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Reprise Software Acquired by FOG Software Group

January 14, 2022 – FOG Software Group (“FOG”), an operating group of Vela Software, and Constellation Software Inc. [TSX:CSU], is pleased to announce the acquisition of Reprise Software, developers of the Reprise License Management (“RLM”) product.

RLM is a fully featured suite of tools that enables independent software vendors (ISVs) to secure and monetize their products, whether they be desktop, network or cloud based. Utilizing a single API for all licensing types, clients can easily create and deploy keys for a variety of environments, reducing development effort and cutting down time required to manage licenses. Additionally, clients can choose to host their own license servers or utilize RLM through a hosted service to make license deployment trivial for customers. Boasting a history that goes back to the early days of license management, RLM remains a trusted and vital partner for top companies.

Tom Chan, CEO of the FOG Software Group STEM Portfolio, expressed his excitement of the opportunity to acquire Reprise, saying “We have used RLM in our products for more than a decade and have always found the software and service to be top notch and an excellent value. We are thrilled to be able to carry the Reprise legacy forward – always providing best in class service and ensuring that RLM continues to meet our customers’ varied needs during a dynamic period in software entitlement.”

If you have any questions about this acquisition, or the capabilities of RLM, please contact Reprise Software at [email protected].

About FOG Software Group

FOG Software Group (www.fogsoftwaregroup.com) is an operating group of Vela Software (www.velasoftwaregroup.com) and Constellation Software, Inc. [TSX:CSU] which is a US$3.5 billion consolidated revenue software conglomerate headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The operating group acquires, manages, and builds software companies in a variety of vertical markets. By helping their acquired companies improve operations, grow through organic initiatives, and seek additional acquisitions that can strengthen their market position, their portfolio companies become clear leaders in their industries.

About Reprise Software

Based in California, Reprise Software (www.reprisesoftware.com) is a leading provider of license management tools for software ISVs in many verticals including engineering, CAD/CAM, heavy industry and scientific applications. Known for providing excellent service and an easy to integrate API, RLM is used by hundreds of clients, worldwide.

Reprise License Manager Wins 2021 Leader Award in Software

Reprise Software is honored to be recognized as a best-in-class category leader by SourceForge

[March 4, 2021]– Reprise Software, a leader in software licensing solutions, today announced that it has been awarded a Winter 2021 Leader Award by SourceForge, the world’s largest software review and comparison website. This award recognized companies and products with outstanding user reviews that are in the top five percentile of highly reviewed products on SourceForge. 

“We’re excited to announce the outstanding SourceForge Winter 2021 Leaders,” said SourceForge President, Logan Abbott. “It’s my pleasure to recognize the Reprise License Manager as a Category Leader. Reprise License Manager from Reprise Software led the pack in the License Management category. Not only did RLM score extremely highly in overall ratings, users also overwhelmingly rated RLM as having outstanding features, design, and support. Congratulations to RLM for being best-in-class in the License Management category.”

To win the Winter 2021 Leader award, each winner had to receive enough high-rated user reviews to place the winning product in the top 5% of favorably reviewed products on SourceForge, which demonstrates the utmost quality that [Company name] delivers to customers.

“At Reprise Software, we’re excited to accept the SourceForge Winter 2021 Leader Award,” said Reprise Software CEO, Matt Christiano. “We do our best to provide a best-in-class product, and we’re happy to see our users rewarding us with good reviews. We’re honored to be valued at such a high level by our customers and to be recognized by SourceForge.”

About SourceForge

SourceForge.net is the world’s largest software comparison directory, serving over 30 million users every month and featuring user reviews, product comparisons, software guides, and more. SourceForge’s mission is to help businesses find the best software to fit their needs and their budget. There are a variety of software tools available to businesses, and there are tools in almost every category and niche, each serving a slightly different purpose.

 

“Virtual Dongles” for the Cloud

Use “Virtual Dongles” for Software Products Deployed in the Cloud

Do you want your customers to be able to use your software in the Cloud? But, you worry that since machine cloning is so easy that your software might be subject to unauthorized overuse? Control your software deployment with “Virtual Dongles for the Cloud”.

Consider using RLM Personal Edition or RLMCloud to easily serve your Cloud licenses.

To enable a customer, simply add his or her username or device ID to your customer list. Since RLM Personal and RLMCloud licenses are floating licenses, users can access your product from any development platform that you support, but use only one licensed copy at a time.


Think of it as a “virtual dongle” that’s cheaper than USB dongles, never gets lost or stolen, never breaks, and doesn’t require shipping. And best of all, it works in the Cloud.

Use the simple RLM Personal Edition API or RLMCloud to checkout the license assigned to the customer’s username or device ID when your software starts.

License checks happen over standard browser protocols.

You can store customer-specific options in each license… specify things like service levels, features, or expiration dates. The RLM Personal and RLMCloud APIs let you retrieve this optional information from within your program.

