Reprise Licenses 300th RLM Customer
This month Reprise Software licensed our 300th RLM customer.
We wanted to take a moment to thank all our customers for making Reprise successful, and thought this would be a good time to take a look back at the history of RLM and FLEXlm.
Back in the FLEXlm days, we had about 300 customers in 1993/1994, when GLOBEtrotter took over the FLEXlm product from Highland Software. That was 6 years into the life of the product. We ultimately got to about 2000 customers by 1999. So we added about 300 customers/yr (on average) for those last 6 years. Or 25/month.
It has taken Reprise 5 years to get to 300 customers. Last quarter (Q1/2011) we added 24 new customers which was the largest number for any quarter in our history.
The other comparison is that in the FLEXlm days, nearly all of our customers were new to license management, since license management was a new technology at the time. At Reprise, about 65% of our customers are new to license management, and the other 35% are switching from another technology. We are pleased that companies both new and old to license management are selecting RLM as their licensing solution.
So, once again, thanks to everyone for another great milestone in Reprise Software's history.
Reprise Announces Usage Reporting Toolset
Reprise Software has expanded its product line to address the usage reporting and pay-per-use needs of current RLM and FLEXlm/FLEXnet ISVs.
Reprise Software has recently become a global reseller of LicenseTracker's LT-Analyzer license usage analysis tool enabling your customers to understand their license usage and for you to implement usage based pricing models.
This new product supports both RLM and FLEXlm/FLEXnet. RLM's report log format is supported as is, and FLEXlm ISVs can take advantage of this new product simply by integrating a small piece of open source enhanced reporting code into their existing FLEXlm/FLEXnet vendor daemon.
By delivering reporting tools, ISVs can let their customers produce license usage reports to support current pricing models. Reports can be used as hard evidence to support fact-based software pricing negotiations, especially at the largest customers.
Usage based pricing can complement current license models. Time or some other metric that fits your licensing strategy can be measured to ensure that customers pay for what they use.
This tool also allows end customers to assign costs to licenses and to monitor usage versus a set budget, and to assign costs across departments or business units who share common pools of floating licenses.
For those ISVs planning to host license servers for "in-the-cloud" customers, LT-Analyzer can be used in-house to collect license data to produce billing reports based on actual cloud-based usage.
The LT-Analyzer product imports RLM report logs and/or enhanced debug log records produced by modified FLEXlm license servers. Useful reports are produced by aggregating logged usage data during the billing cycle.
Global licenses for LT-Analyzer are based on a scaled-revenue tiers, much like RLM and FLEXlm/FLEXnet.
Please contact Reprise Software for more information about functionality or pricing, or to arrange a demonstration.
RLM End User Bundle
RLM End User Bundle for License Administrators and End Users
The RLM End User Bundle is designed to give end users and license administrators everything they need to maximize their use of RLM-licensed applications, the bundle contains the most-current RLM license server, and a tool, "rlmtests," to help with license server and network capacity planning.
The RLM End User Bundle includes some testing tools that let License Administrators answer questions such as:
- How fast can my license server service license requests?
- How many licensed users can my server handle?
- What will my performance be if I double my current user population?
- When should I split my license inventory into multiple independent license servers?
‘rlmtests’ is totally self-contained, creating the required test licenses and then starting a license server before it runs the tests, finally reporting the results on the screen. The rlmtests utility performs two categories of tests: checkout performance tests and server capacity tests.
With this utility, license administrators and other end users can be proactive about their hardware requirements, matching available hardware to expected needs and developing a plan for hardware acquisition to match the growth in users of RLM-licensed software.
The RLM End User Bundle can be downloaded from the RLM end user support page: http://www.reprisesoftware.com/support/end-users.php
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Reprise Software Announces “RLM Activation Pro”
RLM Activation Pro
Reprise Software is pleased to announce a new product, RLM Activation Pro. The new product is ready for beta testing immediately on Linux, Mac OSX and Windows, and it is scheduled to be released during Q2 2011.
RLM Activation Pro offers better performance, scalability, access control, and back-office integration options.
RLM Activation Pro Features:
- activation database built on open source MySQL
- written in open source PHP scripting language
- supports pagination and sorting of displayed data
- secured multi-user access privileges (admin, edit, view) through usernames/passwords
- compatible with existing RLM client activation API call, rlm_act_request()
- database conversion utility provided to upgrade from old RLM Internet Activation product
RLM Activation Pro is a separate product, not simply an upgrade to the older "RLM Internet Activation" product. However, RLM Internet Activation (older product) will continue to be supported and is available for sale to new and existing RLM licensees.
Please contact Reprise Software to discuss new product details.
Integrating the Reprise License Manager (RLM) with Salesforce.com
Several customers have recently asked us if any software vendors who use RLM for licensing have extended Salesforce.com to handle licensing information. The answer is yes. One of our customers who uses both RLM and other older licensing technologies has written an integrated web service and activation API that ties into Salesforce.com.
