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Software Licensing Company Flexera Highlights the Software Take Over

By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Marc Andreesen’s Wall Street Journal article, “Why Software Is Eating The World,” has had a longer shelf life in the public consciousness than most. When that happens it’s worth paying attention to.

Flexera Software blogger Bashyam Anant certainly thought about what Andreesen wrote and posted an interesting reaction. According to Andreesen’s article, we are in currently in the middle of a “dramatic and broad technological and economic shift in which software companies are poised to take over large swathes of the economy. More and more major businesses and industries are being run on software and delivered as online services—from movies to agriculture to national defense."

Industries are being transformed by software and software licensing, and as Andreesen pointed out, software companies have upstaged industry incumbents in unforeseen ways. Anant says that while yes, software-driven innovations are “at the heart of Marc's article,” they’re not the only ones: “Business models are also being transformed in parallel, and are, in many cases, just as crucial for the success of companies driving the transformation.”

An example he gives is of Apple (News - Alert) “reinventing how consumers pay for music.” Anant said the particular genius here was to allow music to be purchased like it was consumed, “thus transforming the monetization model in the music industry.”

No longer did one have to purchase an album, with a couple songs you want and others you didn’t, and plunk down $15.99 for the whole CD to get the two or three songs you really wanted. Now listeners could purchase individual songs and leave the filler. Genius (News - Alert). And may we say here, Mr. Genius, Steve Jobs, rest in peace and thank you for everything.

Anant’s probably correct when he says that in this phenomenon there is, in fact, a “tremendous opportunity for software companies and device manufacturers to grow revenues by monetizing their software and the value delivered by it.” Hey when you’re on the side of what’s eating the world that’s a nice place to be, no?

He cites Flexera’s experience in saying that, in his view, “software-driven business transformation” requires software companies and device manufacturers to do three things (to avoid being eaten themselves?)

They must protect intellectual property -- long a given for software vendors but a relatively new concern for device manufacturers, especially those using virtual appliances.

Re-think monetization models based on how customers want to use and pay for software. Software’s pretty flexible, as is music.

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