I have always talked about how important it is for software vendors to include technology with their solutions to help manage their licensing policies. This can be anything from outright enforcement and anti-piracy measures to tools to measure and monitor compliance with license agreements. The great thing about putting this kind of technology in to a software solution is that it eliminates doubt, misunderstanding and audit.

Today,  there is a wide array of technical solutions that allow software vendors to implement a licensing solution that removes ambiguity and allows flexibility, seemingly solving the primary issues for both the vendor and the customer in a licensing relationship. Companies like mine provide solutions that do that in pretty much every software delivery mode – i.e. online, packaged and embedded. The internet provides additional opportunities to ISVs and their customers, not only for the delivery of the license, but also now for maintaining, measuring, updating, and publishing compliance to both parties. This allows for an entirely open relationship and one that can virtually eliminate the issues faced between vendors and their customers.

I recently discussed this issue with Pam Baker at CIO Update. They published an article recently, and I think it is an interesting read. Here is the first paragraph so you can decide if you want to go on and read the whole thing:

“Because of the continuous ebb and flow of business today, software licensing is just one of those things in IT that never seems to get under control. Cloud, outsourcing, the comings and goings of employees leaves IT managers in an expensive bind when it comes time to pony up and pay the tab for overages they didn’t know they even had.”

You can find the full article here: http://www.cioupdate.com/financial-strategies/how-to-stop-runaway-licensing-costs.html

Chris