- Developing a homegrown software licensing solution involves significant upfront costs including planning and initial development that requires years of resources.
- Maintaining and updating the system to adapt to changing market needs also demands ongoing dedication of developers.
- Software protection is a critical part of licensing but requires accounting for a wide range of customers and recurring costs to constantly update against new threats. Developing these protections in-house makes the solution more complex and costly.
Salmon's presentation given at a half-day advisory seminar and networking session designed for Rackspace eCommerce clients and prospects, eCommerce software partners and web design partners.
Reducing Total Cost of Ownership for Database and Developer Software | Govern...Embarcadero Technologies
Embarcadero All-Access is a powerful solution that not only reduces Total Cost of Ownership for Database and Developer Softwaretransforms the way organization buy tools, but also can easily reduce upfront costs by up to 43% and three-year TCO by 46%.
Embarcadero All-Access is a powerful solution that not only reduces Total Cost of Ownership for Database and Developer Softwaretransforms the way organization buy tools, but also can easily reduce upfront costs by up to 43% and three-year TCO by 46%.
Reducing Total Cost of Ownership for Database and Developer SoftwareMichael Findling
Embarcadero All-Access is a powerful solution that not only reduces Total Cost of Ownership for Database and Developer Softwaretransforms the way organization buy tools, but also can easily reduce upfront costs by up to 43% and three-year TCO by 46%.
Cloud computing is a general concept that incorporates software as a service(SaaS), web2.0 and other recent well-know technology trends in which the common theme is satisfying the increasing computing needs of the users while reducing costs.
There is a move towards purchasing software as a service (SaaS) rather than buying and hosting the application internally. Industry researcher International Data Corp. says that the worldwide sales of public IT Cloud services will reach $55.5 billion in 2014, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.4%. But for independent software vendors (ISVs) who built their business around the traditional model of selling licenses and maintenance agreements, moving to SaaS involves drastic changes in every aspects ranging from their business model, sales and marketing strategies, development methods and their own IT requirements.
This Handbook explains the importance of Cloud and how the market is moving towards delivering software as a service. The market trends and predictions explains the need for the ISVs to transform from software developers to services providers. This move will provide them with tremendous benefits and will keep them competitive. To meet the transformational challenges, the ISVs are required to unlearn some beliefs and learn new ones.
- Lenovo's ThinkVantage tools provide IT managers with opportunities to save time, reduce costs, improve security and deliver a better experience across the entire PC lifecycle from deployment to disposal.
- Customers report significant dollar savings through improved efficiency and reduced need for additional resources due to tools like Image Ultra Builder and Systems Migration Assistant.
- ThinkVantage offers a unique integrated hardware and software PC management solution that covers the entire lifecycle, helping improve productivity and user satisfaction.
This document discusses CommonTime's mDesign solution for independent software vendors (ISVs) to develop and deploy mobile applications. mDesign allows ISVs to quickly create cross-platform enterprise mobile applications at a lower cost than native development. It features templates for common business processes and integration capabilities. mDesign gives ISVs a competitive advantage by reducing development costs and time to market while allowing them to deliver complex, customized mobile solutions.
Salmon's presentation given at a half-day advisory seminar and networking session designed for Rackspace eCommerce clients and prospects, eCommerce software partners and web design partners.
Reducing Total Cost of Ownership for Database and Developer Software | Govern...Embarcadero Technologies
Embarcadero All-Access is a powerful solution that not only reduces Total Cost of Ownership for Database and Developer Softwaretransforms the way organization buy tools, but also can easily reduce upfront costs by up to 43% and three-year TCO by 46%.
Embarcadero All-Access is a powerful solution that not only reduces Total Cost of Ownership for Database and Developer Softwaretransforms the way organization buy tools, but also can easily reduce upfront costs by up to 43% and three-year TCO by 46%.
Reducing Total Cost of Ownership for Database and Developer SoftwareMichael Findling
Embarcadero All-Access is a powerful solution that not only reduces Total Cost of Ownership for Database and Developer Softwaretransforms the way organization buy tools, but also can easily reduce upfront costs by up to 43% and three-year TCO by 46%.
Cloud computing is a general concept that incorporates software as a service(SaaS), web2.0 and other recent well-know technology trends in which the common theme is satisfying the increasing computing needs of the users while reducing costs.
There is a move towards purchasing software as a service (SaaS) rather than buying and hosting the application internally. Industry researcher International Data Corp. says that the worldwide sales of public IT Cloud services will reach $55.5 billion in 2014, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.4%. But for independent software vendors (ISVs) who built their business around the traditional model of selling licenses and maintenance agreements, moving to SaaS involves drastic changes in every aspects ranging from their business model, sales and marketing strategies, development methods and their own IT requirements.
This Handbook explains the importance of Cloud and how the market is moving towards delivering software as a service. The market trends and predictions explains the need for the ISVs to transform from software developers to services providers. This move will provide them with tremendous benefits and will keep them competitive. To meet the transformational challenges, the ISVs are required to unlearn some beliefs and learn new ones.
- Lenovo's ThinkVantage tools provide IT managers with opportunities to save time, reduce costs, improve security and deliver a better experience across the entire PC lifecycle from deployment to disposal.
- Customers report significant dollar savings through improved efficiency and reduced need for additional resources due to tools like Image Ultra Builder and Systems Migration Assistant.
- ThinkVantage offers a unique integrated hardware and software PC management solution that covers the entire lifecycle, helping improve productivity and user satisfaction.
This document discusses CommonTime's mDesign solution for independent software vendors (ISVs) to develop and deploy mobile applications. mDesign allows ISVs to quickly create cross-platform enterprise mobile applications at a lower cost than native development. It features templates for common business processes and integration capabilities. mDesign gives ISVs a competitive advantage by reducing development costs and time to market while allowing them to deliver complex, customized mobile solutions.
One XP Experience: Introducing Agile (XP) Software Development into a Culture...David Leip
The document discusses introducing agile (XP) software development practices into a large corporate environment that traditionally used waterfall methodologies. It describes training the multidisciplinary team, which includes programmers, information architects, visual designers, and others. While the developers were willing to try XP, integrating it posed challenges due to the diverse skills, distributed teams, and need for close collaboration. The initial experience found it difficult to identify a clear "customer" representative, and some XP practices like test-first development did not transfer naturally to all disciplines. Overall, the experience highlighted interactions between organizational culture, agile methodology, and the need for changes on both fronts to fully realize the benefits of an agile approach.
The traditional contract for software development based on the waterfall model is flawed in several key ways:
1. Fixed requirements specified upfront are unrealistic and limit flexibility to adapt to changes.
2. Customers struggle to fully articulate their needs through requirements documents, which are a blunt tool, and developers often cannot understand the requirements.
3. The sequential nature of waterfall prevents early and continuous delivery of working software for customer feedback.
4. Payment is tied to rigid dates and milestones rather than delivery of working software.
5. Waterfall contracts fail to account for the iterative nature of agile software development practices now in widespread use.
