Software Licensing Featured Articles

Is Software Licensing Wreaking Havoc on Software Budgets?

By Carrie Schmelkin, Director of Content Marketing, Content Boost

It’s extremely taboo but yet a very common problem – CIOs are leaving money on the table. And, according to InformationWeek recent research, CIOs are doing the unthinkable because of some of their software buying practices.

One of the biggest hurdles standing in the way of you and a smarter software budget is software licensing, according to a blog on InformationWeek, as even the world’s most knowledgeable IT veterans are confused by today’s software licensing.

"It would be nice if there were licensing standards," Arnie DeWitt, CIO of Phillips Plastics, told InformationWeek.

For example, Microsoft's VDA license includes an 11-page white paper and a seven-page clarifying FAQ to help users through the complexities as opposed to Google's (News - Alert) approach with its Apps for Business, $50 per user, per year.

“Unfortunately, not all SaaS licensing agreements are so cut and dry,” InformationWeek’s Laurianne McLaughlin reports.

In addition to dealing with software licensing when planning a software budget, CIOs have to contend with three other major obstacles: the fact that they don’t know what they have and buy more than they need; that they are using valuable IT staffer time to manage licensees when instead they could be automating the process using asset management tools; and that they are not checking whether software is used once it is installed.

One company that is trying to offer solutions to address these issues is Flexera Software, a provider of strategic solutions for Application Usage Management. Flexera Software helps application producers and their customers strategically manage application usage to achieve continuous compliance, optimized usage and maximized value, according to the software licensing company.

Recently, TMCnet reported that Flexera helped Thomas Reuters lower maintenance support costs through critical updates to financial software users thanks to software updating. Thomson (News - Alert) Reuters is a provider of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, offering an extensive suite of financial tools for financial professionals.

Thomson Reuters (News - Alert) faced a challenge when it expressed a desire to offer customers transparent updates of desktop financial tools software. Thousands of customers currently use the software 24-hours a ways, seven-days per week. A number of large customers wanted more control over software licensing so they could roll out updates to users according to their own strategy.

To meet this need, Thomson Reuters (News - Alert) turned to Flexera Software for the optimal software licensing and updating solutions. Thomson Reuters implemented the FlexNet Connect, a component of Flexera Software’s FlexNet Producer Suite for Software Vendors. This solution is used to electronically deliver updates to customers.

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