A new CAD/RMS system represents a significant financial commitment. While most agencies just buy the system outright, some prefer to spread the cost over time. This can be done several ways:
- Straight Lease. You lease the software for a specified term. At the end of the term you either renew the lease or stop using the software.
- Software as a Service (SAAS). This model, invented by the software industry in this century, is essentially just another word for lease or rent, although the initial term may be shorter than the typical lease. Like a lease, at the end of the term you either renew or cease using the software.
- Lease-Purchase. This is the plan we offer. With it, you finance the purchase of the system over a given number of years, but like a lease (and unlike a typical financed purchase) you may retain some agreed upon right to escape the lease before the lease ends. Unlike the straight lease and SAAS models, at the end of the term you own the licenses to the software and may continue to use the software as long as you like. We currently offer three or five-year lease options.
All three of these plans include support and updates during their term. Sun Ridge’s plan certainly does. With our plan at the end of the term you begin a support & updates contract that will cost much less than your lease payment.
The net result is that during the first five or seven years (as an example) of the initial term, the costs for the three plans will be roughly comparable, but subsequently the lease-purchase quickly becomes a much better deal. Also, in any of these models, be careful that they do not include a large upfront payment along with the first year payment as is common in the auto industry. In one recent software-as-a-service agreement of another vendor that upfront payment was more than $1,000,000. Our upfront payment is $0.
