As companies struggle with the complexity of software licensing management, innovative software licensing solutions are emerging. With literally hundreds (if not thousands) of platforms available specific to the data, insights and analytics sector, software license management has become increasingly critical for firms that rely heavily on technology. This means closely monitoring and tracking software licenses to ensure that their firm possesses the necessary licenses to meet current and future requirements.
A recent report from Infraon said “100% of organizations with 30,000 – 100,000 employees think that they are over-licensed and losing money, with nearly 20% stating that they are very over-licensed.”
As such, many software firms are seeing pushback on traditional subscription-based licensing models as clients suffer from subscription overload.
How best for software firms to navigate licensing pushback from existing or prospective buyers?
What can software buyers do to ensure their licensing dollars aren’t wasted?
First, let’s start with an overview of what are considered “standard” software licensing models today:
User-based licensing: Licensing is based on the number of users accessing the software. Clients pay for a specific number of licenses, which can be scaled up or down as needed.
Within the data, insights and analytics sector, most software firms license on a subscription-based model. However, with so many licensed platforms available (from data collection to data analytics, text analytics, translation, transcription and a myriad of other use cases), it’s time to consider a few new licensing paradigms.
Without a doubt, the “holy grail” of software licensing is subscription-based licensing, which should be utilized whenever possible. However, if you’re struggling with new customer acquisition or are experiencing licensing churn, experimenting with new models may ensure you’re getting your platform in front of users who, ideally, will turn into subscribers down the road.
For buyers, focus on optimizing spending through ongoing analysis of your company's actual licensing needs over time.
Interested in talking more about how to update your pricing or licensing models? Reach out to us!