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Creative Suite cloud lurch crushes beret-wearers' cost-slash bid

No more skipping a generation of Photoshop, cheapskates

Adobe's decision to murder boxed software and punt the Creative Suite exclusively into the cloud didn't catch channel partners unaware - but it may just unsettle their arty clients.

So say folk in Adobe's UK partner base who are digesting the "bold" move confirmed earlier this week that will see the Creative Suite apps available on subscription for around £46.88 per month.

"The world is changing and Adobe has made an enormous shift," said one partner who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It's certainly a direction we've been preparing for".

The cloud world is a lot less exciting for reseller sales peeps - the commission moves from being one large chunky deal to a series of smaller monthly cheques based on the annuity, our man said.

And channel partners are also having to contend with Adobe's direct sales in the enterprise space. Those partners can't fight the march toward SaaS, but reckon Adobe's swift move could open the door for rivals.

"Most clients buy Creative Suite and skip a generation to save costs. Now that they can't do that it may well turn off some people," said one source at an accredited Adobe reseller.

Shifting Creative Suite to the cloud only is a "brave and bold move but it isn't what customers would necessarily choose", agreed another.

The cloud-only strategy will provide some guarantee of revenues for Adobe, but not all channel partners The Channel contacted expressed concerns.

Warren Peel, managing director at Adobe Platinum partner and IT infrastructure provider Trams, welcomed the move as "inevitable".

"It is the modern way of distributing software. Not many people rate buying boxed software because it is clumsy," he claimed. "This is an easier way of helping us manage customers' licensing".

Adobe said it will get back to us, and we'll update when their response arrives. ®

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