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Usage-Based Pricing Revolutionizing Software Costs

Pay-as-you-go billing is the future for the supply of software according to Macrovision, a market leader in electronic licensing, copy protection and digital rights management. Launching its new FLEXnet Publisher suite of products, Macrovision is keen also to draw attention to customers already using this flexible form of billing.

Usage-based pricing offers benefits for all parties -– users can access the most up to date software without a huge up front cost, and the ability to track usage accurately to individual terminals allows corporate customers to assign software costs to individual departments or projects. Software vendors have a persuasive selling message as various pricing structures can be designed to suit the specific business needs of the customer. Vendors do not incur additional development costs as the FLEXnet technology can be applied to software packages as a post development wrapper.


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Launching publicly in February, the usage based billing module already is in use by some of Macrovision's largest customers, including engineering software supplier Aveva Engineering IT, whose commercial manager, Gary Dransfield, is "certain this is the way the market wants to move."

The Utility Pricing Module is just one component of FLEXnet Publisher, which also includes modules offering the most effective and flexible security, licensing and asset management. Given the rising costs of software for users, and the rampant piracy and unlicensed use affecting the income streams for developers, there has never been a greater need for effective security and innovative and dynamic billing systems.

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