Geometric's interoperability solution offers greater efficiencies through Business Process Integration in the product realization value stream, enabling speeding up, our customer's business processes across desperate PLM systems.
Lean supply chain management represents a new approach that emphasizes cooperative supplier relationships through strategic partnerships and alliances. It aims to minimize costs by reducing waste and synchronizing flow throughout the supply network. Early supplier integration, where suppliers are involved in integrated product teams from the beginning of the design process, can lead to architectural innovation and substantial benefits like reduced costs and improved performance.
This article discusses the benefits of proactively managing software assets through software usage metering and optimization. It provides examples from the author's experience of companies implementing these processes and realizing significant cost savings from more efficient software licensing and usage. Proper software asset management allows for cost reductions of 25% or more by aligning purchases with actual usage and identifying unused licenses. It also improves user efficiency and supports regulatory compliance.
The document discusses challenges facing distributed enterprises, including connectivity, security, manageability, and total cost of ownership. It introduces Juniper Networks' Distributed Enterprise Solutions which aim to enable IT services without boundaries across distributed locations. The solutions provide consistent connectivity, security, and management while reducing overall costs.
Time, ease of operations and costs influence business in today's world, and the financial services industry is no exception. Customers in the financial services industry are mature, savvy and technologically better equipped than customers of most other industries. Whether it is the baby boomers, Gen X or Gen Y, the proliferation of the Internet has increased the level of technological awareness and customer expectations. Financial services companies are now embracing multichannel integration (MCI) as a key initiative to acquire, retain and service their customers.
This document discusses concepts related to global sourcing, outsourcing, ASPs, and ERP systems. It defines key terms, explores different types of outsourcing relationships and the determinants of competitive advantage. Porter's five forces model and Moore's business ecosystem concept are examined. The functions and potential benefits of ERP systems are outlined, along with implementation requirements and challenges. Quotes from industry experts provide real-world perspectives on ERP objectives, problems experienced, and advice for others implementing ERP.
Technology Projects. What could possibly go wrongAndrew Lewis
Looks at common types of blockers that can impede technology projects, and how identifying local blockers can be used as a positive tool for focussing and prioritising scoping tasks, to help deliver projects successfully.
Delivered to Museum Computer Network conference, Seattle 2012
Whitepaper: Supplier Collaboration Maturity Index - A Road Map for Evolution ...Manthan
This document discusses supplier collaboration maturity and proposes a four-level index for measuring an organization's maturity: Novice, Veteran, Dormant, and Evolved. It identifies key parameters that impact maturity: visibility, information exchange, automation, and supplier process maturity. The document provides an overview of each maturity level and recommendations for progressing to higher levels through improved processes, technology investments, and supplier collaboration portals.
SCL Aug Sep 2010 Software Development How Agile Are Yoususanatkinson
'Software Development - How Agile are You?' - Article featuring in the August/September 2010 edition of the magazine for the Society for Computers & Law (SCL)
Gartner Research Director Thomas Murphy notes that software quality is often a poor misnomer for the current practice of risk management applied by most companies. Many organizations use risk management to mitigate delivery risk, typically at the expense of application quality. Learn about the importance of focusing on application structural quality to reduce business disruption risk in this Gartner-CAST paper.
Best practices vendor support services partner presentation for panel discussion with Chairs of the TSIA Support Services Partner - Community of Interest (COI). Presented by Andreas Gast - COI Chair, and Vice Chairs from Autodesk, CA, and Cisco
Microsoft's white paper discusses the company's strategy to deliver software and services through a blended model of on-premises and hosted options. It presents the Software + Services approach, which provides customers and partners with richer applications, more choices, and opportunities. The paper examines technology delivery models, corresponding partner business models, and benefits of transforming to a Software + Services model. It provides six case studies of partners that improved their businesses through this transformation.
Service&support as a strategic imperativeCatalina Popa
Leading edge companies regard their support organization as a strategic enabler, empowering support agents and focusing on impacting customer satisfaction. In doing so they are adopting a cross-channel support strategy, which includes remote support technologies. The results are real boosts in customer satisfaction and reduced support costs.
The document discusses how cloud licensing is revolutionizing traditional licensing models. It describes how cloud licensing allows for continuous, usage-based monetization through features like auto-activation and updates from a connected backend. This enables new licensing approaches like post-paid usage billing and harnessing usage data for customer intelligence. The document also discusses hybrid licensing approaches and how Sentinel Cloud Services provides a solution for feature-based provisioning, usage control, and analytics to support flexible cloud licensing.
Feria y Fiestas de Benahadux 2011 San JosédinaBenahadux
La Unión Europea ha propuesto un nuevo paquete de sanciones contra Rusia que incluye un embargo al petróleo. El embargo prohibiría la importación de petróleo ruso a la UE y también prohibiría a los buques europeos transportar petróleo ruso a otros lugares. Sin embargo, Hungría se opone al embargo al petróleo, lo que podría retrasar la aprobación del paquete de sanciones de la UE.
La Unión Europea ha acordado un embargo petrolero contra Rusia en respuesta a la invasión de Ucrania. El embargo prohibirá las importaciones marítimas de petróleo ruso a la UE y pondrá fin a las entregas a través de oleoductos dentro de seis meses. Esta medida forma parte de un sexto paquete de sanciones de la UE destinadas a aumentar la presión económica sobre Moscú y privar al Kremlin de fondos para financiar su guerra.
This document discusses challenges and opportunities for multiculturalism in European cities. It notes two contradictory trends: socio-ethnic polarization and fragmentation versus neo-cosmopolitan exchange and interculturalism. The author argues that cities should work to invent a multicultural citizenship by embracing diversity, promoting cohesion, and ensuring equal rights and participation for all residents regardless of background. Specific policy issues that could support these goals include recognizing diversity, funding community projects, promoting the arts, addressing segregation, enabling local citizenship and conflict resolution.
Bringing to Market a Successful Cloud Service - Knowing When to Partner, When...LicensingLive! - SafeNet
Rick Nucci, Co-founder of Boomi and now CTO at Dell Boomi, discusses what it took to build the Dell Boomi Atomsphere. Rick looks back on lessons learned around pricing, packaging, and operational decisions that are guaranteed to save any SaaS vendor time and money while preventing several headaches along the way. The presentation was prepared for and presented at SafeNet's LicensingLive - Monetizing Software in the Cloud event series in March 2011.
One XP Experience: Introducing Agile (XP) Software Development into a Culture...David Leip
The document discusses introducing agile (XP) software development practices into a large corporate environment that traditionally used waterfall methodologies. It describes training the multidisciplinary team, which includes programmers, information architects, visual designers, and others. While the developers were willing to try XP, integrating it posed challenges due to the diverse skills, distributed teams, and need for close collaboration. The initial experience found it difficult to identify a clear "customer" representative, and some XP practices like test-first development did not transfer naturally to all disciplines. Overall, the experience highlighted interactions between organizational culture, agile methodology, and the need for changes on both fronts to fully realize the benefits of an agile approach.
