Featured Article from Software Licensing

The information age and the Internet of Things (IoT) move so rapidly that at times it seems hard to keep up best practices and operations standards. Yet by simply taking a step back and looking at supply chains and lifecycles, particularly when it comes to software, companies can pinpoint trouble spots and operate more leanly and efficiently.

The idea of “going lean” is nothing new, and a recent blog post from Sreedhar Tatavarthi, senior product manager at Flexera Software, looks at how the concept played out in the manufacturing sector. He discusses the rise of Toyota, which entered the automobile industry when Ford (News - Alert) was the market leader. Today Toyota is the most profitable automobile manufacturer in the world, earning four times per car compared to the next top three manufacturers.

The company achieved its success largely by using lean operating principals and eliminating wasteful and outdated methods. By embracing lean manufacturing, Toyota became extremely efficient, increasing productivity and lowering costs.

The same reasoning can be applied to software development and monetization and now that cloud computing and the IoT have become pervasive, it’s time for software companies to take a step back and look at the big picture when it comes to their solution lifecycles.

Tatavarthi pinpointed several areas of the production cycle that software developers and manufacturers should pay closer attention to as part of adopting a leaner and more efficient operating philosophy. One of the first considerations is whether companies have up-to-date information on their installed base, which is critical to lowering support costs and keeping customers happy.

Automation is becoming a de facto part of the technology sector and software companies can reduce their fulfillment costs significantly by automating delivery of electronic software updates to their customers. They can also reduce their support costs substantially by ensuring customers have the most up-to-date versions of their software. And this process is made easier by having the latest installed base information and remote diagnostics easily accessible, which also leads to a reduced number of support calls and of course, happier customers.

Additionally, software companies may reduce revenue losses by using entitlement management to ensure only entitled customers receive software updates. Having the proper systems in place to ensure licensed customers and subscribers are maintaining their subscriptions can curb costs substantially for both businesses and their customers.

Analytics are also a critical component for software companies, helping them make the best choices when it comes to implementing new features, determining end of life of certain solutions, and analyzing adoption rates and environments. Finally, software companies can get ahead of the game by announcing new features, upsell events and promotions to their installed user bases proactively.

“Going lean” doesn’t have to be a difficult or complicated process for software companies. Most already have the tools in place to get a better handle on the lifecycles of their solutions and just need to carry out best practices and processes to increase efficiencies and reduce costs.