Subscription vs Perpetual

I just read a brief article in Network World "BigFix hits rivals with 50% price chop". The article tries to take a negative spin on a marketing tactic that BigFix has taken. The author, John Dunn, looks at it from the perspective of BigFix casting the first stone in a potential price war with its competitors in the Patch Management arena.

Well, first off, I must say, BigFix works! I know this first hand. It is by far the best patch management solution available. So the opportunity to move to the BigFix offering is worth looking at. However, I think what John missed in his article is the fine print. BigFix provides it's software on a subscription basis. It makes perfect sense, when you see how the solution is managed and updated. Basically, in a nut shell, without BigFix, the software has no value. The content and updates that your unique environment requires, are fed to you by BigFix. So they are constantly updating and sending out the updates to its customers.

Because of this model, BigFix finds that a "subscription" is the most cost effective method for licensing its software. This is where you pay a yearly or multi-yearly subscription price to use the software. When the subscription expires the license goes away or is renewed. In contrast, most software is "purchased" through a "perpetual" license. In this scenario the software is purchased one time and maintenance is then paid to the vendor for the support and upgrades/updates. For many solutions this makes sense. The license is owned by the customer and can be used theoretically forever (Microsoft Office uses this model). However, for the Patch area it makes no sense because the content has to be continually updated by the vendor.

So you have to look deeper into John's article to see what is really going on at BigFix. BigFix, has a great patch product, no doubt. It also provides many other security solutions on that same platform that do everything from security configuration management to data leak prevention. The installation of the additional functionality is a simple process. The 50% discount doesn't equate though to the perpetual model, because the price is always cheaper in the short run, say one to three years, because the cost is spread out over the life of the contract.

So why not get people, who are having problems with their current patch solutions, to look at them. If you can get a demo with BigFix on patch, you will quickly see the many other benefits that the platform will bring to your environment.

The 50% discount is to get your attention, but it really is not an apples to apples comparison. Do let that stop you from looking, as they say at BigFix, "It Just Works"!