If you sell subscriptions, no problem, simply remove the user from the list if they cancel.

These licenses can be used for evaluations and paid licenses.

Please contact Reprise Software to start your RLM Personal Edition or RLMCloud Trial today. See https://reprisesoftware.com/products/rlm-personal-edition.php

Building Your Software Pricing Model

Deciding how to price your software products is a challenge that does not a have “one-size-fits-all” solution. A software license manager, such as the Reprise License Manager (RLM), is an indispensable tool that can help you to 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.

Read more

Implement a Recurring Revenue License Model

For more predictable revenues, consider a Recurring Revenue License Model.

Software vendors increasingly rely on a recurring revenue license model and other pricing strategies to create steadier revenue streams. These strategies result in smoother and more predictable revenue growth which makes financial planning easier and increases business efficiency, maximizing value to shareholders.

A license manager such as RLM is an essential tool to implement these changes. It enforces license policies that promote higher recurring revenue.

Recurring revenue comes from three main sources:

  • Renewable license fees (subscriptions)
  • Annual maintenance fees
  • Fees based on usage (pay-per-use or consumptive models)

License Subscriptions

Increasingly, software vendors offer both perpetual licenses and license subscriptions. Subscription licenses are priced so that they provide a lower initial cost in order to attract new customers as well as customers who are trying to preserve short term cash. Subscriptions often seem less risky to customers too.  If the product doesn’t live up to expectations, then the customer has only limited financial exposure.

Subscription licenses are renewable licenses, usually annual, including software support and updates during the coverage period. The license is automatically terminated unless it is renewed.

Setting Prices
Prices for annual subscriptions are generally some fraction of the perpetual license alternative.  Many companies aim for a crossover point of 4 to 5 years after which the costs for the annual license begin to exceed the perpetual license fee plus the annual support costs. So, an annual license might be priced at 40% of a perpetual license.

The License Manager’s Role
Supporting the concept of term licenses are license expiration dates.  Days before the license expires, your software can display the number of days remaining. This technique improves customer satisfaction because the user is prepared for the renewal event. When the customer signs up for another term, new licenses specifying the new expiration date can be sent to replace the expiring license.

If you automate license renewal from within your product using an Internet activation solution, such are Reprise’s Activation Pro, the process is seamless.

Support RenewalsRecurring Revenue License Model

Software vendors who rely primarily on perpetual licenses can still use licensing techniques to enforce support renewals to generate higher renewal rates.  Customers are encouraged to renew their support agreements when license managers restrict access to desirable new releases.

A flexible approach is to specify a “latest release date” in place of the product version number in the license. This date represents the maintenance coverage period. In other words, it specifies the latest future software release date that can be supported by this license.  Of course, applications must be programmed to request licenses consistent with the “born on date” of its release.

Pay Per Use Pricing and Post-Use-Billing

Some software vendors offer yet another payment approach – pay per use or post-use billing.  What better way to stabilize your revenue stream than to charge based on actual usage?

License managers produce detailed report logs of license activity, recording data such as: product name, number of licenses granted, user name, host name, and duration.  With this information, you can periodically produce invoices that reflect your customers actual use. Popular license managers, like RLM, write the log in plain text so that it can examined directly. Also, the log is authenticated to ensure data integrity, and can be “anonymized” to address potential privacy concerns.

License managers that are deployed in the cloud, such as RLMCloud, collect the usage data for easy analysis and invoice generation.

Business Advantages

Recurring revenue models:

  • encourage steady, predictable revenue flow to the publisher
  • lower initial cost for the user, and faster approval cycles
  • allow for short-term rentals and faster new feature introduction
  • allow license policy to change at renewal time
  • Limit license exposure to overuse when machines are decommissioned or upgraded
  • let customers expense the budgeted license renewal fees
  • lessen price discounting pressure
  • Encourage tighter client-vendor relationship because support is bundled.

All other things being equal, companies with recurring revenue pricing are valued higher than companies who rely mostly on perpetual licenses. For these companies, revenue recognition is immediate.  It is also easier to weather a bad quarter or flat market. Bundling customer support in the license fee helps to retain customers and boost support renewal rates. Sales compensation can reward new orders at higher rates than renewals, but lower rates than perpetual licenses. Since end customers cannot opt-out of support, customer satisfaction is improved.

The Transition

If your company plans to shift from perpetual to subscription licensing models, expect lower initial growth rates. But, since new customer acquisition builds revenue incrementally on top of revenue base from renewals from previous years, after an initial period of slower growth, revenues will exceed perpetual-only models.

The mechanics of making the transition work may mean modifying your licensing code at the api level in order to handle automatic renewals. Also, your CRM system may need to be coupled more tightly to make sure that renewal orders and cancellations are reflected into your licensing solution. Remember, SaaS is not required for recurring revenue, the delivery model is irrelevant.  You can still sell desktop on-premises applications and gain from recurring revenue licensing models.