News

Software licensing

• December 17, 2010 17 Dec'10

  Oracle makes $2bn software sales as executives talk up hardware

  Oracle sold $2billion new software licences in its second quarter of 2010. Software license updates and product support revenues were up 12% to $3.6...

• November 25, 2010 25 Nov'10

  SAP improves customer relations, but still faces price and licensing issues

  New leadership of German enterprise software maker SAP is pursuing a transformation agenda and a more customer-focused strategy in an attempt to rebuild trust.

• November 01, 2010 01 Nov'10

  Oracle starts court battle for $2.3bn in damages from SAP

  Oracle's court battle with SAP is set to begin today in Oakland, California as it seeks at least $2.3bn in damages for unauthorised access of its systems by an SAP subsidiary. In a suit filed in 2007, Oracle alleges that SAP's now-defunct support ...

• August 12, 2010 12 Aug'10

  Linux Foundation releases open source compliance tests

  An open compliance programme has been launched by the Linux Foundation to help people using open source software comply with licensing.

• July 14, 2010 14 Jul'10

  Government scraps £80m Microsoft licensing deal with NHS

  The government has scrapped the long-running NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) enterprise agreement (EA) software licensing deal with Microsoft after deciding there was no business case or budget to renew it.

• May 11, 2010 11 May'10

  Businesses warned of software licensing clampdown

  Businesses are under threat of legal action and compulsory audits as cash-strapped software suppliers take a tough line on software licensing.

• December 18, 2009 18 Dec'09

  Oracle boosts software and services revenue with SAP business

  Oracle has increased its software licence and product support revenue by 14% to $3.9bn for the second quarter of 2009, at the expense of SAP.

• October 21, 2009 21 Oct'09

  Citrix changes XenDesktop licensing after user pressure

  Citrix has reacted to criticisms from IT departments of the user-based licensing of its XenDesktop 4 product and introduced more flexibility into its payment options.

• August 10, 2009 10 Aug'09

  Video: Windows 7 - Businesses can upgrade now

  Enterprise users with Microsoft Software Assurance subscription licensing can now download and install Windows 7 Enterprise Edition.

• July 15, 2009 15 Jul'09

  Microsoft slashes licence fees up to 40%

  Microsoft is to streamline and simplify its licensing structure, saving customers up to 40% of their licensing costs.

• April 24, 2009 24 Apr'09

  Government departments to swap spare software licences

  The government is setting up a software swap-shop to allow government departments to use spare software without paying extra licensing costs.

  The pool,...

• March 26, 2009 26 Mar'09

  Recession leads to more business for Red Hat

  Red Hat has reported rising licensing revenue as it benefits from increased customer interest in open source sparked by the recession.

  There has been...

• March 19, 2009 19 Mar'09

  Oracle boosts software licence revenue

  Oracle has reported a rise in software licence sales for Q3 2009.

• March 06, 2009 06 Mar'09

  Save costs by understanding your ERP licences

  One area companies rarely consider for cost saving, but where there is a lot of potential, is ERP software licences…

• November 14, 2008 14 Nov'08

  Infor helps Nakheel reach for the sky with world's tallest building

  Nakheel has bought extra licences worth $3m for Infor 's...

• August 29, 2008 29 Aug'08

  Credit crunch drives software audits

  More frequent software audits and new licence conditions likely as software houses seek to shore up revenues against the economic downturn.

• July 18, 2008 18 Jul'08

  Open source in technology merger and acquisitions

  Open source technology is simply an evolved class of licensing under which wider, more permissive rights are given to users. Crucially, access to source code is given enabling user support and development of the code. While the open source ...

• July 01, 2008 01 Jul'08

  Microsoft debuts Select Plus flexible enterprise licensing

  Microsoft has introduced the Select Plus software licensing package for larger firms that want a more flexible organisation-wide agreement.

• April 01, 2008 01 Apr'08

  Thus returns to Thresher

  Retailer Thresher is to extend its contract with telco Thus to run the communications services for its 1,800 licence sites and head office.

• March 06, 2008 06 Mar'08

  How to negotiate virtualisation licensing

  IT managers negotiating the price of virtualisation licences with software suppliers such as Microsoft, SAP and Oracle could get cheaper deals if they audit software use beforehand.

• January 28, 2008 28 Jan'08

  Firms weary about software licensing models, report says

  Firms continue to find the software licensing models of their suppliers a source of headaches, according to a report published by analyst Forrester.

• November 23, 2007 23 Nov'07

  Free Software Foundation develops open licence to cover SaaS

  The Free Software Foundation has developed an open licence to cover on-demand software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications.

• November 16, 2007 16 Nov'07

  Software to become a buyer’s market, says Gartner

  Competitive forces are converging to reduce software licence fees, says Gartner

• October 12, 2007 12 Oct'07

  Shadow promises mainframe saving

  Mainframe middleware firm Data­Direct Technologies has developed technology to enable businesses running IBM z/OS mainframes to save on software licensing costs by offloading applications on to dedicated mainframe processors.

• September 24, 2007 24 Sep'07

  E-tailer cuts licensing costs with Linux server

  An online retailer has saved more than £56,000 in software licensing costs after moving its IT platform from Microsoft Windows to Linux.