The traditional contract for software development based on the waterfall model is flawed in several key ways:
1. Fixed requirements specified upfront are unrealistic and limit flexibility to adapt to changes.
2. Customers struggle to fully articulate their needs through requirements documents, which are a blunt tool, and developers often cannot understand the requirements.
3. The sequential nature of waterfall prevents early and continuous delivery of working software for customer feedback.
4. Payment is tied to rigid dates and milestones rather than delivery of working software.
5. Waterfall contracts fail to account for the iterative nature of agile software development practices now in widespread use.
Geometric's interoperability solution offers greater efficiencies through Business Process Integration in the product realization value stream, enabling speeding up, our customer's business processes across desperate PLM systems.
Lean supply chain management represents a new approach that emphasizes cooperative supplier relationships through strategic partnerships and alliances. It aims to minimize costs by reducing waste and synchronizing flow throughout the supply network. Early supplier integration, where suppliers are involved in integrated product teams from the beginning of the design process, can lead to architectural innovation and substantial benefits like reduced costs and improved performance.
This article discusses the benefits of proactively managing software assets through software usage metering and optimization. It provides examples from the author's experience of companies implementing these processes and realizing significant cost savings from more efficient software licensing and usage. Proper software asset management allows for cost reductions of 25% or more by aligning purchases with actual usage and identifying unused licenses. It also improves user efficiency and supports regulatory compliance.
The document discusses challenges facing distributed enterprises, including connectivity, security, manageability, and total cost of ownership. It introduces Juniper Networks' Distributed Enterprise Solutions which aim to enable IT services without boundaries across distributed locations. The solutions provide consistent connectivity, security, and management while reducing overall costs.
Time, ease of operations and costs influence business in today's world, and the financial services industry is no exception. Customers in the financial services industry are mature, savvy and technologically better equipped than customers of most other industries. Whether it is the baby boomers, Gen X or Gen Y, the proliferation of the Internet has increased the level of technological awareness and customer expectations. Financial services companies are now embracing multichannel integration (MCI) as a key initiative to acquire, retain and service their customers.
This document discusses concepts related to global sourcing, outsourcing, ASPs, and ERP systems. It defines key terms, explores different types of outsourcing relationships and the determinants of competitive advantage. Porter's five forces model and Moore's business ecosystem concept are examined. The functions and potential benefits of ERP systems are outlined, along with implementation requirements and challenges. Quotes from industry experts provide real-world perspectives on ERP objectives, problems experienced, and advice for others implementing ERP.
Technology Projects. What could possibly go wrongAndrew Lewis
Looks at common types of blockers that can impede technology projects, and how identifying local blockers can be used as a positive tool for focussing and prioritising scoping tasks, to help deliver projects successfully.
Delivered to Museum Computer Network conference, Seattle 2012
Whitepaper: Supplier Collaboration Maturity Index - A Road Map for Evolution ...Manthan
This document discusses supplier collaboration maturity and proposes a four-level index for measuring an organization's maturity: Novice, Veteran, Dormant, and Evolved. It identifies key parameters that impact maturity: visibility, information exchange, automation, and supplier process maturity. The document provides an overview of each maturity level and recommendations for progressing to higher levels through improved processes, technology investments, and supplier collaboration portals.
SCL Aug Sep 2010 Software Development How Agile Are Yoususanatkinson
'Software Development - How Agile are You?' - Article featuring in the August/September 2010 edition of the magazine for the Society for Computers & Law (SCL)
Gartner Research Director Thomas Murphy notes that software quality is often a poor misnomer for the current practice of risk management applied by most companies. Many organizations use risk management to mitigate delivery risk, typically at the expense of application quality. Learn about the importance of focusing on application structural quality to reduce business disruption risk in this Gartner-CAST paper.
Best practices vendor support services partner presentation for panel discussion with Chairs of the TSIA Support Services Partner - Community of Interest (COI). Presented by Andreas Gast - COI Chair, and Vice Chairs from Autodesk, CA, and Cisco
Microsoft's white paper discusses the company's strategy to deliver software and services through a blended model of on-premises and hosted options. It presents the Software + Services approach, which provides customers and partners with richer applications, more choices, and opportunities. The paper examines technology delivery models, corresponding partner business models, and benefits of transforming to a Software + Services model. It provides six case studies of partners that improved their businesses through this transformation.
Service&support as a strategic imperativeCatalina Popa
Leading edge companies regard their support organization as a strategic enabler, empowering support agents and focusing on impacting customer satisfaction. In doing so they are adopting a cross-channel support strategy, which includes remote support technologies. The results are real boosts in customer satisfaction and reduced support costs.
The document discusses how cloud licensing is revolutionizing traditional licensing models. It describes how cloud licensing allows for continuous, usage-based monetization through features like auto-activation and updates from a connected backend. This enables new licensing approaches like post-paid usage billing and harnessing usage data for customer intelligence. The document also discusses hybrid licensing approaches and how Sentinel Cloud Services provides a solution for feature-based provisioning, usage control, and analytics to support flexible cloud licensing.
Feria y Fiestas de Benahadux 2011 San JosédinaBenahadux
La Unión Europea ha propuesto un nuevo paquete de sanciones contra Rusia que incluye un embargo al petróleo. El embargo prohibiría la importación de petróleo ruso a la UE y también prohibiría a los buques europeos transportar petróleo ruso a otros lugares. Sin embargo, Hungría se opone al embargo al petróleo, lo que podría retrasar la aprobación del paquete de sanciones de la UE.
La Unión Europea ha acordado un embargo petrolero contra Rusia en respuesta a la invasión de Ucrania. El embargo prohibirá las importaciones marítimas de petróleo ruso a la UE y pondrá fin a las entregas a través de oleoductos dentro de seis meses. Esta medida forma parte de un sexto paquete de sanciones de la UE destinadas a aumentar la presión económica sobre Moscú y privar al Kremlin de fondos para financiar su guerra.
This document discusses challenges and opportunities for multiculturalism in European cities. It notes two contradictory trends: socio-ethnic polarization and fragmentation versus neo-cosmopolitan exchange and interculturalism. The author argues that cities should work to invent a multicultural citizenship by embracing diversity, promoting cohesion, and ensuring equal rights and participation for all residents regardless of background. Specific policy issues that could support these goals include recognizing diversity, funding community projects, promoting the arts, addressing segregation, enabling local citizenship and conflict resolution.
Bringing to Market a Successful Cloud Service - Knowing When to Partner, When...LicensingLive! - SafeNet
Rick Nucci, Co-founder of Boomi and now CTO at Dell Boomi, discusses what it took to build the Dell Boomi Atomsphere. Rick looks back on lessons learned around pricing, packaging, and operational decisions that are guaranteed to save any SaaS vendor time and money while preventing several headaches along the way. The presentation was prepared for and presented at SafeNet's LicensingLive - Monetizing Software in the Cloud event series in March 2011.
Why Choose the Nalpeiron Licensing Service vs. Building Your OwnJon Gillespie-Brown
Historically many ISVs have built their own licensing due to lack of flexible or cost-effective enough solutions to their needs, but with the advent of standards today, such as web services and new vendors like Nalpeiron who offer a modern hosted paradigm, many of those previous barriers to outsourcing have been removed.
