Introduction

Today’s software industry is more competitive than ever. As with many other industries that once enjoyed exceptionally high margins, software products are increasingly regarded as commodities, with resulting deterioration in both revenues and bottom line profits. To counteract these trends, software publishers and vendors now see the need to change the way they market their products, to increase the value they offer their customers and to better differentiate their offerings from the competition.

Licensing is among the most promising approaches for achieving more-competitive, value-based offerings. Today, software publishers and vendors are seeking ways of moving away from the traditional model—based on perpetual licenses and printed End User License Agreements—toward more flexible licensing business models. New licensing tactics such as trialware, demoware, module- and feature-based licensing, rental, subscription, network licensing—and combinations of these—enable software publishers and vendors to adapt to dynamic markets by offering compelling products that target broader, more segmented markets.

Sentinel LDK is designed specifically to assist software publishers and vendors in pursuit of more competitive product offerings. It not only offers the highest possible level of protection—both against illegal copying and in securing critical intellectual property (IP)—it also enables rapid implementation of novel licensing and distribution models, without the need for extensive engineering of product source code. This enables software publishers and vendors to aggressively extend their market reach and penetration, without negatively impacting their operating margins, to protect the bottom line.

This section describes a wide range of licensing strategies and models designed to provide end users with greater value and additional options for purchasing software products. Using Sentinel LDK’s versatile abilities, these strategies and models can be implemented immediately, and can serve as the basis for elaboration and for creating new, tailor-made licensing business models.