So, we got an email from IT on May 12th that licensing for Acrobat was changing “in May” and that most people just use basic Acrobat functions, but to let them know if you needed a full Pro version. I immediately opened a ticket and told them I CANNOT DO MY JOB without it and must have it (the “Contracts” part of my job title should be a hint.) 05/19, get an email response to ticket that each department (defined how?) would only be getting two to three licenses and we needed to figure it out. Told my boss “what part of CANNOT DO MY JOB do they not understand?” She is in same boat. Dean’s assistant sends out survey to our department on who uses which features. 05/23 at noon, our licenses are killed. I am dead in the water until this morning. What an effed up mess. University block licensing for Adobe killing was apparently announced quite some time ago. What did they know and when did they know it? Most poorly handled and communicated mess I ever saw. I told my boss this past Friday afternoon at 12:30 when they killed mine that I was taking the rest of the day off. I figure we lost the $130 license fee in lost productivity for everyone that needed it. Lots and lots of people on staff in a three city university system.

Sounds like they're understaffed, but someone will get in trouble.

Sounds like Adobe just screwed all of their customers. Forcing everybody to a subscription model then changing the terms. Scummy thing to do.

My company has the same issue with several "license" type softwares.

I actually pay for some myself and then get reimbursed via expense report because it comes from a "different bucket"...playing the Finance shell game.

Minor inconvenience.

Hospital network where wife works was cyber attacked (Kettering). As of yesterday (a week later), still had no imaging, access to charting software, medical records/ my chart/ patient portals all down... and so on. Then, they let everyone know that if their paycheck wasn't at least half of their usual base rate take home, to contact their supervisor. Hers was 58%, so I guess they are just winging it til payroll is back. How do you do surgery without imaging? Risky.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Sounds like Adobe just screwed all of their customers. Forcing everybody to a subscription model then changing the terms. Scummy thing to do.

You shouldn't assume anything, it is irresponsible.

Yes many companies are converting to a subscription model, understandable gripe.
Adobe is discontinuing "perpetual" licenses on June 1, 2025.

Depending on the actual features needed, one should consider alternative software.
There are plenty of great alternative PDF software packages.
I quit offering it years ago because Adobe is too expensive.

Most use only the creating part which is not only available from many alternatives but if you continue to use the software with a perpetual license - it will continue to work as normal, however if you need new additional features or updates, it may experience issues.

A solvable problem but the gripe of non-response from the IT Department or perhaps Management is inexcusable and understandable.

IT people do like their power and I don’t mean the technicians that install the programs either. Their hands are tied by the CIO.

My director had a heck of a time getting me a third monitor. He had to brow beat someone to make happen.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
I quit offering it years ago because Adobe is too expensive.

We dropped Adobe over the cost as well.
We switched to Nuance/Kofax, which covers the vast majority of our users, at a much lower cost/seat.

quote:

Adobe is discontinuing "perpetual" licenses on June 1, 2025.

So if you had a perpetual license before, it's now no longer perpetual? That sounds like changing the terms.

I worked in IT from 2004-2016, so I remember back in the day when you used to buy a license and the software was yours until you didn't want to use it anymore. You might not be able to get updates, but it would still work. My wife still has a copy of CS3 because it does everything she needs it to do and it was the last version that you could get with a standalone license.

I was in the business when everybody started going to subscription/cloud-based license models, and I always thought it sucked for the consumer. To be fair, it's not just Adobe...everybody does it these days.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

We dropped Adobe over the cost as well.
We switched to Nuance/Kofax, which covers the vast majority of our users, at a much lower cost/seat.

Right, Nuance>Kofax>Tungsten Power PDF is my go to product as well.

The problem was really how poorly it was communicated. No date. Let us know if you need Pro. Oh, too bad! By the time they actually said what they meant our department had only a couple of days to assess and buy thirty licenses and we were cut off for four days before we were functional again. In looking online, they had to have known about this a while ago.

Also, I can’t download any software/apps to my work laptop. It is all locked down and has to be installed by IT, so I am stuck with shat they allow us.

quote:

Originally posted by MelissaDallas:
Also, I can’t download any software/apps to my work laptop. It is all locked down and has to be installed by IT, so I am stuck with shat they allow us.

Retired IT guy here, I can defend this practice. Left to their own discretion, people will install pretty much any software (BTDT). That introduces the opportunity for malicious exploits, licensing violations and makes supporting the workplace a nightmare.

