‘Graphisoft Forward’ — New Global Licensing Standard Introduced

Concurrent with this week’s announcement of the availability of Archicad 25, the BIM software maker has introduced a new comprehensive licensing model called Graphisoft Forward.

Graphisoft Forward

The Hungarian BIM software maker has updated its software licensing model and renamed it due in part to lessons gained from the 2020 pandemic year.

“During the early days of the pandemic, firm principals saw firsthand how crucial an emergency license to Archicad could be for their businesses,” said Huw Roberts, Graphisoft CEO. “Providing this continuity of service as we did, helped us decide to make it a permanent feature. Graphisoft Forward further proves why so many successful firms work with us.”

GRAPHISOFT’s new name for its global Software Service Agreement (SSA) licensing model.

The licensing brand named “Graphisoft Forward” symbolizes success, progress, and efficiency says the company. The new Software Service Agreement (SSA) is available for just Archicad 25 users and is aimed at maximizing value while lowering overall software ownership vis-a-vis new benefits including exclusive tools, training, support, and services.

A complete description is below. Graphisoft Forward includes:

• All Upgrades Included — users get every update made available without fees
• Volume Discounts — an important feature to larger firms making decisions about BIM platforms, volume discounts will be available as well as preferential pricing, reduced pricing, or free admissions to Graphisoft events that lower the total cost of ownership.
• Personal Technical Support — unlimited access to Graphisoft’s dedicated localized Technical Center
• Licensing Pooling — automatic optimization of a company’s software licensing usage.
• Emergency Licenses — guaranteed access to emergency licenses ensure business continuity during crises like the recent pandemic
• License Key Insurance — replace a stolen, damaged, or malfunctioning license key, once per year for free
• Free Twinmotion — Epic Games’ Twinmotion rendering and animation program is included with Graphisoft Forward
• BIMx Model Private Hosting and Sharing — 10gb private storage space included.
• Graphisoft Learn Discounts — discounted courses about Archicad, BIMx, and BIMcloud.
• Library Part Maker Add-On — create virtually any custom object.

The Graphisoft Knowledge Base is also available to users so they can gain fast and efficient use of Archicad.

More information about Graphisoft Forward can be found here.

Architosh Analysis and Commentary

Graphisoft Forward includes “Licensing Pooling” which functions as a dynamic network license infrastructure. This is opposed to the “named license” model used by many of Graphisoft’s direct competitors. Having flexible distribution of software licenses matters greatly for organizations that fluctuate usage, not just with the number of staff currently ebbing and following within a firm but with “type” of staff such as project managers and principals who may rarely get involved with BIM production but do need occasional access.