Software Licensing Models: What´s Out There?

Software licensing is changing how organization and individuals purchase and use software. For enterprises that rely on software to maintain a market share, the software licensing model can strongly influence the return on software investment. Yet choosing a model can be daunting, involving considerations from total licenses purchased to the resources available to install and set up licensing systems. Given the recent evolution of software licensing models, enterprises are finding it increasingly important to keep abreast of what´s available and to understand how particular models are advantageous or detrimental matches. This article gives an overview of the choices, describes the resources needed to activate or protect software for the various models, and looks at how licensing systems can help enterprises better comply with licensing terms and agreements