So why has licensing lagged behind?
Download this white paper now to discover the real costs, risks, and issues associated with Software License Management solutions.
Traditional, full-code waterfall application development, with its focus on a sequential define-develop-test-deploy-maintain approach has given way for many enterprises to low-code/no-code development
- Cloud computing provides cost savings for enterprises by allowing them to access software services over the internet rather than maintaining their own servers and software. However, tracking software usage for billing purposes under usage-based licensing models is complex.
- Flexera Software provides solutions that help software companies implement a spectrum of licensing models, from strict enforcement of usage to a more flexible "trust but verify" approach, to maximize revenues and ensure compliance.
- As cloud-based services continue growing, new hybrid deployment and pricing models are needed to address the complex needs of tracking usage across local and cloud-based software environments.
The document provides guidance on effective processes for migrating device software to Linux. It discusses selecting a commercial Linux distribution to focus resources on application software rather than operating system development. The document outlines a methodology for Linux migration projects, including defining success metrics, assessing risks, and addressing impacts to the software development environment. Project phases discussed are startup, requirements, and design, with emphasis on configuration management, testing practices, and flowing requirements to architectural components.
10 things you need to know before buying manufacturing softwareMRPeasy
It is inevitable that for many companies experiencing growth, there comes a point when MRP software is needed. Here are 10 things you need to know before buying manufacturing software.
Less than half of surveyed companies purchasing Microsoft software spend significant efforts to prepare for software negotiations. With Microsoft comprising more than 50% of a company’s software budget, this could be leaving considerable money on the table.
This research will provide you with the knowledge and tools you need to:
* Create a technology roadmap.
* Build a business case to keep or discontinue Software Assurance.
* Make an informed decision about license acquisition options.
* Be well prepared for your license negotiation.
* Know that you are spending appropriately for your needs.
* Choose a Microsoft reseller and negotiate the deal.
Proper preparation, including a technical roadmap, vendor research, and license program comparisons are the highest contributing factors to the success of a Microsoft negotiation. Use this Storyboard to make it happen.
Stop Guessing about Your Software UsageOpen iT Inc.
This document discusses how analyzing software usage data can help organizations optimize their financial management of IT resources. It explains that not all purchased software is used efficiently, and usage data can identify underutilized software. The document recommends that companies implement software metering solutions to obtain usage data, then use the data to make decisions about software licensing agreements and reducing costs by identifying inactive licenses. It also suggests using usage dashboards to provide transparency and support chargebacks to business units. Analyzing usage data empowers leaders to manage IT resources strategically based on how software is actually being used.
The document discusses preparing for and conducting software license audits. It notes that software vendors are increasingly conducting audits both to ensure compliance and as a revenue stream. The document outlines common reasons for unintentional non-compliance, such as changes in licensing terms or upgrades/downgrades. It recommends companies conduct internal self-audits using the same scrutiny as vendors to identify issues and develop remediation plans. Engaging specialists experienced in vendor licensing can help optimize audit outcomes through identifying compliance gaps, interpreting terms favorably, and negotiating penalties.
The document discusses the differences between generic and custom software development processes. It provides details on key differences such as control over the development process, costs, functionality, architecture, quality considerations, number of functions, and examples of each. Generic software is developed for wide use by many customers, while custom software is developed specifically for an individual client's unique needs. The document also provides a diagram outlining the typical activities and outputs in a software development process, including planning, requirements analysis, design/prototyping, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance.
Custom Software Development Cost, Process and Time.pdfJPLoft Solutions
Custom software development services provide unparalleled opportunities to realize your ideas. You get to decide how your software looks and acts; what functions it should perform. Furthermore, custom apps offer unsurpassed data security as only you can access its code; additionally, you can incorporate business expansion plans into its architecture for easier expansion of functionality over time.
Custom Software Development Cost, Process and Time (2).pdfJPLoft Solutions
The process of software development can often be complex and time-consuming. However, there are several ways to simplify the process and make it more efficient. Custom software development services offer unparalleled opportunities for bringing your ideas to life. With custom software development, you have the freedom to determine the appearance, functionality, and features of your software. You are in complete control of how your software looks and performs, ensuring that it aligns perfectly with your vision and meets your specific requirements.
Technology companies must view product development as a software supply chain, identifying the complexities of multiple business models and introducing a framework to mitigate risk.
The document discusses differences between distribution enterprise applications and manufacturing ERP applications. It notes that distribution applications were previously lacking but are now improving, offering better functionality. Key differences between distributors and manufacturers are discussed, such as distributors having less control over supply chains and needing more flexibility to customize orders. The document emphasizes that distribution has unique requirements that are better addressed in applications specifically designed for distribution compared to distribution modules in manufacturing ERP systems.
The primary goal of most companies is to successfully grow and one notable challenge facing companies seeking to expand their business is often managing the growth of their IT infrastructure. The 5 tips listed in this guide provide a comprehensive set of measures for organising and structuring your IT infrastructure to support your company’s growth.
This document discusses the importance of software modernization for companies still relying on legacy systems. It defines legacy software as older systems that are difficult to modify and maintain. While costly, software modernization is necessary to keep up with changing technology, ensure system stability, and reduce maintenance costs. The document recommends companies first assess their legacy systems to understand the risks of maintaining the status quo versus upgrading. Based on this assessment, companies can then develop a plan and deadline to modernize their systems incrementally in a controlled manner.
Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution model where applications are hosted by a vendor and accessed online by customers. With SaaS, software is deployed as an online service rather than installed locally. This reduces upfront costs for customers and allows vendors to easily update applications for all users. Key considerations for SaaS include enabling applications to securely serve multiple customers simultaneously and facilitating some level of customization.
Understanding True CRM Costs before Implementing an Enterprise Solutionwilliamsjohnseoexperts
The document discusses understanding the total cost of ownership (TCO) when evaluating and implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) system. It notes that TCO includes direct and indirect costs over the system's lifetime, not just upfront costs. When comparing options like building a system internally versus purchasing one, managers should calculate TCO by estimating development, maintenance, and opportunity costs, as purchased systems can have lower long-term costs. The document also stresses evaluating both costs and benefits through a return on investment analysis to properly assess different CRM solutions.
Software licensing is becoming increasingly complex with the rise of virtualization and changing pricing models from vendors. Virtualization allows more efficient use of servers but can violate existing software licensing agreements. Vendors may exploit opportunities created by virtualization to increase prices and change licensing metrics. For example, one vendor changed their licensing from per-user to per-employee and raised prices 170%. Negotiation expertise is needed to avoid risks from opportunistic vendors and unclear pricing structures. Buyers must protect themselves by negotiating flexible agreements that allow cost savings from virtualization and do not penalize reductions in licenses and support.
