If you are reading this, you have most probably heard the news that with the next version of ORF, we are moving to a subscription-based licensing model. For those of you who have been following the evolution of the software business this probably does not come as a surprise but it is important for us that everyone understands why we made this decision.

Why are we doing this?

Ever since ORF’s inception we have been committed to ship the best value software in the whole anti-spam market. Based on the responses, we have been able to achieve this year after year. However, with the software world increasingly moving to a software-as-a-service model, and with that lowering the prices almost across the board, it is becoming more and more difficult for us to deliver on that promise.

What do we expect from this change?

Our intent with this move is to make ORF…

• Accessible to a wider range of businesses as there would be no need to pay a large sum of money upfront and the subscription fee could be treated as an operational expense. This would lower the barrier to entry significantly making ORF available for businesses that previously could not afford it.
• Competitive as we would not be forced to group up large set of features anymore in order to make a compelling update and risk losing existing clients due to the lengthy development times. Instead we could experiment and release features earlier and more often.
• Sustainable as the recurring payments would allow us to plan for the future and keep the lights on for the years to come.

What will happen to active maintenance plans?

Your ORF Fusion SMA will be converted to a subscription plan, retaining the expiration date* and the number of licensed users. If you have an active ORF Fusion for SBS SMA, you will receive a subscription for 25 users – the Fusion for SBS product line will be retired**.

* Early subscribers and those who have an active SMA will get a 3-month extension to their subscription automatically.

** ORF Fusion 6 will support Microsoft Small Business Servers as well. 

When will this happen?

The changes will take effect with the launch of ORF 6 (end of April, 2019).

My SMA has expired, can I still renew it?

Yes, you can still renew your Software Maintenance Agreement before ORF 6 is released. After that, only subscriptions will be offered.

I have purchased my ORF license just recently, do I receive a compensation?

If you have purchased ORF in the past couple of months, we will extend your subscription for no additional fee, based on the date of your purchase and the price you paid for the licenses. Our customer service will help you with this.

How much will subscriptions cost?

ORF will still be licensed per person and the way we define a user will remain the same: an actual person benefiting from ORF filtered emails. The per-user subscription price tiers will match the current SMA prices.

Will you offer monthly subscriptions?

Initially, only annual subscription plans will be available.

What happens when my subscription expires?

ORF will keep monitoring your email traffic and record what it would have done but it will not actually carry out the filtering actions.

Will educational/non-profit discounts still be available?

Yes, discounts will still be available for educational/academic institutions and non-profit organizations. Please contact us with your proof of educational/non-profit status to see if you qualify.

Can I continue using the old (non-subscription) versions of ORF?

Yes, without any limitation. In addition, you will still be able to download the ORF installers that you currently have access to from the Client Portal.

Do I have to do anything?

Nope. If you have an active SMA, you will receive an email with your license key that can be used to activate your ORF subscription on the day when these changes go live.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or you have any feedback that you would like to share with us, feel free to leave a comment below or contact us at cs@vamsoft.com.