Category: For Publishers

Various topics pertaining to the technology of license management, both internal to license managers and the use of license managers in software products.

Supporting Resellers with Activation Pro

Supporting resellers with Activation Pro can be accomplished quite easily. Let me share with you how to set up Activation Pro so that you can sell directly to end users, while also supporting a reseller channel.

With RLM Activation Pro you create activation keys for orders from your customers. When you create a key, you can assign that key to a contact at the customer.  Usually, the contact is your direct customer, but if you support resellers, you can set up each reseller as a “contact” within your Activation Pro site.

Activation Pro lets you generate keys in bulk. So when you set up a reseller, you will generate batches of activation keys that correspond to the product licenses that your resellers are allowed to sell, assigning those keys to the contacts at each reseller. As your resellers make sales, they will issue an activation key from the list that they received from you, until they exhaust their supply, and need more. To replenish their supply, you simply generate new batches of keys as before.

The activation keys can be in the standard form that Activation Pro supports (nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn ), or you can assign a prefix to each to indicate that the activation is a reseller key. The prefix could be generic, the same for all resellers, or it could be different for each reseller.  This would allow you to know at a glance which reseller was assigned which key.

With the Activation Pro administration interface, you will be able to see the detailed fulfillment data saved as a result of sales made by your resellers. If you want to retrieve the contact information of the ultimate end user customer, you can prompt the user for this information at activation time.  This data can be stored as “logged data” within each fulfillment record. This logged data can be retrieved and imported into CRM or business systems for use there.

Importantly, you can set up an activation web portal for your customers, including one for each of your resellers. This will give your resellers a way to check the status of their assigned activation keys and fulfillments online via the web.

NodeLocked Counted License

Another simple license model – the NodeLocked Counted License.

Last time we discussed the nodelocked license, which is a license grant that allows your software to be used on a particular computer, and on that computer only. The typical nodelocked license is uncounted, meaning that if the software is running on the specified computer, any number of concurrent copies of the software are allowed to run. There is a variation of the nodelocked license called a nodelocked counted license. This license allows the software to be run on a single computer only, but it limits the number of concurrent copies of the software that can be run on that computer.

The nodelocked counted license was originally made popular in the Electronic Design Automation software market.  However, a nodelocked counted license is suitable for situations where your software usually runs on a server-class computer, since a nodelocked uncounted license on such a system can provide far more value than a typical nodelocked license locked to a workstation or PC.

RLM supports two flavors of nodelocked counted licenses: single and counted.    The single license is a special case of a node-locked counted license which does not require a license server, so it is as simple to administer as a nodelocked uncounted license.  The general case of a nodelocked counted license does require a license server.

As we discussed in our blog post describing the nodelocked license, having several license models in your price book allows you, as a publisher, to price differently depending on your customer’s situation, which allows you to capture the optimal amount of revenue for a particular customer.  Nodelocked uncounted licenses may be appropriate for some of your products, while nodelocked uncounted licenses are more appropriatre for others.  A mixture of floating and nodelocked licenses can help maximize revenues depending on your customer’s situation.

To implement nodelocked counted licenses in RLM, set the count field of the license to either “single” or a positive integer, and specify the hostid of the computer in the actual license. A nodelocked single license does not require a license server, so it is as simple as a nodelocked uncounted license to deploy. A nodelocked counted license with a count (even if the count is 1) does requrire a license server, so it is the next step up in complexity. 

Next time:  floating licenses.

Maintenance-Thru-Date Licenses

Creating Maintenance-Thru-Date Licenses

Many software publishers wish to issue a license to their customers which allows the customer to run (forever) any version of the software which is released before a particular date.  We call this a “maintenance-thru-date” license.  A typical example is that the customer is allowed to run any software released up to 12 months after their original purchase of the software.  If the publisher releases a new version in 11 months, the customer can use this version as well, but they cannot use any version which is released more than 12 months later.

A “maintenance-thru-date” license is implemted with a “date-based” version.  Briefly, you request a version of your software which encodes the release date, and you generate licenses with versions that specify the last release date which can be used.

To implement this in your product, do the following:

  • set the version field of the license to a date, in the format yyyy.mm,
  • specify the version in your call to rlm_checkout() in the same date format, with a date corresponding to the date of release.
  • When you issue licenses, issue them with a version number corresponding to the expiration of their support.

For example, if you want to issue a one-year supported license in May of 2016, you would issue a license of version 2017.05 to your customer. When you release your software in December of 2016, you would request version 2016.12 and the 2017.05 license would work for this version of your software.  When you release again in July of 2017 (with a requested version of 2017.07), your customer will not be able to run that release of your software.