Here's a quick summary of what one of our customers does:
- create a new sale in Salesforce.com
- send download instructions to customer with a unique activation code
- customer downloads/installs software, enters activation code into the application
- activation server returns generated license, stored locally
- generated license also stored in transaction record in Salesforce.com
This RLM ISV has extended Salesforce and created a new License object (or table) which is associated with a Salesforce Account. When they make a license sale they create a new License record in Salesforce and populate it with parameters pertaining to the product license (node locked / floating, count, licensed modules, expiry etc). When this information is saved an “activation code” is generated and saved along with the rest of the licensing options. The activation code is something unique that can identify this record in Salesforce.
Their support desk sends the activation code to the end customer and he/she downloads and installs the application program. This activation code can then be entered into the application which connects to the ISV's own internet license activation service. The information submitted includes the activation code along with hardware information, or HostID. The license service is responsible for connecting to Salesforce and generating the RLM license. For transactional purposes they also store this generated license in Salesforce. The license is returned to the application and saved locally on their machine.
Why companies switch from home-brew licensing solutions?
We were curious why companies switch away from their internally developed license management software in favor of an off-the-shelf solution. So we asked some of our customers what motivated them to switch.
What they told us is that, although software licensing solutions are not particularly difficult to write, they are often difficult to manage over time. They need care and feeding, and most companies don't have the time or interest to continue down that road.
Reasons we heard for switching to a commercial license manager:
- expand platform coverage (add support for 64bit Windows, Linux, Mac OSX, etc.)
- spend less time on support (re-focus developers on core functionality)
- fix what had become a perceived product weakness
- add new license types, (floating, named-user, tokens, etc.),
- migrate away from hardware keys or dongles,
- create additional billable application features,
- reduce the number of separate product builds,
- create new functional levels (Lite, Pro, Platinum, etc),
- produce usage reports for post-use-billing,
- deploy licenses using Internet Activation
Our customers were happy to drop their home-brew license manager to devote more development energy on the features that make their software stand out over the competition.
RLM – A Light Shines
RLM end-users remind me of why software license management is so important to them.
by Cody Crider, Reprise Software, Inc.
We have written many articles about the benefits of software licensing to Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and how to implement various features within RLM. Of course this is the target audience for Reprise Software's product, right? That might be where we make our living, but there is a whole other world of software licensing that ISVs should examine more closely, from their customers' perspective.
I recently had the opportunity to make a presentation to a number of end-users of enterprise-class software products that utilize software licensing including the Reprise License Manager (RLM). These end-users represent some of the largest companies in the world. It was very enlightening to hear about software licensing from the perspective of the folks involved in the day-to-day management of hundreds of applications, and thousands of licenses. The special value of software licensing to this end-user community is one that needs to be continually addressed.
There were the discussions about what end-users commonly want, such as the following:
- Better control over when/where/which users can access software assets
- Unfettered access to usage data and tools to track and allocate costs
- Improved license administration tools
- More predictable and consistent licensing models across vendors
- Transparent policy spelled out in the license key
- Auto-maximized license utilization
- Better control over license queuing
- Better performance measurement tools to plan for and deploy new licensed applications
- Better diagnostic tools
- Simpler Internet-based activation and license installation
We had an opportunity to discuss how RLM address many of the needs outlined above and that the majority of the innovations in RLM are in support of better value for end users while simplifying implementation and deployment for ISVs.
The discussion then shifted a bit when the question was asked, “Does RLM do a good job at ensuring software compliance?” Sure, we talk about a benefit of RLM is to ensure that ‘honest users stay honest’, but this is from the perspective of the ISV who wants to maximize revenues by eliminating unlicensed usage. A light came on to remind me that this is also a critical issue for our end-user community. From their perspective, it is one of the benefits they value most from software licensing. Let’s face it. There are a lot of things that end-users don’t like about software licensing, but it is one of the ‘inconveniences’ that they can tolerate for all the extra benefits derived from it.
The software end-user has a management mandate to stay compliant with their software licensing agreements and to have the information they need to prove this during audits. Software compliance can be less costly for these customers if the software they license includes the proper built in license compliance tools, like RLM.
RLM provides the flexible licensing models and features that can match what is being sold to software end-users. ISVs who support license models matching those described in their software licensing agreement can go a long way to help ensure compliance.
RLM provides the administration tools to monitor and support license compliance reporting. The tools are built into RLM so that the end-user can easily control how the software is utilized in their organization and determine who has the rights to use it. RLM provides detailed license usage report logs that can be used to track and monitor usage across the organization. The RLM Reportlog uses an open and authenticated format that can easily be read for reporting purposes. Reprise works closely with 3rd party vendors such as License Tracker, OpeniT, and RunTime Design Automation that provide tools to help maximize the usage and monitoring of software assets.