• July 30, 2007 30 Jul'07

  DVLA reduces costs by 30% with online service

  The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) expects to save £50m over the next eight years, as it begins to reap the benefits of technology to enable customers to pay their car tax online.

• July 19, 2007 19 Jul'07

  Gartner: MS subscription licence may become ‘mandatory’

  Microsoft is likely to make changes to the way its products are licensed that could, in effect, make its Software Assurance subscription licensing programme mandatory by 2009, analyst firm Gartner has predicted.

• July 15, 2007 15 Jul'07

  Microsoft Software Assurance deals questioned by IT chiefs

  One in four companies that bought into Microsoft’s Software Assurance licensing programme in 2004 are being deterred from renewing the three-year deal because they perceive it to be poor value, a study by Forrester Research has revealed.

• July 10, 2007 10 Jul'07

  Microsoft Software Assurance renewals in doubt

  Users are still seeing little value in Microsoft's Software Assurance (SA) subscription licence programme, a new report from Forrester Research suggests.

• July 01, 2007 01 Jul'07

  Users slam lack of virtual apps support

  Users of virtualisation software say they are unable to get support for applications. As reported last week, IT workers have objected to the cost of software licences for virtual applications.

• June 28, 2007 28 Jun'07

  Users seek support on virtualisation

  Users of virtualisation software have complained that the combination of costly licensing agreements and a lack of support from suppliers is eroding the cost advantages offered by the technology.

• June 28, 2007 28 Jun'07

  Government failing to take advantage of cheap licensing deals, says PAC

  Nearly half of all central government bodies are losing money because they are failing to take advantage of cheap licences for software and telecommunications, according to a report from the Commons public accounts committee.

• June 25, 2007 25 Jun'07

  IT chiefs press for cut in virtual licence costs

  IT user groups are to meet with leading software suppliers to tackle the costs of server virtualisation software licensing, which is a growing concern among IT departments.

• June 13, 2007 13 Jun'07

  Microsoft outlines Windows Server virtualisation costs

  Microsoft has released a white paper to help clarify how its licensing works with virtualised Windows Server environments.

• May 17, 2007 17 May'07

  DVLA speeds registrations with BancTec scanning system

  The Driver & Vehicle Licence Agency (DVLA) has installed a new scanning system to improve processing times for vehicle registration certificates.

• March 20, 2007 20 Mar'07

  Symantec says fixing licensing portal top priority

  Company officials say help is on the way as fallout continues from the merger of Symantec and Veritas ordering systems last November.

• February 05, 2007 05 Feb'07

  Licences could hinder grids

  Current software licensing models could hinder the adoption of grid technologies that use virtualisation software to run applications over several machines, a grid user group has warned.

• January 18, 2007 18 Jan'07

  Your shout: Train to check churn, the licensing cosh

  Have your say at computerweekly.com

• November 20, 2006 20 Nov'06

  Sun opens door to Java source code

  Sun Microsystems has made the Java source code available to the open source community under the GNU General Public Licence.

• October 30, 2006 30 Oct'06

  Users to question Oracle on Fusion

  UK users will meet Oracle next month to voice their concerns about the company’s Fusion middleware strategy, licensing and ongoing support.

• October 09, 2006 09 Oct'06

  Microsoft offers users unlimited virtualisation

  Microsoft has changed the licensing of its Windows Server Datacenter, allowing users buying new servers licensed with the operating system to run an unlimited number of virtualised instances of Windows Server.

• October 04, 2006 04 Oct'06

  Microsoft changes Window Server Datacentre licensing

  Microsoft has changed the licensing of its Windows Server Datacentre operating system, allowing users buying new servers licensed with the OS to run an unlimited number of virtualised Windows Server instances.

• August 22, 2006 22 Aug'06

  Open Source Initiative sets out plan to curb proliferation of open source licenses

  The Open Source Initiative has published a draft plan aimed at reducing the proliferation of different open source licences.

• August 08, 2006 08 Aug'06

  Insist on a flexible deal, users urged

  IT directors should look to negotiate more nuanced software licensing contracts that allow them to accumulate desktop user licences in stages rather than paying for them all up-front.

• August 02, 2006 02 Aug'06

  Microsoft launches system to tackle licensing problem

  Microsoft has launched its software asset management system in the UK, which is designed to make it easier for firms to manage their software licences.

• July 26, 2006 26 Jul'06

  Big Blue turns to performance based licensing

  IBM has unveiled plans to charge for its software based on how fast it runs on customer systems.

• July 25, 2006 25 Jul'06

  CIOs slam increasing licence complexity

  IT chiefs are struggling with the complexity of software licensing contracts, and they see little evidence of suppliers becoming more accommodating, or licences offering better value than three years ago.

• July 25, 2006 25 Jul'06

  Tool helps users sidestep virtual licensing breach

  A virtualisation supplier has developed a product it claims will solve the software licensing issues that arise when users run multiple instances of an operating system or application in violation of their licensing agreements.

• June 07, 2006 07 Jun'06

  DVLA links with passport system to help ease licence applications

  Drivers can now apply for a driving licence without having to send in their passport, if it is one of the new digital type.

• May 09, 2006 09 May'06

  Merger boom leads to software licensing headache for IT directors

  The boom in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) has left IT directors grappling with software licensing deals that are inflexible and lack transparency, according to leading industry figures.