Trimble Business Center and Trimble Connect licensing covers two Trimble products that are often bought together. Trimble Business Center (TBC) is desktop office software for processing survey, GNSS, total station, point cloud, aerial and mobile mapping data into CAD and construction deliverables.[1] Trimble Connect is Trimble’s cloud collaboration platform for construction and engineering project data.[8] Both fall under the Trimble Offering Terms and Supplemental Terms for Software.[7] TBC is unusual among Trimble’s large products: its documentation still covers perpetual licences alongside subscriptions.[2]
Editions
Trimble Business Center subscriptions
There are “seven subscription editions or plans to choose from”: three core plans, described as good, better and best, and “four specialty plans focused on vertical applications”.[1]
| Plan type | Plans |
|---|---|
| Core | Starter; Site + Field; Survey + Mapping |
| Specialty | Enterprise; Aerial Survey; Construction; Mobile Mapping |
| Optional regional modules | ANZ Toolbox; Japan i-Construction; Japan Crack Detection (the Japan modules are sold only in Japan) |
Each subscription edition includes a Trimble Clarity Starter (five project) subscription and a Trimble Connect Business subscription.[1] Since TBC 5.80 (October 2022), the Mobile Mapping subscription lets users post-process SBET trajectories without a separate Applanix POSPac MMS licence.[1] See TBC subscription plans. Catalog proof: TBC subscriptions include Trimble Clarity Starter and Trimble Connect Business.
Trimble Business Center perpetual licences
Perpetual TBC licences “are designed around editions” with additional modules. They are managed with Sentinel HASP licensing in two main forms, software and hardware keys.[5] Distributors configure a Key ID with the edition, modules and Trimble Protection Plans in the Virtual Warehouse and generate the product key that activates it.[6] See TBC perpetual license.
Trimble Connect
| Plan | Description (Trimble Connect plans page) | USD MSRP |
|---|---|---|
| Business | Unlimited projects, collaborators and project data; task management, clash detection and BIM coordination; Web, Windows and Mobile | 12.99 per user per month |
| Business Premium | Business plus advanced BIM tools, Connect Workflow Extensions and specialised desktop and field applications | 23.95 per user per month |
Trimble Connect “is available as a monthly or annual subscription and can be purchased for teams of any size”. Prices vary by region and currency.[8] It is also bundled with other products. TBC subscriptions include Connect Business.[1] The Tekla Structures Named User licence includes Connect Business Premium.[10] SketchUp subscriptions include unlimited Trimble Connect cloud storage, while free plans have 10 GB.[11]
Metrics
TBC licensing schemes. TBC supports:[2]
- a perpetual single-user licence on a HASP hardware key (USB dongle);
- a perpetual single- or multi-user licence on a HASP software key, installed on a computer for single-user or on the network for multi-user;
- a “Subscription license using a timed single- or multi-user subscription (requires logging in with your Trimble Identification (TID))”.
Without a licence, “the software allows you to import and view data only”. On start-up, TBC’s Perpetual - Automatic search looks for a hardware key first, then a checked-out network seat, then a network key.[2] Catalog proof: TBC licensing: HASP dongle, HASP software or network key, or Trimble ID subscription.
Multi-user seats. With a Sentinel HASP network key, “Users can use the license on an as-needed basis, up to the limit of concurrent users (seats) allowed by the license.”[4] See TBC multi-user license seat. Dongle licences provide “a single-seat license to the local workstation PC”.[5]
Trimble Connect users. Connect is priced per user. Invited collaborators do not need a paid licence: “When a Business or Business Premium license owner invites external team members or stakeholders to a project, those collaborators can view, mark up and interact with project data.”[8] Catalog proof: Trimble Connect: invited collaborators need no paid licence.
Counting / floors
Check-out. Administrators can allow detachable seats from a network key, reserve a number or percentage of seats for office use, and set a maximum detach duration. However, “Your software limits the user’s license duration request to a maximum of 30 days.”[4] Subscription licences can also be checked out “(up to 30 days)” for offline use.[2] Catalog proof: TBC check-out limited to 30 days.
Warranty date gate. The latest TBC version is available to active subscribers and to “Perpetual license users whose current warranty expiration date matches the warranty date specified for that software version”. If the warranty has expired before that date, “licensed features will not be available” in the newer version. Distributors sell warranty extensions.[3] A perpetual TBC entitlement is therefore effectively capped at the last version released within its warranty. See TBC warranty / Protection Plan. Catalog proof: TBC versions released after the warranty date run without licensed features.
Trimble Connect fair use. Trimble Connect is for legitimate business use such as construction and engineering project files. Using it “as a general cloud backup or personal media archive is strictly prohibited”. If storage or processing “significantly exceed typical usage patterns”, Trimble may temporarily limit or suspend access.[7] Catalog proof: Trimble Connect: no general backup use; heavy use may be limited.
Virtualization & partitioning
The Offering Terms bar virtual-server use of Licensed Software unless it is expressly permitted.[9] For TBC the Supplemental Terms give that permission: “Customer may use the Offering in a virtual server environment provided that Customer does not virtualize any license server component of the Offering.”[7] TBC’s technical help says the Sentinel HASP network key can be installed “on a virtual computer as long as the virtual computer is on the same network as users’ computers”.[4] The help and the contract therefore point in different directions. Under the Offering Terms the Order and Supplemental Terms take precedence, so a customer relying on a virtualized license server should get written confirmation from Trimble. This is commentary, not contract text. Catalog proof: Trimble Business Center may run on a virtual server if the license server is not virtualized; Licensed Software may not be hosted in a virtual server environment unless expressly permitted.
Cloud / BYOL
Trimble Connect is SaaS. Under the Offering Terms, the customer has no access to Customer Data after the Subscription Term ends unless the Order or documentation says otherwise.[9] TBC is installed desktop software. Its subscriptions are validated against the user’s Trimble ID and can be checked out for offline use.[2]
Programs
- Subscription and renewal. TBC and Connect subscriptions follow the Offering Terms: they renew for the same duration unless 30 days’ notice is given, at then-current rates.[9]
- TBC warranty / Protection Plan. Distributors add or extend Trimble Protection Plan coverage on the customer’s Key ID in the Virtual Warehouse, which feeds the My Trimble Protected system.[6]
Out of scope
- Trimble RealWorks, Trimble Perspective and field software (Trimble Access, Siteworks), apart from shared HASP mechanics.
- Trimble Clarity, beyond its inclusion in TBC subscriptions.
- Prices for TBC, which are set by Geospatial Distribution Partners.