Tag Archives: saas licensing

Jul 31
2012 

SaaS Licensing: How To Handle Per-User Transfers

by David DiMillo

This question recently appeared on Quora, and I thought it would benefit our readers to hear the answer.

“What is standard practice for when companies want to “switch seats” in a SaaS licensing context? I run an early-stage SaaS company and we sell on a per-seat basis. Occasionally I’ll get a request to switch a seat from one user to another. Sometimes this is because someone left a company and in other cases it’s because a user isn’t very active and they want to switch to someone who will be more active. What is standard practice here for this? Obviously we’d prefer that a new seat license be purchased rather than transferring a license but we also want to try to be flexible given that we’re a start-up”

This question reaches outside of the SaaS domain and applies to many per-user or named-user license models in the traditional on-premise environments.

Apr 26
2012 

LicensingLive London 2012: From On-Premise into the Cloud

by Jennifer Lewis

Why choose either cloud-based OR on-premise delivery for your software, when you can do both?
by Ariella Shoham, EMEA SRM FIeld Marketing Manager

Last month, we got together again for LicensingLive London, our annual “cloud gathering” at the Royal Institute of Great Britain in London. The surroundings – the RIGB Library, surrounded by hundreds (if not thousands) of scientific publications and books was the ideal setting for discussing some of the hottest topics in the world of Software as a Service.

Apr 20
2012 

SafeNet Launches SaaS Licensing Channel on TMCNet

by Jennifer Lewis

Software-as-a-service, or SaaS, has become a critical delivery model for ISV’s who are looking to remain competitive.  To help the software community stay ahead of this trend, SafeNet has launched the SaaS Licensing channel on TMCNet focusing on trends and best practices for licensing in the SaaS industry.

As traditional software developers transition from on-premise to hybrid and cloud-based offerings, it becomes increasingly critical for leadership and information as this can be a complex and difficult process.  “The SaaS licensing channel will help drive awareness for this important topic,” says SafeNet’s Michelle Nerlinger, “and give the industry a much-needed credible source of information as it looks to explore the difficulties associated with cloud service packaging, user authorization, and usage measurement and reporting.”

To view SafeNet’s SaaS Licensing channel, visit http://saas-licensing.tmcnet.com.

 

Apr 10
2012 

Putting Customers First: Why ISVs Need Flexible Pricing Models

by Prakash Panjwani

I have spent much of my last seven years promoting software licensing and monetization. Of course, market dynamics have changed over those years and our solutions and thinking has evolved accordingly. More recently, with the launch of Sentinel Cloud in 2011, we have been very focused on encouraging our customers to start aggressively adopting usage-based models – primarily because their customers – end users – want such pricing schemes.

So, you can probably imagine my reaction as the following story unfolded….

Mar 21
2012 

How to Architect Your SaaS Application

by Jake Fox

Architecting applications for the cloud has changed traditional software development considerations.  Many software companies simply are not sure how to do it.  At SafeNet, we’ve had some experience with architecting and developing our own cloud application, SentinelCloud, a service offering which supports software licensing for cloud and SaaS applications.

Michael “MiZu” Zunke, the CTO of our SRM division, provided some insight into our process and experience building our cloud application after finding this post about designing and architecting cloud apps, and explains what we learned by it.  His comments highlight the journey we took over 2 ½ years in developing SentinelCloud explains some of the key challenges we faced and how we overcame them.

Feel free to share your lessons learned with our LicensingLive community.  What were your top challenges in architecting your cloud solution?

Feb 3
2012 

Sentinel Cloud Takes Center Stage in IDC’s Latest Vendor Spotlight

by Jennifer Lewis

Recognizing the need for ISV’s to effectively monetize SaaS applications, Amy Konary from IDC recently published “Licensing for SaaS Applications: ISV’s Take to the Cloud.”   In this white paper, Amy reviews the evolution of the SaaS market and specifically addresses how licensing has changed the software monetization strategy for ISV’s heading into the cloud.

In addition to providing sound guidance for ISV’s about options with their software monetization models, this report also discusses the software licensing and entitlement management solutions that SafeNet offers, and how the latest SafeNet offering, Sentinel Cloud Services, allows SaaS vendors to embrace new market opportunities and create an extensible growth strategy.

When it comes to software licensing strategy, challenges are at every turn.  In this report, Amy provides solid recommendations and guidance for ISV’s to seize this opportunity to take to the cloud.

Read the white paper: January 2012: IDC’s Licensing for SaaS Applications: ISV’s Take to the Cloud.

Jan 9
2012 

Sentinel Cloud Services Receives CODie 2012 Nomination

by Jennifer Lewis

SIIA’s CODie Awards program has nominated SafeNet’s Sentinel Cloud Services as a finalist in the 27th annual CODiE 2012 Awards in the Best Digital Rights Management Solution category.

Each year the SIIA’s judging experts review and identify all nominated products and services. In its 27 years of existence, the SIIA has recognized more than 1000 companies for achieving greatness in industries that expect innovative thinking and demand market validation.

From the CODiE Awards website:  “SIIA awards the solution that best allows the secure electronic purchase, distribution and subsequent use of software and/or information based on the rigorous criterion.”

The winners will be announced on January 24, 2012 during a special dinner held in conjunction with the Information Industry Summit.  Receiving this nomination is a significant accomplishment for the entire Sentinel Cloud team who has worked tirelessly to provide the industry’s only complete and proven solution for software monetization in the cloud. 

Sentinel Cloud Services makes it quick and easy for SaaS providers to build versatile service catalogs, provision and authorize user access, measure service usage, and instantly adapt their service offerings to embrace new and evolving market opportunities.  For more information about Sentinel Cloud Services, you can visit http://www.sentinelcloud.com.

Jun 23
2011 

Adobe Leverages Usage Tracking Reports to Optimize Roadmap Investment

by Michelle Nerlinger

Yesterday Adobe announced the end of Adobe Air for Linux platforms.  The ability to collect and track the application led to the decision by Adobe to drop it.  Simply – they knew from downloads, updates and the internet connectivity of the application how popular the version was as a percentage of all platforms.  They also decided to use those resources to drive development in a different direction.  This kind of data, extended even into the application itself, can drive decisions based on empirical evidence and not emotion.  Deprecating features in order to devote resources in areas that delight, excite and motivate your customers is a critical aspect of a highly successful and competitive software business. #sentinelcloud