Software vendor Autodesk is to move distribution of its computer aided design (CAD) system to the cloud.

After July 31, 2016, new commercial licenses of Autodesk Design and Creation suites and individual products will be available by subscription only. The transition allows the vendor to offer new, simplified subscription options to customers, who can get multiple products and share licenses with the added benefit of flexibility, it said.

Along with a simpler customer experience, Autodesk promised its new subscription model will offer lower upfront costs and a pay per use option on Autodesk products and cloud services with multi-year, annual, quarterly or monthly subscription terms. The new model makes companies more adaptable and makes changing business environments less expensive, according to Autodesk.

“The way we design and make things is changing. Every industry is being disrupted by changes in production, demand and products,” said Andrew Anagnost, Autodesk’s senior VP of Industry Strategy and Marketing.

By giving customers the flexibility to subscribe to software Autodesk is “embracing this new norm”, said Anagnost.

Autodesk announced in March 2015 that will stop selling perpetual licenses of most of its individual products after January 31, 2016, after which new licenses will only be available as subscriptions. Now the exceptions to that announcement, Autodesk’s Design & Creation Suites, are included in its subscription-based strategy.

Autodesk said it aimed to “pave the way for a smooth transition” with a choice of simplified subscription plans tailored to individuals, teams and enterprises. Customers can buy subscription plans to gain access to individual products or a portfolio of products with the option of single user licensing or shared network licensing.

Those who buy a perpetual license of Autodesk Design & Creation Suites and affected products prior to July 31 2016 will continue to own and have full usage rights for those licenses. Customers on the Maintenance scheme for those perpetual licenses will continue to receive corresponding benefits for as long as they continue to renew their Maintenance subscription.

Autodesk has published a list of changes for Perpetual Licenses for both individual desktop software and design and creation suites affected by the cut off deadlines. A number of country specific variations is also published on the site.