ISVs are pushing the limits of software licensing as more and more applications are being deployed in the cloud. Cloud computing affords a high level of scalability, flexibility, and elasticity that has made a dramatic impact to the way ISVs can license software, enabling new models like on-demand, pay-per-use, and other consumption-based approaches. 

In addition to enabling more economical usage and payment models, the cloud offers end users many additional benefits: users can access their licenses wherever, whenever, and however they need them, from mobile devices or at different locations without having to manually transfer a license file or carry around a dongle; data is better protected in the cloud versus storage on laptops and mobile devices that can be lost or stolen; and software upgrades and maintenance costs are greatly reduced.

For ISVs, however, the transformation to cloud-based licensing doesn’t mean the end of traditional licensing modes. Some applications simply can’t be deployed in the cloud or there may be geographic or cultural considerations that hinder cloud-based delivery. Either way, to stay competitive, ISVs need to be capable of implementing a flexible licensing strategy that gives them the ability to mix and match dongles, machine-bound software licenses and cloud licenses to perfectly suit their requirements and serve their target groups’ needs. It is a great scenario for end users, but for ISVs, there lies a trap: With greater flexibility comes greater complexity.

Consider the different internal workflows that are required to create, deliver, change, and manage licenses using different license containers, whether they be hard, soft or cloud-based, and imagine scenarios where customers want to use all three types because of the diversity of their customer needs. There is a potential nightmare looming.

This scenario is exactly what we took into consideration when we developed and launched CodeMeter Cloud, the most recent addition to the CodeMeter software licensing and protection solution portfolio. CodeMeter was originally developed for dongle-based licensing. The technology later evolved with software-based activation with CmActLicenses and a complete one-stop-shop for managing licenses over the Internet with CodeMeter License Central. Now, CodeMeter has advanced to the Cloud, and notably, using the same delivery and management workflows for any type of license container. CodeMeter Cloud is designed to work in the same way for online and offline licenses. Users who are already familiar with CodeMeter do not have to learn anything new and they can now offer their users a choice – licenses offline on a computer, mobile on a dongle, or online in the cloud. ISVs using CodeMeter for the first time have the flexibility and ease of use they need to satisfy their customers and manage their license efficiently with process uniformity throughout, regardless of the container of choice.

In our Webinar on Wednesday, December 4, we will introduce CodeMeter Cloud and demonstrate the seamless process for creating, delivering, changing, and managing licenses, whether online or offline. You can register for this Webinar, Feeling Right at Home: Uniform Processes for Online and Offline Licenses, here.