given time period.

We're also offering personalized insights to individual users. This is called My Insights, and gives you recommendations based on your usage of an Autodesk product. My Insight is currently available for AutoCAD, and offers suggestions such as command or feature recommendations. This visual is a sample of My Insights for AutoCAD that you might see in account.

One thing to note is that every user will see different product insights based on how they use AutoCAD, and you may not see any of your My Insights if you haven't been in the product for long enough. We're working to bring even more insights to both admins and users in the future.

There are also several resources available that can help you discover the value of transitioning to named user. Our trade in estimator specifically will show you the potential ROI and before and after cost comparison you can expect to see through the transition.

It only takes a few steps. First, you'll want to select the Autodesk products you currently own. Choose from a list of our 14 most popular products, including industry collections and design and creation suites. You can then choose an upgrade path for your products, or you can select no upgrade.

Finally, you'll be asked a few questions regarding your current licensing environment. Then you'll be presented with this trade in summary. Here you can see your before and after cost comparisons, which include any collection upgrades you've selected. You can also see that for a similar price to what you pay today, the number of subscriptions you own will double after the trade in. This is due to the two for one offer.

By advancing to the next screen, you can see your results for the premium plan. And finally, make sure to hover over these informational bubbles to understand specifically how named user can contribute to your time and cost savings.

Before you go today, please make sure to make note of these additional resources available to you. You can visit our transition to named user website, which will give you details on the offer. If you need to revisit the four steps, including the automated tool to change license types we discussed earlier, you can find them on the Autodesk Knowledge Network.

And finally, if you have additional questions, visit our customer forum so one of our community managers can get back to you. Thank you for taking the time to join us today, and we hope you enjoy the rest of AU.