As the software industry evolves, software producers, high-tech manufacturers, and enterprises are becoming more focused on improving the management of their software license assets. Software as a service (SaaS), virtualization, and an increasing demand for granular pay-per-use pricing models are fueling changes to licensing policy that require better tracking of software. When the economic crisis is added to this mix, the case for licensing and entitlement management technologies becomes even stronger. This IDC white paper, commissioned by Flexera Software, provides a summary of the capabilities that constitute a licensing and entitlement management approach, or what IDC calls software product life-cycle management (SPLM), as well as the ways in which the application of these capabilities can help software producers and high-tech manufacturers. A key focus of the white paper is the decision to build, buy, or maintain a legacy system faced by companies that produce and sell commercially available software, especially when looking to improve their ability to install, license, manage, and track their software license assets. It also presents three case studies featuring software producers and high-tech manufacturers that are using Flexera Software's FlexNet Producer Suite technologies.
