Acresso has started a new special offer for InstallShield and InstallAnywhere for October, and the AdminStudio offer also runs through Oct 30. Below is a summary of the current offers, and also some information about the price increase that was announced for November 1, 2008.
InstallShield and InstallAnywhere offer 
"No-Cost Upgrade: Get the latest InstallShield or InstallAnywhere at no charge" is the subject line of an e-mailing that Acresso is currently sending to customers. While I find this slightly exaggerated :) you can still save a significant amount of money using this offer. And by the way: you can use it even if you didn't receive the e-mail. Here is how it works:
You order*: Bundle Product Upgrade + Silver Maintenance
You pay: Silver Maintenance only (which is less than a single upgrade)
You get: Upgrade to the current version + free product upgrades for the next 12 months + unlimited phone and web support for 12 months
This offer is valid for supported as well as end-of-life versions of InstallShield and InstallAnywhere (but you can't switch to a higher edition, for example from Professional to Premier).
*special promotion code required, contact your reseller for details
Example 1: Upgrade from InstallShield 11 Professional
Suppose you have InstallShield 11 Professional, which is a currently supported version (support for this version will end December 31, 2008, but that's another story) and want to upgrade to InstallShield 2009 Professional.
| Regular upgrade price (without maintenance) | 799 € |
| Regular price for upgrade + silver maintenance | 1,519 € |
| Special offer price for upgrade + silver maintenance | 709 € |
So you pay less than the regular upgrade price but also get a silver maintenance plan, which includes upgrades and support for one year.
Example 2: Upgrade from InstallShield 10.5 Professional
Suppose you have InstallShield 10.5 Professional, which is no longer supported (so you cannot upgrade but would have to buy the full product) and want to upgrade to InstallShield 2009 Professional.
| Regular full product price (without maintenance) | 1,609 € |
| Regular price for full product + silver maintenance | 2,229 € |
| Special offer price for upgrade + silver maintenance | 709 € |
This offer is valid through October 31, 2008. The prices used in the above examples are the list prices valid in October 2008. See below for the price increase announced for November.
AdminStudio offer
When upgrading from a supported version of AdminStudio (version 7.0 or higher) to AdminStudio 9 you can get 10% off the upgrade price. Owners of end-of-life versions (AdminStudio 6 or older) can get 30% off the price of the full version. Don't be confused: owners of a current version get 10% discount in addition to the regular upgrade discount, owners of end-of-life versions get 30% off the price of the full product (not off the upgrade price). This offer is valid through October 31, 2008.
InstallShield Multiplatform and Universal offer
Users of InstallShield Multiplatform or the Universal project type in InstallShield to create cross-platform installations can migrate to InstallAnywhere with 30%-50% off the software price and a 15% discount for consulting and training. This offer is valid through December 19, 2008.
InstallShield and InstallAnywhere price increase effective Nov 1
Acresso announced that the prices for InstallShield and InstallAnywhere will be significantly increased effective November 1, 2008. I don't have a full price list but from what I've seen so far:
- Prices for full products will go up 10%-20%
- Prices for upgrades will go up 50%-70%, in some cases they will even double
- Prices for maintenance will not change (except InstallShield Premier Silver Maintenance which will go up 10%)
Note that these are only ballpark numbers and subject to change.
Call to action
If you have an end-of-life version (InstallShield 10.5 or older, or InstallAnywhere 6 or older, or AdminStudio 6 or older) you can get the latest version at a relatively low price through October 31.
If you have a supported version of InstallShield (versions 11 - 2008) or InstallAnywhere (versions 7 - 2008 without VP1) you can lock in the pricing for one year by taking advantage of the upgrade + maintenance bundle offers. Note that InstallAnywhere 2008 was released about a year ago, so I'd expect a new version in the near future - which you would get free of charge as a benefit of your maintenance plan.
This article is only a broad overview. Please contact your reseller to find out if/how you can benefit from these offers and which promo code to use.
These products and special offers are also available from InstallSite.