Managing software licenses can be a real headache for professional service firms, especially if you use several different types of software to run your business. However, ensuring you keep track of the software your employees are using is critical if you want to avoid a potential lawsuit.
For example, this year Adobe sued Forever 21 alleging the clothing retailer used various software programs, including Photoshop, without purchasing enough licenses. It certainly isn’t the first time Adobe or other software companies have gone after businesses for illegally using their products.
No one wants to deal with a costly, time-sucking lawsuit. The problem however, is that staying compliant is tricky, and you could inadvertently be stealing from your software vendors. Plus, it often takes a licensing specialist, lawyer or other subject matter expert to understand all the legalese in licensing agreements. The whole thing is exhausting.
That’s why so many business owners are turning to Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to ease the licensing nightmare. Here is what you gain when you switch to SaaS:
You pay for what you use
How many perpetual software licenses have you paid for in advance that go unused? This is big waste of money you likely can’t afford. Most SaaS solutions don’t require any kind of contract, and you pay on a monthly basis for what you need—and only what you need.
You can stop worrying about costly upgrades
When you use software, upgrading to newer versions and installing patches has to be done on every computer with manual downloads. Additionally, if something goes wrong, your IT team has to work to resolve the issue.
SaaS solutions usually require zero infrastructure, so there’s no need to update the software, and your vendor manages updates without you having to lift a finger. Every user has access to the most up-to-date software—with all the bells and whistles—regardless of where the person is located.
You can grow as big as you want
If you need to add more users or you want to open up branches in other locations, you can do so easily, keeping everyone connected and productive. Because licensing is integrated into the subscription cost, you can scale up without having to worry about adding new licenses.
You can stop using the service at any time
If you are unhappy with a provider, you can cancel your subscription. If you stop paying, your service is cut off. It’s that simple. You don’t have to deal with lawyers or rewrite any contracts. You simply cancel the subscriptions you no longer need, whether that is cancelling it for your entire business or only for one or two people that rarely use the software.
Not
all the software you use now may be currently available in the cloud. However,
given the cost savings, the ease of upgrading and the hassle-free subscriptions
that pretty much eliminate the need for licenses, it’s worth investigating
cloud-based options for all your business-critical software needs.
nearly a decade’s worth of experience developing newsletters, blogs, e-letters,
training tools and webinars for business professionals. She contributes to both
The Intuit Small Business Blog and Docstoc.com. She also serves as editor-in-chief of Sales
Mastery, a digital magazine written
specifically for sales professionals.
