On February 27, 2015, Adobe will be discontinuing Adobe Creative Suite under its volume licensing programs. This means that Creative Cloud will be the exclusive source for the latest versions of Adobe’s creative apps and services for faculty, staff, and students. We recently visited with our Adobe account manager and discussed some of the details. Below are the key findings for faculty and staff needing to purchase Adobe Products.
Adobe will no longer update Creative Suite (CS6) products. Adobe Creative Cloud will be Adobe’s platform of the future. Once installed, the Creative Cloud products will run offline, meaning without network connectivity. However, when connected to the Internet, Creative Cloud products will provide additional services, such as cloud storage. Adobe will support a limited number of stand-alone products, including Acrobat Pro, Contribute, Photoshop Elements, and Premiere Elements.
Adobe Creative Cloud licensing must be renewed annually. Unlike the Creative Suite (CS6) products, Adobe Creative Cloud licensing requires an annual renewal to continue use.
Departments should purchase Adobe Creative Cloud licenses through the Faculty Technology Development Center (FTDC). FTDC is working with our vendor reseller to negotiate the best volume licensing for our faculty and staff. Creative Cloud products purchased through the FTDC will be pro-rated based on a July 1 renewal date. As in the past, departments can continue to purchase stand-alone Adobe products like Acrobat Pro, Contribute, Photoshop Elements, and Premiere Elements through the FTDC. At this time, it is only the CS6 products that have moved to the Creative Cloud annual licensing model. To generate interest, Adobe is offering temporary, promotional pricing on their Creative Cloud offerings, but we want departments to be aware of the annual costs going forward.
Faculty and students who wish to make a personal purchase of Adobe’s products, must do so directly from Adobe’s web site.
A campus site license has been discussed with Adobe. Along with other vendors, Adobe has contacted us multiple times to discuss a campus site license. At this time, we have chosen the best Adobe licensing option for UM based on our utilization and available funds. For more details, please contact Jimmy Ball.
If you have additional questions, please contact the FTDC at ftdc@olemiss.edu or 662-915-7918.
Tags: Adobe, Adobe Creative Suite, Software