Previous Version – Must Read

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Synergis Product Support Manager, Darin Green
We are getting a lot of questions about previous version requests. So we wanted to make sure you have the necessary information on how to use past versions of Autodesk software.
Previous version licenses are granted to customers who have an active subscription. What does that mean?
Under your subscription agreement with Autodesk you have rights to the current version and three previous versions (2016, 2015, 2014, 2013).
However, let’s say your company needs to use a 2007 version, you can request a previous version license along with an important exception.
What is an important exception? An important exception is a legal agreement documenting the time frame for moving your staff up to a supported version. 
Once the agreement is signed, Autodesk will grant you access to continue use the previous version (in this case 2007) for, let’s say, 10 months. In 10 months, the license will expire and you should have everyone on the current version or within three versions behind. If you did not perform the upgrade for any reason, you will need to place another request, but this request will be flagged, due to the previous version important exception agreement.
What happens if your request is flagged? It will take Autodesk longer to approve the request which means you may have people sitting around not working until another agreement is approved. Autodesk nor the reseller can be held responsible for lost revenue due to downtime. Autodesk will need to know the reason you did not upgrade your software, and when you are a granted the previous version (in this case 2007) will be for a shorter time period than before.
Again, as a subscription customer you are entitled to your current version as well as previous versions (three years back), but lets consider the following situations:
Situation A:
Company A has been an active subscription customer since 2007 with 20 licenses of AutoCAD. In 2015, Company A purchased an additional 10 licenses of AutoCAD, giving them a total 30 licenses of AutoCAD. Company A put in a previous version, important exception request to use their 2007 version. How many licenses will Autodesk provide a previous version, important exception for?
Answer: 20 AutoCAD Licenses
Explanation: During the 2007 release, Company A only had 20 licenses.
Situation B:
Every year, Company B requests previous version licenses. Company B owns 30 current licenses on an active subscription. When their previous version request is granted they have a total of 60 licenses. What happens when Company B activates the 31st licenses?
Answer: It becomes a license compliance issue because Company B is using too many licenses.
Explanation: Autodesk licensing terms do not change because you are using previous versions. You can only use up to the amount of licenses current on subscription regardless of the previous version licenses mixed with current version licenses.
If you have a network (multi-user) license you should include an options file to restrict unauthorized access. With standalone licenses, you should only have the necessary version installed on the user’s machine.
For information on previous version rights visit the Autodesk Knowledge Network