I have closed the three satisfaction rating polls I started a couple of months ago and have reported the results individually. This is the final post on this set of polls.
The usual caveats about online polls apply. Please note that for most of the poll respondents, I have no way of knowing if they really are/were resellers. Whoever they are, it would appear that the sentiment is global; over ten countries are represented in the voting logs.
Although this poll appears to indicate that Autodesk is even less popular with its resellers than it is with its customers, the difference is not statistically significant. Also bear in mind that the number of respondents is smaller here than in the related polls. That should be expected, but accuracy is suspect with numbers this small.
With that in mind, here’s how the averages look. The mean rating is 2.55, the median is 1 and the mode is 0. Very dissatisfied respondents outnumber very satisfied ones by nearly eleven to one.
If this result has any validity, it’s an indictment on Autodesk’s relationship with its most important business partners.
Why would resellers be unhappy? Well, Autodesk is gradually eating up their market share by selling direct in bigger and bigger numbers. Resellers have had to act as the meat in the sandwich as Autodesk’s policies get more and more aggressively anti-customer. Trying to sell expensive rental software to smart people with calculators can’t be easy, especially if your heart’s not in it. If you’re a reseller that has worked hard over decades to build up a great relationship with your customers and Autodesk has damaged that relationship (in some cases beyond repair), you’re probably not pleased about that, either. And if you’re a reseller that has lost half its income over the last few years and has had to lay people off, you’re unlikely to rate Autodesk highly for satisfaction.
Is that what’s happening?
Feel free to comment here if you wish to discuss any aspect of this. Resellers in particular are welcome to expand on the reasons for their dissatisfaction, or to offer a counterpoint. Are you a happy Autodesk reseller? Or a customer that has had a candid discussion with your reseller on the state of play? Let’s hear from you. You don’t have to identify yourself accurately unless you want to and I will of course respect your privacy.
I’ve been with Resellers over the last 16-17 years but I’m also a user – +28 years (Civil/Survey/Architectural/Mechanical).
It’s been disheartening to have to explain to my clients – some of which I’ve worked with through my whole career – the changes Autodesk has made through their subscription policies.
While the prices have gone up our margins have stayed the same or less. So in response to James M. in another comment, there’s no room to make any better “Deals”.
As a Reseller who still cares, I’m the guy that’s in the trenches. I’m talking with, or in the offices of, my clients daily (not the two emails a year, as in another comment by Griffin). Troubleshooting, supporting, training…and these are clients that are also good friends, family friends that I’ve known for a long time.
I hate having to tell them what this is going to cost them going into the future.
I used to be proud to be a user and and to be an Autodesk Reseller, but that pride has ebbed over the last several years. Autodesk’s support and development has worsened, and it’s egregious that they couple that with increased prices, limiting bug fixes, and the one-way subscription model.
Just my $0.02
We understand that not all resellers are equal. Even if our reseller had created an exceptional customer relationship they would never be able to do anything to counter Autodesk’s atrocious development, pricing and licensing policies.
I’m actually glad they didn’t try because it is a complete waste of time trying to polish Autodesk’s turds.
Awood, thx for your comments. Sounds like resellers got baked into the customer pie as far as who would benefit from price increases. I can say both resellers I deal with are great. Part of the rental thing is the ability to un-rent too, so I keep wondering if the admin on that will rejuvenate reseller services.