Similar to Build vs. Buy: The Hidden Costs of Licensing (20)
VSTEP, a European developer of simulation software, implemented SafeNet Sentinel Hardware Keys to protect their new software and enable remote license updates. This allowed VSTEP to offer flexible licensing models and trial versions while preventing piracy. SafeNet provided fast responses and support, allowing VSTEP to meet deadlines for product launch. With Sentinel Keys, VSTEP can securely update licenses remotely as customers purchase additional modules.
This presentation discusses licensing challenges posed by new technologies like cloud computing and mobile platforms. It proposes addressing these challenges by moving licensing delivery to the cloud. This allows usage-based licensing models and gathering business intelligence on usage. Capturing usage data provides opportunities to improve products, marketing and sales based on how customers actually use features.
Hybrid Customer Insight - Data Collection and Analysis from On-premise and in...LicensingLive! - SafeNet
The document discusses cloud computing and its adoption trends. It defines cloud computing as standardized IT capabilities delivered via the internet in a pay-per-use, self-service manner. The cloud offers businesses value through cost savings, agility, and access to advanced technologies. While smaller companies have led cloud adoption, larger enterprises are increasingly using cloud services for business applications and infrastructure.
This document provides a summary of a presentation about integrating billing and licensing in a cloud environment. It discusses the new software monetization lifecycle, which includes 4 steps: 1) packaging your offering, 2) delivering your service, 3) billing and collecting for your service, and 4) driving incremental revenue and renewals. It also covers lessons learned, such as billing being only one part of recurring revenue and the need for solutions to integrate with other systems. Customer use cases from Issuu and VMware are presented that highlight their challenges and successes with Aria Systems.
The document discusses practical approaches for independent software vendors (ISVs) to adopt cloud computing. It outlines 10 steps ISVs can take including setting expectations, gathering requirements, selecting partners and platforms, designing for the cloud, development, testing, packaging, deployment, maintenance, and risk assessment. Throughout each step, the document provides challenges ISVs may face and recommendations to address those challenges during the cloud adoption process.
VSM Software Ltd. protects its specialized embroidery software while allowing easy activation and updates for customers. It migrated from HASP4 to Sentinel HASP HL keys, which provide impenetrable protection and make software activation and updates simpler. This allows VSM to sell additional encrypted software packages through an online store, increasing revenue. Sentinel HASP HL also keeps customers happy with easy-to-use, reliable security.
Geocap replaced its FLEXlm licensing platform with SafeNet's Sentinel RMS due to FLEXlm's insufficient management tools and lack of support. Sentinel RMS provided Geocap with comprehensive APIs, multiple licensing options, and cross-platform support to improve license management. The new solution reduced administrative overhead and allowed Geocap to tailor licenses to its business needs.
This global software company was struggling to manage licenses across nine different systems from recent acquisitions. This caused delays, errors and a poor customer experience. They implemented SafeNet's Sentinel EMS to streamline licensing which integrated easily and automated processes. This centralized management of licenses, reduced support calls by 48% and enabled faster order fulfillment and a better customer experience.
INEA, a Slovenian company that develops industrial automation and energy management systems, implemented SafeNet Sentinel HASP SL to protect its valuable software from unauthorized use. Sentinel HASP SL provided flexible license deployment across virtualized environments and increased security, allowing INEA to sell more licenses and meet customer needs. The solution helped INEA expand into new markets while transitioning to virtual servers in a cost-effective way.
Key Traffic Systems, a UK traffic management software company, upgraded their licensing solution from HASP HL to include HASP SL to allow for software-based licensing. This allowed them to enter new markets that required electronic software delivery and provided more flexibility for their user base. The upgrade was seamless using the HASP toolset and provided benefits like increased sales, ease of implementation, and effective license management through the Business Studio admin control center.
DIP Tech, a leading supplier of digital printing systems for glass, needed to protect its valuable software and IP for its unique glass printing technology. It implemented Sentinel HASP to provide flexible software licensing and robust protection against piracy and reverse engineering. With HASP, DIP Tech can now offer trial versions, feature-based licensing, and improved software distribution. This has increased sales and enhanced the customer experience while better utilizing company resources.
Iritech produces biometric identity matching software and uses Sentinel HASP to protect its intellectual property. Sentinel HASP allows Iritech to license its software securely through hardware or software keys, increasing sales by expanding into new markets. It provides flexibility in licensing options and easy remote management of software activations and updates. Using Sentinel HASP has given Iritech the confidence to grow its business while preventing theft of its valuable biometric algorithms.
CPC, a leader in captioning technology, relies on SafeNet Sentinel HASP to protect and license its software. Sentinel HASP allows CPC to license its $2,000-$9,000 software to single machines, preventing unauthorized use. This protects CPC's revenue and intellectual property. Sentinel HASP also makes it easy for CPC to remotely update software licenses and upgrade keys for new software versions, allowing CPC to adapt to changing technologies while maintaining protection. Using Sentinel HASP, CPC can offer innovative captioning software securely without risk of being unprotected.
RiserTec implemented Sentinel HASP to protect its valuable intellectual property in specialized engineering worksheets. HASP allows RiserTec to license different worksheet models differently and sell them while ensuring the calculations are not stolen or misused. HASP provides easy-to-use protection that is transparent to users and allows worksheets to be run offshore. RiserTec can now securely monetize its worksheets and feels well protected moving forward.
The document discusses the Sentinel HASP Envelope, which provides automatic protection for software applications through file encryption, code obfuscation, and anti-debugging techniques. It summarizes key features of the Sentinel HASP Envelope, including one-click protection, multiple calls to the connected hardware key for validation, and protection of intellectual property and trade secrets. The Envelope also provides multi-layered protection through dynamic arrangement of protection code layers to obscure the connection between the application and hardware key.
Navigating the Top Six Business Challenges of Delivering Software as a Service LicensingLive! - SafeNet
1) Software vendors face challenges when delivering software as a service, including enforcing contract compliance, limited feature bundling, costly repackaging, restrictive subscription models, manual usage tracking, and fragmented operations.
2) Many cloud providers still use paper contracts but find customers often exceed usage terms without realizing. Proper controls are needed to monitor usage and keep customers in compliance.
3) The software industry is accelerating towards cloud-based solutions, with 30% of enterprise spending on new software in 2010 being cloud-based, predicted to rise to 50% of new software budgets by 2014.
1) The document discusses pricing and packaging strategies for software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications. It explores how pricing differs for SaaS compared to traditional on-premise software.
2) Key components of SaaS contracts include subscription models, pricing metrics, contract terms, billing, revenue recognition, service level agreements, and dynamic scaling.
3) Pricing and packaging strategies should be driven by business objectives such as growing the customer base, maximizing revenue, or differentiation. The strategies may differ depending on if it is a new SaaS startup or an existing company transitioning to SaaS.
The document discusses how software vendors can gain valuable customer insights from tracking usage data in cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) applications. It outlines some of the challenges of collecting this data for SaaS applications compared to on-premise software. Analyzing usage data can help vendors improve products, marketing, pricing, and renewals. However, many vendors currently do not have systems to accurately assess customer usage. The document provides examples of how usage data has helped other vendors build better offerings, find new business opportunities, increase customer satisfaction and improve sales.
