[realitarian]

Interesting interview with Adobe execs by McKinsey: Reborn in the cloud | McKinsey & Company.

Some snippets:

McKinsey: What precipitated Adobe’s move to the cloud?
Dan Cohen: When we looked at how other software companies were faring during the recession, we saw that companies with high recurring revenue had smaller declines in their growth rates and valuations. We had a very big drop in both—our revenue dropped about 20 percent, and our valuation fell even more. We had extremely high customer-satisfaction rates for our products, but when we drilled down into the numbers, we saw that people were saying things like, “I’m happy with what I have, I don’t see the need to ever buy another one again.” Clearly, we needed to figure out how we could get people to want to buy from us more regularly, and, related to that, how we could innovate better and faster for our customers. We saw that the new software companies that were reaching scale were those operating under a cloud model.

McKinsey: Now that you are on the back end of the transformation, what advice would you give to others contemplating a similar move?
Dan Cohen: For any company moving to a subscription model, you need to deliver ongoing value to the customer and also create new sources of value that didn’t exist with the old model. You can’t just sell the same offering in a different way. Companies that simply stick to what has made them successful in the past leave themselves open to disruption. You have to take a fresh look at your products—and be willing to “burn the boats,” so to speak. Imagine that you have a clean slate, and you are launching the company fresh today. What would the offering be? What do you need to do to get there?

[Rimfiredude]

Our internet was out 9 days last month. That was quite unusual but it does slow down when the kids are home from school. I think I will stick with PS CS2. No cloud for me.

[enoeske]

Our internet was out 9 days last month. That was quite unusual but it does slow down when the kids are home from school. I think I will stick with PS CS2. No cloud for me.

FYI, Because your Creative Suite applications are installed directly on your computer, you will not need an ongoing Internet connection to use them on a daily basis. However, you will need to be online when you install and license your software, and at least once every 30 days thereafter. The software will alert you when you need to connect to the Internet for a license status check

[btnapa]

Interesting interview with Adobe execs by McKinsey: Reborn in the cloud | McKinsey & Company.

Some snippets:

McKinsey: What precipitated Adobe’s move to the cloud?
Dan Cohen: When we looked at how other software companies were faring during the recession, we saw that companies with high recurring revenue had smaller declines in their growth rates and valuations. We had a very big drop in both—our revenue dropped about 20 percent, and our valuation fell even more. We had extremely high customer-satisfaction rates for our products, but when we drilled down into the numbers, we saw that people were saying things like, “I’m happy with what I have, I don’t see the need to ever buy another one again.” Clearly, we needed to figure out how we could get people to want to buy from us more regularly, and, related to that, how we could innovate better and faster for our customers. We saw that the new software companies that were reaching scale were those operating under a cloud model.

McKinsey: Now that you are on the back end of the transformation, what advice would you give to others contemplating a similar move?
Dan Cohen: For any company moving to a subscription model, you need to deliver ongoing value to the customer and also create new sources of value that didn’t exist with the old model. You can’t just sell the same offering in a different way. Companies that simply stick to what has made them successful in the past leave themselves open to disruption. You have to take a fresh look at your products—and be willing to “burn the boats,” so to speak. Imagine that you have a clean slate, and you are launching the company fresh today. What would the offering be? What do you need to do to get there?

They need to lower their pricing too if they want people to stay.

I just purchased the Affinity Photo software for only $40 and so far I am loving the interface and power of the software. It is Mac only for now but who knows how they might expand their offerings. It is just as powerful as PS and I do not have to worry about Adobe's online limitations and the costs.

BTW, I also purchased their Designer software which is the equivalent of Adobe Illustrator. I hope this is a wake up call for Adobe.

[amoringello]

They need to lower their pricing too if they want people to stay.

I just purchased the Affinity Photo software for only $40 and so far I am loving the interface and power of the software. It is Mac only for now but who knows how they might expand their offerings. It is just as powerful as PS and I do not have to worry about Adobe's online limitations and the costs.

BTW, I also purchased their Designer software which is the equivalent of Adobe Illustrator. I hope this is a wake up call for Adobe.

I am REALLY REALLY hoping Affinity can do what it looks like they wanted. The full feature list is much more extensive than I last saw. I hope they continue to add competing features. Adobe needs to realize they are a behemoth that is utterly hated by their users, dragged screaming along only because of the lack of real competition.

The beta was unusable and I had forgotten about the software... I'm almost willing to throw away $40 to see if it works well.
Thanks for the reminder.

[btnapa]

I am REALLY REALLY hoping Affinity can do what it looks like they wanted. The full feature list is much more extensive than I last saw. I hope they continue to add competing features. Adobe needs to realize they are a behemoth that is utterly hated by their users, dragged screaming along only because of the lack of real competition.

