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Software Licensing Leader Dissects World of Cloud Bursting

By Carrie Schmelkin, Director of Content Marketing, Content Boost

We’ve all heard of cloud communications, cloud storage and cloud computing but what about cloud bursting?

According to software licensing leader Flexera Software, many enterprises and software vendors must hammer out a multitude of details concerning people, process, and technology when they are designing cloud strategies. One new design that many enterprise customers are trying to achieve is cloud bursting, which is when a private cloud service allows or enables the virtual machine to burst to a public ISP or cloud provider. 

According to a recent blog post by Flexera, many large enterprises have questions about the software license implications of bursting to the cloud.  Therefore, it is imperative that when you create software licensing policies for the cloud that you are clear on a few things, according to Flexera.

The first is double dipping.

“If an enterprise has purchased an ‘all you can eat’ license for a virtual machine and/or the applications that are bursted with that machine, they do not expect to have to pay a service provider license or an additional license to the ISP,” Jeanne Morain (News - Alert) at Flexera writes. “The question is who do you charge?  Should you charge? Most enterprises will push back if they feel they are being charged twice for the same technology and ultimately adoption may be delayed.”

Moreover, software vendors ought to think about corkage fees. Just as popular restaurants allow customers to bring your own wine but charge a nominal fee to cork the bottle, maybe software vendors could make an arrangement with "preferred" providers that enable a "corkage" fee, according to the software licensing company. This would ensure that the enterprise not only has additional compute for test and development but also support new methods of servicing their workforce: such as virtual desktops or universal clients in the cloud.

In addition, software vendors may also want to request additional tracking of applications (particularly virtual) that are delivered via a third party provider or bursted on to a third party provider, the blog explains.

On a related note, software licensing implications for the enterprise can be “significant if cloud bursting is implemented without first understanding all the potential implications that it could have on the overall business,” Morain writes. 

“The last thing anyone wants is an end of year audit that turns up significant overage or fees for service provider license agreements,” she said.  “Remember the industry is on the cusp of a paradigm shift.  What history has taught us is that none are fail proof and there are bound to be mistakes along the way.”

Therefore, some questions to figure out include whether to offer software licensing and tracking per user or device;   what level and types of reporting are available within the third party network to track access control and general audit requirements before implementing a third party service and what cloud bursting platform is the best.