This white paper addresses the new challenges in software protection for the .NET Framework in addition to providing a variety means for protecting your applications.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 5DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 5. In this session, we will cover CI/CD with devops.
Topics covered:
CI/CD with in UiPath
End-to-end overview of CI/CD pipeline with Azure devops
Speaker:
Lyndsey Byblow, Test Suite Sales Engineer @ UiPath, Inc.
Cosa hanno in comune un mattoncino Lego e la backdoor XZ?Speck&Tech
ABSTRACT: A prima vista, un mattoncino Lego e la backdoor XZ potrebbero avere in comune il fatto di essere entrambi blocchi di costruzione, o dipendenze di progetti creativi e software. La realtà è che un mattoncino Lego e il caso della backdoor XZ hanno molto di più di tutto ciò in comune.
Partecipate alla presentazione per immergervi in una storia di interoperabilità, standard e formati aperti, per poi discutere del ruolo importante che i contributori hanno in una comunità open source sostenibile.
BIO: Sostenitrice del software libero e dei formati standard e aperti. È stata un membro attivo dei progetti Fedora e openSUSE e ha co-fondato l'Associazione LibreItalia dove è stata coinvolta in diversi eventi, migrazioni e formazione relativi a LibreOffice. In precedenza ha lavorato a migrazioni e corsi di formazione su LibreOffice per diverse amministrazioni pubbliche e privati. Da gennaio 2020 lavora in SUSE come Software Release Engineer per Uyuni e SUSE Manager e quando non segue la sua passione per i computer e per Geeko coltiva la sua curiosità per l'astronomia (da cui deriva il suo nickname deneb_alpha).
Full-RAG: A modern architecture for hyper-personalizationZilliz
Mike Del Balso, CEO & Co-Founder at Tecton, presents "Full RAG," a novel approach to AI recommendation systems, aiming to push beyond the limitations of traditional models through a deep integration of contextual insights and real-time data, leveraging the Retrieval-Augmented Generation architecture. This talk will outline Full RAG's potential to significantly enhance personalization, address engineering challenges such as data management and model training, and introduce data enrichment with reranking as a key solution. Attendees will gain crucial insights into the importance of hyperpersonalization in AI, the capabilities of Full RAG for advanced personalization, and strategies for managing complex data integrations for deploying cutting-edge AI solutions.
Let's Integrate MuleSoft RPA, COMPOSER, APM with AWS IDP along with Slackshyamraj55
Discover the seamless integration of RPA (Robotic Process Automation), COMPOSER, and APM with AWS IDP enhanced with Slack notifications. Explore how these technologies converge to streamline workflows, optimize performance, and ensure secure access, all while leveraging the power of AWS IDP and real-time communication via Slack notifications.
Removing Uninteresting Bytes in Software FuzzingAftab Hussain
Imagine a world where software fuzzing, the process of mutating bytes in test seeds to uncover hidden and erroneous program behaviors, becomes faster and more effective. A lot depends on the initial seeds, which can significantly dictate the trajectory of a fuzzing campaign, particularly in terms of how long it takes to uncover interesting behaviour in your code. We introduce DIAR, a technique designed to speedup fuzzing campaigns by pinpointing and eliminating those uninteresting bytes in the seeds. Picture this: instead of wasting valuable resources on meaningless mutations in large, bloated seeds, DIAR removes the unnecessary bytes, streamlining the entire process.
In this work, we equipped AFL, a popular fuzzer, with DIAR and examined two critical Linux libraries -- Libxml's xmllint, a tool for parsing xml documents, and Binutil's readelf, an essential debugging and security analysis command-line tool used to display detailed information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format). Our preliminary results show that AFL+DIAR does not only discover new paths more quickly but also achieves higher coverage overall. This work thus showcases how starting with lean and optimized seeds can lead to faster, more comprehensive fuzzing campaigns -- and DIAR helps you find such seeds.
- These are slides of the talk given at IEEE International Conference on Software Testing Verification and Validation Workshop, ICSTW 2022.
Pushing the limits of ePRTC: 100ns holdover for 100 daysAdtran
At WSTS 2024, Alon Stern explored the topic of parametric holdover and explained how recent research findings can be implemented in real-world PNT networks to achieve 100 nanoseconds of accuracy for up to 100 days.
For the full video of this presentation, please visit: https://www.edge-ai-vision.com/2024/06/building-and-scaling-ai-applications-with-the-nx-ai-manager-a-presentation-from-network-optix/
Robin van Emden, Senior Director of Data Science at Network Optix, presents the “Building and Scaling AI Applications with the Nx AI Manager,” tutorial at the May 2024 Embedded Vision Summit.
In this presentation, van Emden covers the basics of scaling edge AI solutions using the Nx tool kit. He emphasizes the process of developing AI models and deploying them globally. He also showcases the conversion of AI models and the creation of effective edge AI pipelines, with a focus on pre-processing, model conversion, selecting the appropriate inference engine for the target hardware and post-processing.
van Emden shows how Nx can simplify the developer’s life and facilitate a rapid transition from concept to production-ready applications.He provides valuable insights into developing scalable and efficient edge AI solutions, with a strong focus on practical implementation.
AI 101: An Introduction to the Basics and Impact of Artificial IntelligenceIndexBug
Imagine a world where machines not only perform tasks but also learn, adapt, and make decisions. This is the promise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a technology that's not just enhancing our lives but revolutionizing entire industries.
Why You Should Replace Windows 11 with Nitrux Linux 3.5.0 for enhanced perfor...SOFTTECHHUB
The choice of an operating system plays a pivotal role in shaping our computing experience. For decades, Microsoft's Windows has dominated the market, offering a familiar and widely adopted platform for personal and professional use. However, as technological advancements continue to push the boundaries of innovation, alternative operating systems have emerged, challenging the status quo and offering users a fresh perspective on computing.
One such alternative that has garnered significant attention and acclaim is Nitrux Linux 3.5.0, a sleek, powerful, and user-friendly Linux distribution that promises to redefine the way we interact with our devices. With its focus on performance, security, and customization, Nitrux Linux presents a compelling case for those seeking to break free from the constraints of proprietary software and embrace the freedom and flexibility of open-source computing.
Programming Foundation Models with DSPy - Meetup SlidesZilliz
Prompting language models is hard, while programming language models is easy. In this talk, I will discuss the state-of-the-art framework DSPy for programming foundation models with its powerful optimizers and runtime constraint system.
Unlocking Productivity: Leveraging the Potential of Copilot in Microsoft 365, a presentation by Christoforos Vlachos, Senior Solutions Manager – Modern Workplace, Uni Systems
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 6DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 6. In this session, we will cover Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI webinar offers an in-depth exploration of leveraging cutting-edge technologies for test automation within the UiPath platform. Attendees will delve into the integration of generative AI, a test automation solution, with Open AI advanced natural language processing capabilities.