The beta was unusable and I had forgotten about the software... I'm almost willing to throw away $40 to see if it works well.
Thanks for the reminder.

So far it is working flawlessly. The interface is a little different but is seems to be intuitive enough.

I do not want to even think about all the money I have spent on various Adobe purchases, updates, subscriptions etc.!!

They needed some real completion and it looks like they have got it. Now if only Affinity can give us a LR competitor. Then we can cut the Adobe cord off for good!!

[condor27596]

In not a professional not even close. I have photoshop ( a gift) Lightroom and premier elements. That's like $400 for three things. I use .01 percent of its capability and under 20 hours a month ( 99% mostly Lightroom ). I'm on a 5 year cycle give or take for stuff like that depending on usage.

My opinion is I've spent more than enough for the amount I use it. Maybe adobe's opinion is different.

But if I'm forced to a cloud aka monthly fee I will look for another solution. I'm CERTAIN there will be other companies that pop up with plenty of solutions.

Although I am considering a mac the next time I have to invest.

[mwilky55]

I am not quite sure what it is....but for some reason, even as an IT professional, I just have a real aversion to subscription software.

Give me the software, the license and the manual and then leave me alone....don't call me, I'll call you.

When I buy, I want to own it, not rent it. And yes, I realize that's probably symptomatic of deeper control issues I may have......

---------- Post added 07-14-15 at 06:20 PM ----------

Thank you for the cue about the Affinity products...wasn't familiar with them, but being a Mac user, I will take a look.

[lsimpkins]

When I buy, I want to own it, not rent it.

You never really own the software. You own a license to use it.

[disconnekt]

I am not quite sure what it is....but for some reason, even as an IT professional, I just have a real aversion to subscription software.

Give me the software, the license and the manual and then leave me alone....don't call me, I'll call you.

When I buy, I want to own it, not rent it. And yes, I realize that's probably symptomatic of deeper control issues I may have......[COLOR="Silver"]

Same here, I'd rather buy/have the physical copy of the product than download it & rent it month to month.

[narual]

It's basically not a bad deal if you don't already have the non-cloud products.

I wonder how they're going to handle it if they try to go cloud only. There are plenty of facilities that cannot, for security reasons, ever be connected to the internet, and they do use graphics software.

I know I'm going to be very annoyed if they stop providing updates to Adobe Camera Raw.

[rawr]

"we needed to figure out how we could get people to want to buy from us more regularly, and, related to that, how we could innovate better and faster for our customers. "

Entirely as expected. CC = revenue reasons. And 'innovate better and faster' is a sham. They pretend to innovate to justify the subscription, but underneath nothing changes.

Making de-haze invisible in the interface to non-CC Lightroom, but visible in CC LR is a case in point. The underlying code is the same, as people who have 'turned-on' de-haze on non-CC Lightroom have discovered.

[cpk]

I am not quite sure what it is....but for some reason, even as an IT professional, I just have a real aversion to subscription software.

Give me the software, the license and the manual and then leave me alone....don't call me, I'll call you.

When I buy, I want to own it, not rent it. And yes, I realize that's probably symptomatic of deeper control issues I may have......

---------- Post added 07-14-15 at 06:20 PM ----------

Thank you for the cue about the Affinity products...wasn't familiar with them, but being a Mac user, I will take a look.

As an IT professional for over 50 years, I have no problem with subscription software. In the early days if IT all hardware and software was rented. It didn't impede the development of the IT industry.

I use a lot of shareware. It's all downloaded. I don't want the discs; too much work keeping track of them and finding them again when you need them. Besides, you don't own the software, only a licence to use it, as Isimpkins points out.

Photoshop is a professional product and commands professional prices. If it is too much for you (and I do admit it is too much for many of us), use Elements or Paint Shop Pro, both good products which you can buy outright. I believe you can still buy Lightroom without joining the subscription model. I have been subscribed to Photoshop and Lightroom since Adobe implemented the subscription model. I am quite happy with this approach. For heavy users I think the price is quite reasonable.

[tvdtvdtvd]

Translation:

"We noticed World of Warcraft was pulling in bookoo cash, so we thought, 'Hey!, we can do that!'."

I honestly have no problem with the subscription model. However, I do think you should have the
option to buy a standalone version and it would be really great if you could 'own' a snapshot of
whatever you were renting, should you decide to end your subscription. It would require so many
months previous rental and would of course no longer be updated, but it's a lot more appealing than
rent or nothing.

[johnmflores]

As someone that uses Lightroom, Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, and Premiere pretty regularly, keeping up to date with the old purchase model was expensive, and I need to be up to date when dealing with clients, vendors, and others.

The subscription model actually works for me.