Let's say your workplace has 1,000 workstations and anyone can install anything. The results in the potential for 1,000 unique workstations. At some point, operating system updates will be rolled out. IT cannot test those updates against 1,000 unique workstations so some will fail. Support is a nightmare.

However, the Adobe scenario was predictable and it is a failure when the IT department implements a policy that is poorly communicated and planned. In this scenario I see three glaring problems: 2 weeks is insufficient notice, there is no clearly defined request system to keep the software/functionality and IT lacks an understanding of the tools used within the organization. IMHO this is usually the result of a incompetent (aka clueless) CIO and managers.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

Adobe is discontinuing "perpetual" licenses on June 1, 2025.

So if you had a perpetual license before, it's now no longer perpetual?

That sounds like changing the terms.

You don't know what license they had.

Sounds like = assuming again.

The problem isn't Adobe, it is the lack of support at the company.

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:

quote:

Originally posted by MelissaDallas:
Also, I can’t download any software/apps to my work laptop. It is all locked down and has to be installed by IT, so I am stuck with shat they allow us.

Retired IT guy here, I can defend this practice. Left to their own discretion, people will install pretty much any software (BTDT). That introduces the opportunity for malicious exploits, licensing violations and makes supporting the workplace a nightmare.

Let's say your workplace has 1,000 workstations and anyone can install anything. The results in the potential for 1,000 unique workstations. At some point, operating system updates will be rolled out. IT cannot test those updates against 1,000 unique workstations so some will fail. Support is a nightmare.

However, the Adobe scenario was predictable and it is a failure when the IT department implements a policy that is poorly communicated and planned. In this scenario I see three glaring problems: 2 weeks is insufficient notice, there is no clearly defined request system to keep the software/functionality and IT lacks an understanding of the tools used within the organization. IMHO this is usually the result of a incompetent (aka clueless) CIO and managers.

I agree on the lock down. There were folks suggesting using various websites to manipulate PDFs while we were in the four day holding period. No way was I going to drag documents with stuff like physician personal email addresses and cell phone numbers into a site with unknown security.

I’m sure IT has a constant fight to keep anyone because universities pay so little. Anyone really good with deep experience is working elsewhere making much more money. Most of ours are also very young. I am seeing more and more that they seem to believe providing staff with the low-level stuff the students use should be adequate. I don’t think they understand that staff is actually running a big complex business or what that entails. I would have been perfectly happy to have the basic version of Acrobat they were rolling out if it did what I need, but it doesn’t. It does probably do fine for the majority.

quote:

Retired IT guy here, I can defend this practice. Left to their own discretion, people will install pretty much any software (BTDT). That introduces the opportunity for malicious exploits, licensing violations and makes supporting the workplace a nightmare.

Let's say your workplace has 1,000 workstations and anyone can install anything. The results in the potential for 1,000 unique workstations. At some point, operating system updates will be rolled out. IT cannot test those updates against 1,000 unique workstations so some will fail. Support is a nightmare.

Another Retired IT guy here...CIO... Above is exactly correct, users want to sail their own ship until it starts to sink and then they cry "where is IT"... From what the OP described, it seems that IT should have been more forth comming with this issue and whatever resolution they were comfortable with.... How ever, in my experience, and its a lot, in a large organizations these things are proliferated on a Department head basis and it's up to them to determine what their department needs...and more often that not non-savey department heads stick their heads in the sand until the last minute and then scream HELP...seen it all to often...

And Adobe's Licensing has created issues for a number of years now, plus cost escalations.

There are ways to determine how much a user actually uses a program like Adobe... If this were mine I would look into that and see... It's very common to hear someone say they can't do their job with out something, simply because they don't wish to try something new or different...

60

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

We dropped Adobe over the cost as well.
We switched to Nuance/Kofax, which covers the vast majority of our users, at a much lower cost/seat.

Right, Nuance>Kofax>Tungsten Power PDF is my go to product as well.

Glad to see another endorsement of it. Works great for our intended use.

We're in the same boat, although we've been in it for a while. I sure wish they would switch to one of the other PDF programs if they're not going to pony up for pro licenses for all the people that need them.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by smschulz:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by P250UA5:

We dropped Adobe over the cost as well.
We switched to Nuance/Kofax, which covers the vast majority of our users, at a much lower cost/seat.

Just FYI, Nuance and Kofax no longer exist, they are now Tungsten Automation

https://www.tungstenautomation.com/products/power-pdf

This is timely as Adobe has gotten worse with subscription fees and access.

BTW Tungsten has paused sales online per their web page however you can download a 30 day free trial.