Throughout the session, participants will discover how this synergy empowers testers to automate repetitive tasks, enhance testing accuracy, and expedite the software testing life cycle. Topics covered include the seamless integration process, practical use cases, and the benefits of harnessing AI-driven automation for UiPath testing initiatives. By attending this webinar, testers, and automation professionals can gain valuable insights into harnessing the power of AI to optimize their test automation workflows within the UiPath ecosystem, ultimately driving efficiency and quality in software development processes.
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into integrating generative AI.
2. Understanding how this integration enhances test automation within the UiPath platform
3. Practical demonstrations
4. Exploration of real-world use cases illustrating the benefits of AI-driven test automation for UiPath
Topics covered:
What is generative AI
Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath integration with generative AI
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
Dr. Sean Tan, Head of Data Science, Changi Airport Group
Discover how Changi Airport Group (CAG) leverages graph technologies and generative AI to revolutionize their search capabilities. This session delves into the unique search needs of CAG’s diverse passengers and customers, showcasing how graph data structures enhance the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated search results, mitigating the risk of “hallucinations” and improving the overall customer journey.
1. Bu
Build vs. Buy:
The Hidden Costs of License Management
WHIT
WHITE PAPER
Today, very few software vendors choose to build their own installation packaging procedures,
opting instead to use a commercial solution. The decision to go with one of the readily
available installers makes good economic sense. The costs of developing these solutions can
In today’s dynamic and result in high total cost of ownership (TCO), because producing and maintaining an effective
competitive software business solution may require ongoing involvement of resources from across the vendor’s organization.
environment, software licensing
The same business considerations apply to software licensing and management. Yet, despite
and management solutions the fact that these solutions may be even more complex and costly than those for installation
must be flexible. procedures, many vendors still consider building a homegrown solution to be the most
cost-effective option available.
This paper examines the real costs – many of them too often overlooked – involved in the
decision to develop a homegrown licensing and protection solution.
Primarily a Business Decision
The software business environment today is increasingly dynamic and competitive. As a
software vendor you require increased flexibility to differentiate your offerings and to respond
quickly to changing customer needs. As you expand globally, you may be faced with increasing
reliance on indirect channels to grow your business. Additionally, in the face of software piracy
threats, it is necessary to find ways to assure and enhance revenues and better control use of
your intellectual property. You also need to do this all while preserving margins to retain more
profits.
Moving beyond paper licensing to more flexible, software-based licensing is a business
decision. There is a growing trend toward a variety of service oriented models – rental,
subscription and floating network licenses – that can help you become more competitive
by offering your customers more choices. In addition, the ability to tailor packages to meet
specific customer needs delivers real value and increased flexibility as you grow your business
in more dynamic markets.
Build vs. Buy: The Hidden Costs of License Management White Paper 1
2. Developing the Software is Only the Beginning
On its face, developing a software licensing solution appears to be fairly straight forward. After
all, it’s mainly a software development project with relatively clear objectives.
In reality, the changing market environment in which most software vendors operate today
demands much more complex licensing requirements than ever before. Sales and marketing
models are continually changing as competitive pressures and dynamic market trends create
new threats and opportunities. Failure to adapt to these changes can seriously impact your
competitiveness.
Costs of developing a Not only must the solution be robust, it must also provide comprehensive features to enable the
homegrown licensing solution flexibility required in today’s dynamic markets. This includes the ability to create new licensing
include not only initial models that add inherent value to offerings to deepen penetration and attract new segments. It
also means support for new sales and distribution models that will allow you to reach broader
development, but up-front
markets through both direct and indirect channels, including the Internet.
planning and ongoing dedication
of developers to maintain and The solution must support a broad range of functions across the organization and enable them
update the system. to respond to new opportunities rapidly and without entering into new, costly engineering cycles.
Ideally, the solution should separate engineering from all subsequent tasks to enable multiple
licensing models based on a single set of binaries that do not require modification after release.
All these requirements mean a much more complex solution than previously associated with
software licensing. They further extend the scope of the project to build in expected future
requirements (e.g. new platform support), constant modification of the solution to meet
changing market dynamics (e.g. new licensing and distribution models), or both. The end result
is higher initial costs and ongoing maintenance expenses, particularly for a homegrown solution
designed to last years where you may experience engineering turnover without adequate
knowledge transfer.
In short, before embarking on – or continuing – a homegrown licensing system, you should look
beyond initial development costs to the overall TCO inherent in a comprehensive solution.
Cost: Up-front planning to make certain that the solution developed will actually meet the
organization’s needs
Cost: Initial development requiring years of development resources to create a robust,
comprehensive solution
Cost: Ongoing dedication of up to two developers to maintain and update the system and
respond to unforeseen market changes
Protection – You Can’t Buy it by the Slice
Licensing and protection are often viewed as separate, somewhat contradictory, issues. You
license to enable use of your products within the terms of agreements with your customers. You
protect your products to prevent use outside these terms.
One might reasonably argue that there is an inverse relationship between the level of trust
you share with your customers and the degree of protection you require in your licensing
solution. So, if I trust my customers “a lot” and just want to enable them to use my products, it
might be reasoned, I really only need a “little” protection. In reality, however, it may not be this
simple. While you can rate licensing as being more or less complex – based on the range and
combination of licensing terms and other features available – defining the “right amount” of
protection is an entirely different matter.
Build vs. Buy: The Hidden Costs of License Management White Paper 2
3. For this reason, you need to decide up front what level of protection you need. The issue of
protection becomes more critical if licensing is being developed to implement new sales and
Software protection must
distribution models. Not only must you take into account that you may be selling your products
account for a wide range
to a wider range of customers, with whom you share varying degrees of trust. The software also
of customers, and involves assumes a life of its own with distribution methods such as ESD and sales models based on
recurring costs because it must electronic licensing. In these cases, not only do the licenses need to be securely self enforcing;
be constantly updated against you also need to ensure your intellectual property against reverse engineering and theft. This
new threats. requires implementing features such as protective wrapping that might include obfuscation,
encryption and a variety of other measures to prevent access to code and reverse engineering.
Such features generally rely on specialized skill sets and third-party tools to implement.
When considering whether to build or buy, you must take the costs of protection into account.
Not only are these recurring costs that directly impact TCO (protection mechanisms must be
constantly updated against new threats). Effective protection requires a specialized skill set that
may not be readily available within every software vendor’s development team. Acquiring these
skills in-house – either through supplementary training or recruitment – can be extremely costly.
Cost: Training existing developers in security, or recruiting developers with these skills
Cost: Continually monitoring, analyzing and creating solutions to meet emerging security needs.
Back to Core Competence
For most software publishers, licensing and protection are tools they require to better
sell, distribute and protect their products. They usually fall outside the firm’s area of core
competence. Core competence is what software vendors rely on for maintaining their
competitive edge and ensuring a continued flow of revenues.
Deviations from ongoing product development carry costs, although many of these are indirect
and often difficult to quantify. Maintaining differentiation with new and improved features is
critical to growing business in an increasingly competitive market.
Creating a homegrown licensing
Homegrown licensing and protection solutions often require tradeoffs between developing new
solution means deviating
product features and capabilities and adapting the licensing solution to changing needs. Failure
from core competence, which to plan for the correct balance can imperil individual sales. In the worst case, it can result in
generates revenues. losing differentiation – and market share – to competitors.
