Comparing Perpetual and Subscription ECI Options

The Enrollment for Core Infrastructure (ECI) offers both perpetual- and subscription-based licensing contracts, which differ in pricing, compliance, and commitment. The cumulative cost of a traditional ECI contract, which offers perpetual licenses, is usually higher than an ECI Subscription for the first six years (two successive three-year contracts). However, customers who want rights to run the software indefinitely will probably choose the ECI rather than ECI Subscription, because a license buy-out at the end of the ECI Subscription is required to receive perpetual licenses and makes the ECI Subscription more expensive than the alternative. The ECI makes purchasing and license compliance easier by allowing customers to count and pay for new software installs just once a year, near the contract anniversary date, a process called a True-Up. The ECI Subscription, however, requires customers to start paying when the software is installed, but any license overage can be adjusted by reducing counts at the anniversary date to reflect installs at that time, sometimes called a True-Down.