|
A Licensing Model refers to the rules that govern the permissible usage of computer software. A license is an agreement under which a person or entity (the licensee), is granted the right to use the programs in the manner specified in the software license agreement.
Technically, nearly any reliable approach may be used to measure the usage of software. Some common approaches are:
- Controlling the Features Used. Frequently a code, sometimes incorporated in an external device called a dongel, is used to control which capabilities of a program
are activated.
- Controlling the Number of Users. Some vendors exercise tight control, while others rely on contractual provisions and the integrity of the user to ensure compliance
with the license. Limits on users are typically set though the user of:
- Concurrent User Limits (limits on the number of users working at any one time); or
- Named User Limits (limiting use of the software to certain log-ins or certain workstations. The former allows more users access to the software by only limiting the number of users at any one time.
- Counting Installed Computers. A software license usually limits the number of copies to one computer although some licenses allow a backup computer should the
primary fail.
- Controlling the Number of Software Copies that may be Made. Usually this is limited to only one copy for the purpose of backup. This practice seems to be
declining in popularity. Deploying software on CDs and using activation keys to enable the software and its capabilities makes backup copy limits less important to
software development.
- Controlling the Computer Power Available to the Software. Historically this approach has been limited to operating systems and some database products where
software prices were higher if certain types of processors were used, or if multiple processor computers were used. Today, many companies are moving to pricing based
on the total amount of CPU power in the configuration of computers used for the software, measured in Mhz.
- Controlling Units of Time that the Software is in Use, or the Disk Capacity Used by the Software. Typically, this model has been used when users dial-in or use a network to connect to the programs. This is essentially a service model for use of programs. Some WEB services use this approach, as do service bureaus.
- Controlling the Software Environment. Licenses restrict the use of programs to certain operating systems. Prices that vary by operating system may indicate this
license model approach however, it is often that running a program in different environments requires different third party software costing different amounts.
Deciphering these differences can be confusing.
- Controlling the Number of Database Elements, such as the number of employees, sales, readers, badges, etc. This practice is likely to grow as WEB applications
grow.
The license models used by third-party software components incorporated into the finished product often dictate the license model used by a vendor. Wise vendors attempt to keep
their models mainstream in approach to avoid complexity. Most licensing models in use represent mixtures of the above examples.
Activation and The License Model
ICS follows generally accepted practices in the design of the EnterpriseSMS licensing model. The major factors affecting the design of this model were:
- A desire to ensure that difference in price clearly relates to difference in value.
- A need to incorporate licensing restrictions derived from restrictions of third-party software products incorporated into EnterpriseSMS
- A need to respond to competitive practices in the access control and alarm monitoring industry.
When a set of programs contains incorporated products from multiple manufacturers, those products are said to be bundled with the main product. Frequently, products are bundled
because they are tightly integrated and combining them into a single package is reasonable. The license for the third party product recognizes its specialized (and often
limited) use with the main product. In such a case, the license for the incorporated product is called a run time or limited use license. Often, when an incorporated product
is bundled, support for that product comes from the bundler, not the original developer. Because of these reasons, the incorporated product cost is often reduced to the
bundler.
Another reason to bundle software is the desire to improve the quality of the overall product by controlling the overall software configuration and reduce configuration
problems. Bundling eases the task of maintaining configuration management.
Once a developer of software determines how to design a license model for its software, the model must be implemented. Since the risk of illegal duplication exists, the
licensed programs will require a key, or activation key to run, turn on features, or to have more than a minimum count of capabilities.
An activation key is an encrypted string of characters used to activate the licensed items in their licensed quantities from the list of available software features. This may
occur during installation, during operation, or both. The installed software checks the activation key to determine the activated items and their quantities. The software will
use the activation key to limit usage within those limits.
Activation keys also perform other useful services. Since the key is an electronic image of the software to be used on a computer, it can help ensure that all of the configured
software on the computer is compatible. This is known as validationconfigurationmanagement, and is essential to developing a reliable system. The list of capabilities and
counted items changes over time as new features are added, deleted, and reorganized. Maintaining control over configuration accounts for the industry practice of only
deploying complete sets of software programs. Activation keys help this process.
The EnterpriseSMS License Model
The EnterpriseSMS license model counts and controls features and capabilities. The table below lists the items that are counted and controlled within EnterpriseSMS at this
time. The column headings provide the default activation levels for our System 5 (S5) and System 10 (S10) standard packages, and indicate whether the controlled component is
Feature Activated (FA), a Count Limited (CL) component, or whether the component is a Configuration Management (CM) activation component. The following explains the meaning of
entries in the table boxes.
- A blank entry means that there is no relevant information specified by that box, i.e., an answer in this box is "not applicable" or "not available".
- A plus (+) indicates that the feature falls under that type of control capability, is a standard capability, or is present.
- The infinity symbol (¥ ) indicates that there is no practical limit on this capability other that computer resources.
- An entry of "O" indicates that the capability is available as an option.
- A number entry specifies the indicated limit.
License Model Calculated and Controlled Components |