This problem becomes more acute when even relatively subtle changes require initiating a new
R&D cycle, because these cycles tend to be among the costliest component in the product’s
overall lifecycle. Homegrown solutions are often tightly integrated into the product itself. The
addition of a new licensing model, for example, may require a full development cycle – from
change request, through specification, design review and including QA testing. All this can
severely burden development teams, impact roadmaps and draw out time-to-market for new
product releases.
Cost: Diversion of resources from meeting product-related marketing requirements and loss of
revenues
Cost: Diluted roadmap content and longer time-to-market
Build vs. Buy: The Hidden Costs of License Management White Paper 3
4. Meeting the Needs of the Organization
Effective software licensing and protection cut across the entire organization. An efficient
solution requires dedicated tools to facilitate each role in the product lifecycle.
Integrate
(Enforce)
Define License
(Specify)
(Package)
Analyze
(Manage)
Track
(Monitor) Promote
(Sell)
Fulfill
(Deliver)
At the same time, organizations require high visibility of data concerning licensing and
distribution to enable them to monitor and evaluate their business-model implementations. The
solution must be designed to integrate both into your organization’s existing processes and with
its various back-office systems.
A license management system is not entirely different in its scope from ERP and CRM systems.
The most significant similarity is how they all touch almost every department in an organization.
This is where an in-house system can become problematic.
Each department is constantly seeking tools and processes to optimize productivity. Engineering
uses the latest development and sourcing tools, IT adopts a new e-commerce initiative and
marketing tries improved business intelligence software. Organizational units may be changing
without necessarily communicating changes to one another. An in-house solution that is built to
work with current applications can quickly find itself outdated and unusable.
It is virtually impossible to predict how an enterprise is going to change and even more so,
how the industry is going to change. Your in-house development efforts will focus on methods
with which your programmers are familiar and comfortable. They are not likely to take all the
time necessary to design a system that is open-ended enough to scale to new applications or
business imperatives.
Cost: Initial integration with back-office support systems by IT/MIS personnel
Cost: Ongoing integration and creation of reporting, and other visibility tools, to meet changing
requirements
Quantifying the Costs of a Homegrown Solution
With these cost considerations in mind, it is possible to arrive at estimates for homegrown
solutions – including ongoing TCO during the solution lifetime..
For purposes of comparison, we have specified requirements for three typical homegrown
solutions. We define these as follows:
• Basic (Limited Security). This solution includes one licensing model (perpetual) and relies on
simple hashing of a single identifier to lock the license to a machine. The license is checked
once each time the user runs the application.
Build vs. Buy: The Hidden Costs of License Management White Paper 4
5. • Secure Licensing. This solution provides additional licensing terms (but not concurrency)
plus significant security enhancements – both runtime and for IP protection. It is
specifically designed for the security conscious ISV. In addition, the solution includes an
interface for backend systems such as CRM, ERP and order processing systems.
• Enterprise Licensing. This solution adds concurrency support with a variety of
enhancements required by enterprise customers, including redundant license servers.
A third party, commercial Because these are generally highly trusted customers, there is only minimal security.
licensing solution can result
Basic Assumptions
in faster time-to-market, in
We use the following assumptions in arriving at estimates for these three solution costs:
addition to initial cost savings in
implementation and lower TCO. • Developer Costs. We use an estimated average base salary of $84,000 based on median
salary figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for software engineers. We then add
50% burden and overhead costs (including bonuses, benefits, equipment, and physical
facilities) to arrive at an average developer cost of $126,000 annually.
• Opportunity Costs. We use the average from Software Magazine’s “Top 500” software firms
for 2007, which is $174,622 of gross revenue per employee, assuming that development staff
are diverted from the organization’s revenue-generating products.
• Skill-Set Acquisition. We use an estimate of $2,000 per developer, per month for courses,
books, journals, study time, etc. required for development staff to complement their skills to
include licensing and protection.
• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). We use Gartner Research’s estimate of $3.40 in TCO costs for
every development dollar invested in a custom application. We assume a five-year lifetime
for the solution and base the annual TCO calculations on the Developer Costs only (exclusive
of Lost Opportunity Costs and Skill-Set Acquisition Costs).
• Development Effort. We use estimates (in Developer Months) based on over 20 years of
experience in licensing, enforcement and protection of the SafeNet R&D team. These
estimates include design, development and testing.
Homegrown Solution Costs
The following table summarizes the costs involved in implementing and maintaining the typical
homegrown solutions over a five-year period:
Basic
Secure Licensing Enterprise Licensing
(Limited Security)
Initial Development 15.5 Develeoper Month 39 Developer Months 70 Developer Months
Development Cost $163,719 $411,938 $739,375
Skill-Set Acquisition 31,000 78,000 140,000
Lost Opportunity Cost 225,553 567,522 1,018,628
Total Initial Cost $420,272 $1,057,459 $1,898,003
Annual TCO $122,916 $309,272 $555,104
Lifetime TCO $614,580 $1,546,362 $2,775,521
Total 5-Year Cost $1,034,852 $2,603,821 $4,673,524
Build vs. Buy: The Hidden Costs of License Management White Paper 5
6. Software Piracy
The above estimates are based on easily quantifiable costs. There are, however, other costs that
are more difficult to quantify precisely. Loss of revenue to software piracy is one such cost.
We all know that illegal copying results in lost revenues. The BSA/IDC annual survey attempts to
measure the effect of piracy globally, and the latest survey (released in May, 2010) estimates a
global piracy rate of 42%. Regional estimates are as follows:
North America Western Europe Central/Eastern Europe
21% 34% 64%
Asia Pacific
Latin America Middle East/Africa 59%
63% 59%
However, piracy rates do not translate directly into actual revenue loss. You need to look at where
you actually sell your software (e.g. the published rate in Central and Eastern Europe is 64%
but it is only 21% in North America). Moreover, not all pirated software represents recoverable
revenues. In a recent survey carried out by KPMG, for example, while a third of the respondents
estimated their own losses (and, therefore, recoverable revenues) to be in excess of 10%,
another third estimated those real losses to be less than 5%.
This means that you need to make an informed assessment of actual, recoverable revenues.
Further, these revenues must be factored into the cost of a homegrown solution, because this
cost will continue to be incurred until the solution is implemented. What’s more, if the solution is
not up to the task of reducing piracy, revenues will continue to be lost going forward – even after
the solution is in place.
Consider the Advantages of a Commercial Solution
Taking into account all the potential costs, a homegrown solution can prove to be expensive to
implement. Further, the TCO over the lifetime of the solution represents a significant, ongoing
investment that can exceed the initial development costs in all three cases examined.
Given the level of investment required to produce and maintain a solution that really does the
job it is meant to do, there is good reason to examine alternatives – particularly those presented
by commercial solutions that are specifically designed to meet the software licensing and
management needs of technology vendors.
Build vs. Buy: The Hidden Costs of License Management White Paper 6