July 07 Reprise Newsletter

"Options"
The Software Licensing Newsletter

Reprise Software

August 2007

In This Issue

RLM v3 is RELEASED!

Improve the End-User Experience

Manage, Track and Report on License, CPU usage and Work Flows

Turn On
your software
over the Internet!

with RLM Internet Activation

For Back Issues of "Options" please click here

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The August issue of Options, the Software Licensing Newsletter from the folks at Reprise Software, is short and sweet. We are announcing the release of RLM v3.0, we have an article on how to use license activation and an interview with Reprise partner Runtime Design Automation.

We hope you find this issue useful and informative. Please feel free to forward this to a friend using the link at the bottom of the page.

Thanks.

RLM v3 is RELEASED!

Most advanced collection of licensing tools available

RLM v3 is here. It features Internet activation, Java support, license server performance tools, support for licensing of software libraries, authenticated report logs, and much, much more.

Please click here for information on what's new in RLM v3.

Improve the End-User Experience
RLM Internet Activation

The latest version of RLM (v3.0) adds Internet Activation to the standard RLM software development kit. Vendors who decide to use it can completely control the acquisition of licenses through their own application or install routine.

Using RLM Internet Activation for Evaluations

When a prospective customer requests an evaluation of your product, you can send out an "evaluation key" that can be redeemed for a temporary license that will be valid for a reasonable length evaluation period. The evaluation license itself will be created and downloaded to the customer with a an expiration date corresponding to the length of the eval period. The best part of this tactic is that you know exactly when that license will expire, and perhaps when to contact the user to see if the product fits his needs. At this point you can extend the evaluation by issuing a new "evaluation key" or covert the eval into a sale.

All License Transactions Start with an Order

Every revenue transaction starts with a customer placing an order for your products. This can be done through an ecommerce-enabled web site, or in a more traditional fashion. Once the order is approved, you email the customer an activation key. This key resembles a credit card number and it entitles the customer to retrieve the licenses for the products that were ordered. The activation key is not itself a license file, but is analogous to a redeemable coupon for the purchased license(s).

With RLM Internet Activation you have two main choices: Do I modify my application to automatically prompt the user for the activation key at install time, or do I rely on the supplied RLM GUI to provide license fulfillment service access?

Simplest Scenario for Simplest Applications

If you allow your customers to download your software, you have it made. Once your customer downloads your product, he installs it according to your instructions and runs it for the first time. Your application will attempt to check out a license and it will fail because there is no local license present. Anticipating this situation, your application will pop-up a dialog box that tells the user to enter his activation key that he received via email when he ordered the product. The user hits "OK" and the RLM Internet Activation API automatically determines the unique identifier from the user's machine, connects to a vendor-hosted web site that verifies the activation key and sends the freshly minted license back to your application so that it can be permanently stored in a local disk file. Now a re-checkout of the license will be granted, and your customer is "good to go!"

Using the built-in RLM GUI

If you choose not to use the RLM API function to mask the details of the license fulfillment process, you can still take advantage of RLM Internet Activation. In this scenario, your customer will run a local copy of the RLM server and connect to it with a browser. Your customer selects "Internet Activation" from the web form, and steps through the process. The user will be asked to enter:

Your activation URL

Your ISV name

The activation key

The target hostid

Name and location of disk file to write fulfilled license

As you can see, your customer has a bit more work to do in this scenario because less is known about the license transaction at runtime than in the API-controlled scenario described above. But, it addresses cases where it is impractical to modify your applications to handle the license fulfillment process. This can be a viable option for versions of your application that are already released.

Infinite Variations

Although we've talked about only two basic scenarios, there are literally thousands of different ways to handle license fulfillment with RLM Internet Activation. The important things to take away from this discussion are:

RLM simplifies your license fulfillment process

RLM allows you to customize activation to suit your brand and audience

RLM Activation is a standard part of RLM, not an extra charge

For a closer look at the RLM v3.0, please contact us to obtain an evaluation copy.

Manage, Track and Report on License, CPU usage and Work Flows

An interview with Frank Bailey, VP Marketing of Reprise partner Runtime Design Automation, focusing on tools to manage and report on all design resources including licenses, jobs and cpus.

Options: What markets does Runtime Design address?

Runtime Design Automation: We provide enterprise resource management tools to monitor and manage resources, workload, and workflow. Typical markets for our products are Electronic Design Automation and software development.

Options: How do you differentiate your offerings?

Runtime Design Automation: We feel a smaller, more agile and responsive vendor can create a better value proposition for our respective customers than can some of the larger, entrenched vendors in our respective markets. We are able, as is Reprise Software, to innovate faster and support our customers better.

Options: How important is licensing to the success of your users?

Runtime Design Automation: Licensing is critical to our users' success because their design workflows require that certain high-value software and hardware products are available when users need them. Runtime's products help ensure that these critical resources are available, and our partnership with Reprise helps ensure a level of integration between the products that helps to maximize our users' investments in software tools and hardware.

Options: What was it about Reprise that you saw as a good fit?

Runtime Design Automation: From our earliest discussions with Reprise, it was clear that they wanted to work with us, were responsive to our needs and wanted to see our joint solutions succeed in the marketplace. Our subsequent experience through a complete evaluation and integration cycle backed up our initial observations.

Options: Who can benefit most from the a Runtime/Reprise solution?

Runtime Design Automation: Any organization that has a complex design cycle, intensive hardware or license-managed software resources, or both. Our workflow management and reporting tools look at the design flows, the timing of scarce CPU cycles and the availability of expensive licensed software to help shrink design times and maximize resource utilization. Our partnership with Reprise will allow a tight integration between licensed software use and job scheduling.

For more information on Runtime Design Automation, please visit them directly at http://www.rdta.com

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