The Cost-Benefits of Software Maintenance

Software Maintenance Saves you more than 50% over "Conventional" Version Updates

It's easy to explain why getting version updates when you have a maintenance agreement is such a better deal than conventional version updates.

Assumptions

For the comparison below, let's make the following assumptions:

  • You purchase a copy of BarTender that has a suggested retail price of $500.
  • There are then three "Point Release Updates" of BarTender before the next "Full Version Update" occurs. (For definitions, see the "Major Upgrades" section of How to Upgrade.)
  • Based on the estimates in our Product Lifecycle Policy, assume an average of 7 months between Point Release Updates.
  • Assume that, with each Point Release Update, the price of conventional updates from older versions of BarTender increases by an additional 20% of the suggested full retail price.* 
  • Still referring to our Product Lifecycle Policy, assume another 12 months before the Full Version Update occurs.
  • Assume that, with each Full Version Update, the price of conventional updates increases by an additional 40% of the suggested full retail price.*

(The above scenario is hypothetical.  Actual numbers may vary depending on the circumstances of each individual update.)

The Cost of Conventional Version Updates

Using the above assumptions, we can compute the costs of version updates without software maintenance.  Only the first three options below get users new software without having to repurchase the entire package:

  • Option 1 (purchase after the first point release update):
    Cost is 20% of the full suggested retail price (or $100 approximately 7 months after your initial purchase)
  • Option 2 (purchase after the second point release update):
    Cost is 40% (or $200 after approximately 14 months)
  • Option 3 (purchase after the third point release update):
    Cost is 60% (or $300 after approximately 21 months)
  • Option 4 (purchase the full version update):
    Cost is 100% (or $500 after approximately 33 months)

Simple division shows that, over the long term, a conventional update of your software costs an average of about $15.15 per month of ownership between the time you originally purchase your software and the time that you update it.

The Cost of Version Updates when you have Software Maintenance

The cost per year of software maintenance for BarTender is 18% of the suggested retail price of purchasing a new copy of the software. The first payment is made within 90 days of the original purchase and another 18% payment is due on each one-year anniversary of the original purchase. Assuming a $500 suggested retail price for the software, the 18% cost of adding software maintenance comes out to $90 per year, or $7.5 dollars per month. That's a more than 50% better deal than conventional version updates!

Click here to learn more about getting Software Maintenance for BarTender.

*Policies on maintenance and upgrades are subject to change. The typical times given between software releases and the described changes in the price of version updates after each release are given as good faith estimates that could change in the future.