Entitlement API makes a purchase by a firm...impossible?

[CADdaddy.com]

Hi all,

Sorry if this is on the wrong board.  I'm trying to do something simple, like purchase apps for my firm.

First of all, I'm reluctant to purchase software using my own firm email account to purchase apps.  What if I, "[email protected]" gets fired?  Do all the apps purchased (with the firm's $$!) evaporate when my email account is deleted from the firm's server?  I donno, I can't find any clarification anywhere.  All that I've found is that there seems to be no way to transfer ownership of an app.

Second, imagine that I'm smart and I've decided to create a special email account that's something like: "[email protected]".   Now I can use that email to purchase the software for the firm.  Smart? I donno!  I suppose I would need to login to Revit/AutoCAD/Whatever using my"nice.user" account, then, if you wanted to use my app, logout, then login again using the ADSK.purchases account.  Sound terrible, right?  I have no idea if that's true 'cause I can't find anything on this subject.  My reseller can't help me because they can't understand what I'm talking about.

I have no idea how this is supposed to work...if indeed it does.

James

[Sean_Page]

Entitlement through the App Store is specific to the user (email) that downloaded it unless it's a free app. If it is a paid app you shouldn't be using it for multiple machines unless you've worked that out with the seller, whom by the way can entitle anyone they want as long as there is a valid account to associate. In other words, if you left the firm, and the firm contacted the seller they can just change the user as needed.

Really you should just use your firm account UNLESS you are purchasing it yourself. The rest can be sorted out depending on the situation after the fact.

[CADdaddy.com]

Yes,  I guess if I communicated with the author by email, and my email domain was the same as the purchaser, the request for a manual transfer wouldn't be questioned.

My main concern is tracking and keeping what is owned by the firm.  I haven't inquired with our users yet, but there may be dozens of apps that are already owned by the firm that I don't know about (I'm new to the firm).  The titles could have been purchased using non-firm email address (most of our users don't yet have Autodesk accounts since we use a license server).

I guess the only way to manage this it to ask every user in the firm if they've ever purchased an app using firm $ and maintain a list of purchases AND require that, for new apps purchased in the future, send me the info.  Sounds like a plan, but in the real world, asking users to do this type of stuff,  well, it just never happens.

I've just had a thought that I can inquire with accounting if see if they get small monthly or annual changes from the Autodesk app store.  That might be more effective than asking users.  I'll give it a try.

James

[CADdaddy.com]

It's worse than I imagined.  I checked my Paypal account for an app that I purchased through the app store and the purchase is listed under the name of the author of the software, not "Autodesk".  In the case of my particular title, the author was Russian (with the letters in Russian character set).  No offense to the author, but that is NOT going to instill confidence in our accounting department with they see THAT on their list of charges!

Very disappointing.

[Sean_Page]

I think what you should keep in mind is that the App Store is basically an "Ebay" for Application Add-ins. Autodesk does review and approve all of the apps after verifying that they work, but after that they do not handle or manage any of the fees or licensing / entitlements. Effectively they are hands off once a publisher gets an app approved unless there are issues.

If you are not comfortable with this scenario, then you should most likely reach out and work out a different agreement with the author especially if seeking an enterprise solution.

[CADdaddy.com]

After looking at the terms of use on the App Store, it's not clear to me if subscriptions are automatically renewed (debited from your bank account) on purchases from the app store.  Does anyone know?

If not automatically renewed, I can relax if an app subscription is lost or forgotten.