All of these features and efforts can help assist the end-user community to ensure that they are in compliance with their license agreements.
Getting started with Software Licensing
Taking your First Steps
Use Software Licensing to Unleash Revenue Potential
Too often folks equate Software Licensing with the prevention of software piracy. That notion really misses the point. People are often surprised to find out the real reasons for software license management. Such as:
- License Compliance
- Software licensing help ISV’s price and package their software products according to the market needs and customer requirements.
- Manufacturing Savings - minimize software "builds"
- Aligning internal user costs to actual usage
In a nutshell, software licensing is technology that software publishers use to help their customers automatically comply with their software products' licensing terms. Increasingly, software users rely on their vendors to keep them compliant through electronic software licensing. At the same time, licensing helps vendors increase their revenues by giving their customers a reason to buy more licenses when they are needed.
A license manager, such as the Reprise License Manager (RLM), is an indispensable tool that can help you design and enforce pricing models that are right for today's customers, while giving you the flexibility to quickly adapt to new opportunities as they emerge. When a license manager is properly integrated into your software, it is able to interpret and enforce virtually an unlimited number of licensing and pricing schemes.
In this article we attempt to provide a framework for how well-behaved applications use software licensing. Adherence to these guidelines will be greatly appreciated by your end-users who will see more consistent implementations. It is important to consider your end user and long term support implications when designing your licensing implementation.
Decisions, Decisions... What's a license manager to do?
Software users just want to get their work done. In a perfect world, software vendors don't want to limit their users’ ability to access their software, but at the same time vendors want to be fairly compensated for that use. End-users generally don't want to exceed their license rights (especially now with tighter internal compliance rules in place) but they often don't know what those rights are, making it impossible to stay compliant.
Of course, publishers can decide how strictly to enforce their licenses by the way that their software behaves when licenses are not available. But, what strategy should these vendors adopt to strike the right balance between their needs and those of their customers? No single licensing implementation works across all product categories, but a license manager is the best tool to provide the flexibility to cover the full spectrum of license enforcement models - from "very strict" to "self-compliant."
Licensing and business models change constantly in the software industry. To fully realize the benefits from implementing a license manager, careful consideration must be given to planning and implementation. There are several questions that should be asked when deciding which licensing models and strategies best match your product and market requirements.
What should I license? After you have decided how strict your licensing policy is going to be, you have to decide what to license. Most often applications are licensed as a whole - using a single license for the whole product, but in some cases you may want to carve out additional separately-licensed features for which some customers will pay extra. Licensing should be aligned as closely as possible with how you plan to price and package your product.
Which types of licenses?
Determining the right licensing model requires an understanding of how your customers will use your products. If your products are dedicated to a specialized niche purpose, you can use a "named-user" or node-locked license. On the other hand, if the products are widely shared or used collaboratively, you will want to use floating or concurrent licenses.
What is a "user?"
Defining the term "user" may sound like a strange exercise, but the meaning of “user” may have a profound effect on the your licensing. Getting it right means that your customers will use your software precisely as intended. Ask yourself these questions.
- Should the same user on the same machine consume only one license regardless of the number of copies he uses concurrently?
- Should a floating license used for only a short time return to the license pool immediately, or should the license manager impose a delay to justify its price, or to encourage the sale of more licenses.
When the term “user” in your software license agreement matches your license enforcement mechanism you avoid any confusion with customers about the scope of your licenses.
Should licenses expire?
This basic question is at the root of your pricing model. Obviously, if you settle on using a subscription licensing scheme, you'll want your licenses to reflect the paid license period, but even if you sell perpetual licenses, you may want to limit the duration of the license (start and end dates) so that licenses require periodic refreshment in the field and to address any future changes to the product licensing model.
Should licenses match a specific product version?
Although version numbers in licenses can restrict which application version can run, most vendors prefer allowing older versions of software to consume newer licenses, but not the reverse. Some vendors creatively use license version numbers to manage support contract periods.
We have only scratched the surface here, but working with an experienced licensing vendor can help in address these any many other strategic decisions.
Software Licensing in a Mobile World
As those familiar with software licensing already know, many 
benefits can accrue to those independent software vendors (ISVs) that incorporate a license manager into the products they sell.
One of those benefits is the ability to give users a license that will allow them to remain in compliance with the terms of their software license after they've disconnected their laptop from the corporate intranet. Whether it be for a few hours, a few days or a few weeks, "roaming" license policies are very powerful. A user can take full advantage of an ISV's product while remaining in compliance, on the road, at home or in the office. At any point, the user can re-connect to the corporate intranet and return a roamed license, or refresh the license for a set period.
ISVs can implement this policy for all or just a subset of their customers. And with "policy in the license", it's just a matter of issuing a special text-based license for the end user's server and client machines. The magic of license management takes it from there!
There are of course many reasons to use RLM, besides roaming licenses, and we'll be happy to tell you more.
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