Software Licensing

The hottest topic in the tech industry is the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) – the idea that nearly every object and device will be connected via high speed networks in the not too distant future. These connected things will produce valuable information which will enable companies to better understand how their products and services are being used so they can better serve their customers, and be in a better position to gain a competitive advantage.

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As part of my family’s annual exercise, I’ve spent the last couple of weekends doing some spring cleaning. As I remove loads and loads of accumulated junk at home, I cannot but wish I had stayed lean and had to manage less. This is a sentiment I’m sure most IT managers echo when they look at their portfolio. Cloud and subscription however, are changing that. Let us examine the effects of going to cloud licensing in the context of spring cleaning: staying lean, nimble and flexible.

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SafeNet Inc. announced on Tuesday an enhanced version of its signature Sentinel LDK product. Sentinel LDK is a software monetization solution that provides hardware-, software-, and cloud-based license delivery, intellectual property (IP) protection, and license management from a single, cloud-based platform. Sentinel LDK gives vendors the flexibility to meet the specific licensing demands of each of their customer groups regardless of their preferred delivery model.

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A few years back, I found myself with a few colleagues in a bar in Amsterdam having a conversation around the merits of online consumption of music. We were converging to a common view point as to why anyone would want to pay 99 cents for downloading a single song when you could buy the entire DVD in any retail store complete with jewel box and lyrics for $10-15.  Besides, you can always upload songs from CD to the electronic devices; this sounded like the better option to us, a win-win. Proud of our intelligent conclusion over a beer, we were soon up for a rude awakening when the person sitting next to us declared that we are nothing but a bunch of old fellas who don’t know what is going on in the new world.

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Anyone that has been involved with software license enforcement over the last 20 years will almost certainly have heard of floating licenses. The concept of a centralized license manager serving licenses out to waiting applications on a first come first served basis is pretty well known and understood. But as soon as you start thinking about that deployment model, you will probably start thinking about failure: failure of the license manager, failure of the network, failure of the software. When you have license manager providing centralized license control, you have a single point of installation, a single point of administration and a single point of failure. One crash, and hundreds, maybe even thousands of innocent workstations can’t get a license anymore. Work grinds to a halt. It sounds serious, right? Yet this is one of the most commonly ignored gremlins in software licensing.

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One of the most common questions that I come across when meeting with software providers from around the world is “How can we make the transition from being an on-premise software vendor to a cloud software provider?”

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Cloud is changing the way Software Publishers (ISVs) are monetizing their offerings. An increasing amount of workload is now moving from on-premise to cloud. This transition is driven by two factors: what customers and/or competition are dictating, and the need for ISVs to expand their reach to new segments. As a result, more and more ISVs are making the inevitable move to cloud.

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When implementing business solutions using commercial or third-party solutions, what’s the best software delivery option? Should you look for a solution managed by the application provider? Or do you buy a license and implement it in-house, using your own staff to implement, install, and manage the solution? Of course, the answer is “it depends”. In order to determine what would work best for you, the first step is assessing the options against your priorities as a business. Here are some considerations:

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Software consumption is continually changing. Users expect an evolving hyper-connected solution while their consumption needs demand licensing flexibility. As a result, providers need to offer scalable and flexible solutions now more than ever.

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Running Monetization? Let me explain.

My professional life is focused on software monetization; providing software companies with solutions to further monetize on their software offering. In my personal life, my hobby is running. I’m the traditional ISV of running. I started in primary school when I realized that I was born with a Unique Selling Proposition: endurance. While others would collapse on the sidewalk trying to release a side cramp, I just endured and came first. Read More