Autodesk gives some clients free software access during downturn

[SAN FRANCISCO] Autodesk Inc, a maker of industrial design software, has let many customers use applications for free during the Covid-19 pandemic, which Chief Executive Officer Andrew Anagnost said is likely to hurt the company's results.

Through various programmes, clients such as construction companies and architects facing a cash crunch are eligible to use Autodesk software without payment for 90 days, Mr Anagnost said.

"If you don't collect the cash, you don't recognize the revenue, all right?" he said. "So it's going to have some impact on the full-year results of our business. We don't know exactly what yet."

Autodesk is expected to report earnings next month. The software maker projected revenue of as much as US$4 billion this fiscal year, but gave that forecast in February, before the coronavirus pandemic spurred stay-at-home orders that have sent the US economy reeling.

Makers of cloud-computing software have demonstrated varying levels of generosity to customers struggling through the economic downturn. Some clients of Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc's Google have complained that the public cloud providers aren't giving breaks on their hefty bills. Amazon Web Services has since reached out to customers to assuage their concerns.

Mr Anagnost said that helping clients would benefit the company in the long-term. An Autodesk product that lets customers collaborate on 3-D designs has seen a 350 per cent jump in use to start projects. Clients that had been using the company's software on their own servers have transitioned to using cloud-based tools accessed over the internet, for free in some cases.

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To mitigate the effects of reduced sales activity, the San Rafael, California-based company has provided financing and upfront payments to partners and resellers that distribute its software, including CDW Corp, Applied Software Inc. and Imaginit Technologies.

Autodesk's stock has gained each year for the past eight years, jumping about sixfold from the beginning of 2012 through the end of 2019. The shares have declined 1.7 per cent this year to US$180.35 at Friday's close in New York.

Mr Anagnost said he has no plans to cut any of Autodesk's 10,100 employees and has sought to hire additional workers and invest more in the company. He hasn't officially signed on to the no-layoff pledge popularized by Salesforce.com Inc. CEO Marc Benioff because he said if an economic downturn lasted 18 months, he'd have to reconsider his stance.

Right now, Mr Anagnost is telling employees to take care of what's most important during the crisis.

"We're stuck on an Alpine snow hike," Mr Anagnost said. "There's a storm raging. We're above 10,000 feet. Right now, we've all got to worry about food, shelter and keeping our heads clear so that when the storm clears, we can move rapidly below 10,000 feet and get ourselves out of danger."

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