Enterprise software customer demands are evolving and software vendors and intelligent device manufacturers need to adopt flexible and adaptable licensing and packaging techniques, to meet these needs and generate more revenue opportunities, according to Gemalto, a digital security product company.
Shlomo Weiss, Senior Vice President, Software Monetisation at Gemalto, said: “The way that software is consumed is changing – whether users only want certain features, to use it on the device of their choice, or only want to pay for what they use. Independent software vendors (ISVs) have to keep up with the changing demands of their customers. We see that piracy, reverse engineering, and deliberate and unintentional misuse are all still monetisation concerns for ISVs. However, now more than ever, delivering software in ways that customers want to consume it is critical for creating a user experience that sells.”
The firm’s State of Software Monetisation report suggests that the majority of respondents (85 per cent) think software vendors need to constantly adapt to evolving market needs. More specifically, 83 per cent of enterprise respondents said that flexible software packaging and accessibility across multiple devices are extremely important to them. In addition, four out of five respondents believe that software needs to be future-proof to be successful. ISVs – including intelligent device manufacturers – are still finding monetising their software challenging, especially including back office tasks and licensing enforcement. Only one in ten ISVs reported no licensing operations challenges. Top back office issues included:
· Cost of renewing and managing licenses (87 per cent);
· Time spent renewing and managing licenses (83 per cent);
· Time and cost spent on non-product-related development (82 per cent); and
· Limited visibility into how products are being used (68 per cent).
Enterprise software consumers expressed their frustration with traditional, rigid software licensing, packaging and delivery options. They are increasingly looking for online software delivery, metered usage and device-agnostic licensing. Only 10 per cent of enterprise respondents claimed that their organisation is not experiencing challenges with their software licenses. Among the remaining respondents, top licensing challenges included inflexible license agreements, long customer on-boarding and lost licensing keys. Top software license preferences included:
· Enterprise licenses (59 per cent);
· Site licenses (45 per cent); and
· Concurrent-user licenses (40 per cent).
Compliance – whether intentional or unintentional – is still a primary concern among ISVs. Four-fifths of ISV respondents worry about unlicensed software use, up from about three-quarters in 2012. Among unlicensed software usage, ISV respondents said that their top concerns were:
· Competitive theft of intellectual property (59 per cent);
· Intentional licensing agreement violations (56 per cent); and
· Software piracy (48 per cent).
At the same time, almost half of enterprise respondents admit to being non-compliant with a software agreement. When asked about how ISVs could improve their services: 80 per cent think software vendors could provide more clarity around processes/audits; and 72 per cent think software vendors could improve usage tracking/audits.
