Fundamentals of Licensing

In addition to protecting your software and intellectual property, you need to protect the revenue from sales of your product. You want to ensure that your software is only available to the appropriate users, according to the terms that you define. This process is controlled by licensing.

Licensing provides you with the flexibility to implement your business strategies for your software distribution. When you define the licensing terms on which your software is distributed or sold, you select the terms that are commercially beneficial to your company.

For example, you may decide that you initially want to distribute your software free of charge, so that users can try it before purchasing. You will want to ensure that users can use it for only a limited time before it must be purchased.

Alternatively, you may publish very complex, expensive software. You may decide to make specific components of that software available for a lower price, thus making parts of it accessible to users who cannot afford the full-featured version. Such a decision creates an additional revenue source.

To obtain the maximum benefit from your company’s licensing strategy, you need a software licensing system that provides you with the flexibility to tailor licensing terms to fit your business strategies, and to adapt quickly to changes in the market and in your business needs. Your licensing system must also be able to track your defined usage terms along with secure licensing methods.