It is certainly possible to use other date formats, however, the format above is used by RLM Activation Pro and it seems as good as any.

 

Intergraph SG&I Switches to RLM for Flexible License Management

INGR_Color_CMYK_Logo_480pxAfter years of license management issues with another technology provider, Intergraph Security Government & Infrastructure (SG&I) decided to evaluate a new solution that was easy to use, flexible enough to fit our evolving licensing models, and capable of supporting our clients’ diverse licensing needs. With these criteria in mind, Intergraph SG&I has made the switch to Reprise Software’s RLM.

In early 2014, Intergraph SG&I approached Reprise Software to evaluate RLM. During our evaluation period, we found RLM to be everything that we needed in an enterprise-class license management technology. With an elegant graphical user interface, RLM delivers an intuitive user experience for our team. RLM has the flexibility to fit our changing licensing models and business needs. Reprise also has a customer support team that is eager to meet our requirements, friendly to work with and experts on the technology’s capabilities. With RLM, we hope to achieve:

  • Better security for us and our clients
  • Easier license management across our portfolio of products
  • Easier license authentication process for our clients
  • Shorter custom development cycles
  • Lower licensing management and operation costs
  • Easier product and customer transitions

Over 2015, Intergraph SG&I will begin migrating its product portfolio and customers to RLM. Based on the success of its initial RLM implementation and migration, Intergraph SG&I plans to transition its entire product portfolio leveraging RLM over the next few years. The first products using RLM will be released in late 2015.

About Intergraph

Intergraph helps the world work smarter. The company’s software and solutions improve the lives of millions of people through better facilities, safer communities and more reliable operations.

Intergraph Process, Power & Marine (PP&M) is the world’s leading provider of enterprise engineering software enabling smarter design and operation of plants, ships and offshore facilities. Intergraph Security, Government & Infrastructure (SG&I) is the leader in smart solutions for emergency response, utilities, transportation and other global challenges. For more information, visit www.intergraph.com.

Intergraph is part of Hexagon (Nordic exchange: HEXA B; www.hexagon.com), a leading global provider of design, measurement, and visualization technologies that enable customers to design, measure and position objects, and process and present data.

© 2015 Intergraph Corporation. All rights reserved. Intergraph is part of Hexagon. Intergraph and the Intergraph logo, are registered trademarks of Intergraph Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

8 Software Licensing Ideas that Improve Revenues in a Slow-growth Economy

As the economy slows down, software vendors must re-think business as usual.  This post contains Software Licensing ideas that improve revenues when the economy slows down.

Every software vendor eventually encounters a slowdown at some point. When overall capital expenditures are declining it’s almost inevitable that software vendors will feel the pinch too. In addition to redoubling your efforts to improve your core products, the key to successfully riding out a recession is to adopt new software licensing programs.

Regular readers of this blog already know that the best way to stay agile in this changing world is to integrate a license manager within your software. Here are some specific Software Licensing ideas that improve revenues for your marketing/sales teams to help you grow in a softening economy.

1. New Pricing/Payment Models
Slowing sales mean that it’s time to get creative with licensing. If you are now selling only permanent licenses, consider going to time-limited licenses, both to add recurring revenue and to avoid “giving away” too much value. Try selling annual licenses to reduce the upfront cost of your licenses.  Price the annual licenses at a level that will increase your revenue over time.  Also consider a pay-per-use scheme for those customers who prefer to be billed that way.

2. License High-Value Components Separately
Some software vendors use an economic dip to decouple some of their high-worth software modules from their basic product so that prices can be reduced on the basic product while still capturing higher revenue from those customers who are will to pay for the more expensive options. The lower cost of the basic version can open up new accounts and increase your market share as well.

3. “Productize” what you used to give away for free
A lot of companies who use a license manager are not, strictly speaking, software companies at all.  Many technology companies often “throw in” software as a kind of “enabler” or loss-leader, focusing instead on collecting revenue from hardware sales or consulting fees. Wherever there is perceived value in software, there is also potentially untapped incremental revenue.

4. Increase your Maintenance Subscription Rate
License Managers are very useful tools to ensure that your customers use only the software versions for which they have paid support fees.  Try using the version number field in your licenses to encode a support-expiration date in the form yyyy.mmdd (2015.0531).  Let a license manager compare it to the “release date” of each version so that your customers must remain current with their maintenance payments in order to access newest releases.

5. Scale your Licenses by Geographical Scope
Use a license manager to restrict licenses by time zone or region to penetrate new markets at a much lower cost. Sales gains can be realized by charging a premium for licenses that allow use across wider geographies. Sell higher priced licenses to organizations whose software usage needs to span wide geographies. Allow these customers to use your licenses as their teams “follow the sun.”

