Challenges & potential
Gauba believes that the new arrangement will also help curb software piracy. "A big challenge for us is that there is a little bit of resistance to buying software technology and people end of pirating. When they end up pirating, they do not realise that they are doing more harm to themselves because they are not getting the full thing out of the pirated version. That is now out of the picture with this arrangement that we have with S&T. It's like having a preloaded OS or an Intel Inside that come with the best of breed. Now, the onus is as much on Autodesk to see that the customer starts using it."
Gauba further added that Autodesk model is an annuity model. "So, that gives the machine tool builder an opportunity to grow the business as well as have continuous engagement with the customers. In fact, that's the crux of our business model to be in constant touch with our customer and to see what he is doing and how he is doing it. Since we are on subscription, our ability to react to market changes is very fast and any changes that happen on the software gets updated for the customer."
He further added that like the S&T philosophy, the Autodesk philosophy for the last 35 years has been to democratised software. "This is one next step. We have been constantly innovating to make it accessible to our customers without compromising on the value."
He also acknowledges that there will be some resistance to the new model because it's a change. "But I think it requires for us to stay with the customer and explain the concept. Once they get the drift, they adapt. At the end of the day, business model is just the via media; the crux is the technology. If a product doesn't do the job, then nobody is going to take it irrespective of the business model. The focus continues to remain on technology and we top it up with the easy methodology, which is the business model. And we have got pretty good traction in India going over the last three quarters on the CAM side."
The basic essence in the change of business model is the availability of current software 24/7. "So, it is completely aligning with the IoT dream. Autodesk directionally understands that IoT will require solutions and business models which will give both the machine tool builder and myself to react quickly," adds Gauba on a positive note.

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