Getting a grip on software licensing complexity is a
challenge that IT users and their suppliers cannot afford to
shirk.
The Computer Weekly CIO Index highlights IT leaders' frustration
with the amount of management time taken up by software licensing
and the value for money of their software investments.
Sharp practices are far less common than when Computer Weekly
launched a successful campaign on the issue almost a decade ago
(Who are the winners), though inevitably
there remain some examples of bad practice by both suppliers and
users.
The challenge today is how to develop licensing and business
models that are fair, predictable, flexible and transparent.
IT users and suppliers face a range of technical innovations,
such as multicore chips and virtualisation, that challenge
traditional software licence models.
Users also face the suppliers' drive to alter licensing regimes
to deliver more predictable income streams, and the changes thrown
up by the spate of mergers between enterprise software giants.
Add to this mix the pace of change in user organisations and it
is little wonder that licensing remains a headache.
Translating this complexity into licensing regimes that deliver
value to users and fair reward to suppliers will require a
determined effort by both sides to understand the operational
concerns and commercial needs of the other.
The sudden imposition of new licensing regimes by suppliers will
be as damaging as the obdurate refusal of user organisations to
understand suppliers' need to evolve their business models in line
with technical change.
We need dialogue to find mutually acceptable methods for
charging for software. This will be a major investment, but done
right it will pay off for all parties.
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