6. Deepen Penetration within your Existing Customers
Often the best source of new license revenue is found within your existing customers. Not all users within a customer are the same. So try creating license classes that are specific to each user type. A license manager makes it easy to build one release image of your product that takes on different functional behaviors (“lite”, “basic”, “advanced” etc.), each one determined by the specific license key you issue. You can later sell upgrades by supplying an additional license key to turn on greater functionality. The pricing of these various classes of licenses should match the value that different user types ascribe to your software.  Examine software usage patterns to create a balanced set of licensing options that appeal to the widest audience within your best customers.

7. Lower customer cost by Hosting License Servers in the Cloud
Sales increases can also result by lowering your customers cost of ownership.  In cases where your customers prefer not to install on-premises license servers, offer them license servers in the cloud.  This may remove barriers that IT groups sometimes erect when they are asked to manage licensed software, speeding product evaluation and deployment. Once licenses are served in the cloud, customers can then expand their usage by simply adding extra licenses to their cloud-managed pool, including new releases and options.

8. Find a lower-cost Software Licensing Vendor
While you are looking for new revenue sources, you might also consider making changes on the other side of the ledger. If you are tired of paying ever higher fees to use your old third party license manager, maybe it’s time to consider a lower cost alternative. Reprise Software is in the sweet-spot in this regard – providing a world-class license management system at a much more affordable price.

 

JTB World adds RLM support

JTB World adds RLM support to its Usage Reporting Tools

Reprise Software is pleased to announce that JTB World has added support for RLM into its suite of license usage reporting tools.

These tools can be used by you or by your customers to monitor historical usage for departmental charge backs or usage-based pricing models.

You can find out more here:

https://blog.jtbworld.com/2014/04/jtb-flexreport-80-adds-reprise-license.html

Please contact JTB World directly for more information.

Which RLM Edition is best?

Three Editions of Reprise Software Licensing Toolkits – which RLM Edition is best for you?

Reprise Software now offers three licensing toolkit editions addressing the software licensing needs of cost-conscious ISVs.  This article compares the three editions to help you decide which RLM edition is best for you.

Reprise Software offers “RLM”, “RLM-Embedded”, and “RLM-ez.”  Each edition is a complete solution with tools for integrating license enforcement  into your applications, and for generating licenses to enable them. They all are based on a common set of licensing apis. How do they compare?

RLM

Reprise Software’s flagship product is RLM.  It contains all of the bells and whistles that users have come to expect from the best in enterprise class software license management.  RLM was designed by the same team that brought you FLEXlm, so in a sense RLM is the next generation of software licensing solutions.  RLM is used by hundreds of independent software vendors who deliver millions of licenses to users, worldwide.

RLM supports a wide array of software licensing models including floating or concurrent user, named user, and many others. RLM includes the RLM License Server that supports a full built-in admin interface.  The RLM License Server produces reports logs that are easy to parse into usage and billing reports using 3rd party tools, or tools that you write using the well-documented, open report log format specification. Reprise Software’s Activation Pro product supports Internet activation for RLM licenses.

First introduced in May of 2006, RLM supports the widest selection of platforms.

RLM-Embedded

Like RLM-ez, RLM-Embedded as a toolkit that supports node-locked licenses only, but with a rich api to support an unlimited number of products, and optional Internet activation via Activation Pro. RLM-Embedded uses the very same api as RLM, so if you upgrade to RLM, then you need to make no source code changes.

As you would expect, RLM-Embedded is offered at a much lower price point that the full RLM product.  In addition to supporting Windows, Linux, and Mac, RLM-Embedded supports some Unix platforms as well.

RLM-Embedded was first released in September, 2009.

RLM-ez

RLM-ez addresses simple node-locked licensing styles only.  If you simply want to make sure your software can run only on authorized computers, then RLM-ez is a good choice.  It uses industry standard digital signature technology so that you can deliver tamper-proof text-based licenses that are locked to your customer’s computer.

The RLM-ez API is very simple, with only a handful calls.  A typical use case for RLM-ez is when you want your customers to freely download your application for a trial period without you having to get involved.  This works well for low cost software where special hand-holding for licensing would be cost prohibitive.  When your customer wants to buy, he sends you his hostid, you generate a license, and email it back. Done.

RLM-ez pricing is a small one-time fee, per product, per platform. RLM-ez is supported on all the major desktop platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Mac.

RLM-ez was first released in March, 2014.

Please contact the Reprise Software Sales Team for more information and detailed pricing.