and apply design tweaks to the finished
widget. Of course, the company that makes
the Widget Maker – let’s call them Berry Ltd.
– also writes the software for it, but therein
lies the problem: Nobody can leave Avocado
Inc. with a Widget Maker Model A under
their arm, because it is too big and heavy.
However, stealing the underlying software
is a very different proposition, since it is
vastly more portable. Writing software is an
incredibly expensive business. Quite rightly, the Model A for a new project they have, and
Avocado Inc. wants to buy their new hardware,
all set to grow their business. When Cherry
Pickers AG takes delivery of the Model A, they
also take delivery of the underlying license.
But herein lies the problem: The license is
registered to Avocado Inc. and so too are all
the support and service contracts with Berry Ltd.
Berry Ltd. wants to protect their software using
Wibu-Systems technology and then license
that technology to Avocado Inc. Maker’s software security requirements. It
only took a software engineer a few minutes
at his desk to transfer the license. All three
companies were able to get on with their
business, safe in the knowledge that all IP had
been protected.
Everything runs happily. Avocado Inc. can
continue to make and sell their widgets, and
Berry Ltd. can sit back, safe in the knowledge
that nobody can steal their IP. [Obviously,
Avocado Inc. also uses Wibu-Systems’ technolo-
gy to license the software on their Widgets,
but let’s not go there].
Then the inevitable happens: Avocado Inc.
decides that the time has come to grow – they
figure they can sell (and therefore need to
make) 5,000 widgets every week. Fortunately,
Berry Ltd. has created their Widget Maker
Model B, which can handle this workload
so Avocado Inc. decides to sell their Model A
and buy a Model B. Cherry Pickers AG buys
Fortunately, Berry Ltd. was using Wibu-Systems’
CodeMeter License Central for their Widget
The How?
One of the many strengths of CodeMeter
License Central is the sheer flexibility it provides
the end user with performing a task. Of course,
this is also the case when rebooking licenses.
to have this recorded for their own internal
processes (audit, support contracts, etc.).
Fortunately, using CodeMeter License Central
makes the whole process quite painless, even
though the process involved is extremely
flexible. In our particular example, Berry Ltd.
would simply locate the original ticket used
to deploy the Model A license to Avocado Inc.
This can be done by using the ticket search
feature of CodeMeter License Central.
The search feature provides a myriad of ways
of finding the ticket. In this particular case, a
simple search on the customer identity and
order date is enough to locate the relevant
ticket (your mileage may vary). Viewing this
ticket will show exactly which licenses have
been activated, where, and when.
They can then select the required license and
rebook it to a new ticket which can then be
associated with Cherry Pickers AG.
Some things just work…
The beauty of the situation is that the software
driving the Widget Maker Model A will still run
happily even if the machine itself has been
relocated to its new home. But transferring
ownership of the Model A from Avocado Inc. to
Cerry Pickers AG implicitly transfers ownership
of the software license, and Berry Ltd. needs
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