WP Cloud WIBU WhitePaper Licensing in the cloud EN | Page 4

White Pap er
Cloud Based Licensing
Given the simple semantic issues, there is small wonder that confusion reigns over the perceived
benefits of cloud computing and what actually constitutes cloud computing when there are so many
misunderstandings or translations over just what cloud computing actually signifies. One of the problems
that arises from this state of affairs is that unscrupulous software vendors can further obfuscate things
and attribute an almost mythical power to any software, just by calling it cloud software. This is especially
true in modern times where misinformation is believed simply if it is shouted loudly and often enough.
Industry has largely moved on from the debate about the definition of cloud computing. After all, what
is surely more important is the service that can be provided and how much it costs, rather than the
technologies used or what it is called. As William Shakespeare put it so eloquently in Romeo and Juliet,
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet“. Let’s assume we understand cloud computing as being
the processing of data by a remote device, keeping things deliberately vague to be as all-encompassing as
possible. What, then, is cloud based licensing?
Depending on your perspective and requirements, cloud-based licensing could be considered the
provisioning of licenses in the cloud or the control of license entitlements in the cloud, and these are two
very different things.
Obviously, we at Wibu-Systems are able to cater for both necessities (thus the reason for this white
paper), and it is important to be able to state them both clearly to help avoid confusion and aid in the
understanding of requirements. Flexibility is key, since there is no “one size fits all” solution.
License Provisioning in the Cloud
Let’s consider a fictional ISV (independent software vendor) called Aardvark Technologies and their
customer, Wombat Inc. Obviously, the software purchased by Wombat Inc. needs to be licensed to ensure
that it is used legitimately, both to protect the revenue of the ISV and to ensure that the customer is
protected against any audits that might happen.
[It is a sad fact of life that licensing is all too often seen from the perspective of preventing end users from
stealing resources they are not entitled to. Little thought is given to the idea that entitlement management
also works in an end user’s favor: without it, companies using third party software will have little or no
control over which of their employees use which versions of which software, and genuine mistakes can
lead to hefty fines and, perhaps worse, bad publicity.]
Aardvark Technologies are forward thinking enough to use CodeMeter License Central, since this software
provides license provisioning capabilities in the cloud. The background processes by which this is achieved
are highly complex, but the end-user process is not.
1. Aardvark Technologies encrypt their software using Wibu-Systems’ technology. As you would expect
with a state-of-the-art encryption system, there are many configuration options that can be specified,
but, at its simplest, the process is as easy as providing the software to be safeguarded and clicking a
button to protect it.
2. Aardvark Technologies can then place their software on their website for anyone to download. End
users would be free to download the software, but that is all: They couldn’t use it without a license and
could not even reverse engineer it, since the Wibu-Systems’ encryption technologies that have locked
it are highly secure.
3. Now there is a choice, depending on end user requirements. The kind of license that is best for Wombat
Inc. depends on many factors. Aardvark Technologies are able to automatically link their CodeMeter
License Central instance with Salesforce. (Many other CRM and ERP systems such as SAP are, of course,
available options).
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