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7
Lamenting the Complexity of Software License Language
Author: Jenny Schuchert
Filed Under Software License Compliance
Computerworld published the results of a Forrester survey where the respondents expressed how confusing and difficult software licensing is. The article states that companies are looking for clearer language especially in regards to pricing. The remark isn’t new, but how do we motivate publishers to do that? Don’t we try to negotiate deals ourselves that cause them to offer more complexity to the models? I’m not sure we should expect things to change unless we work for an organization that has sufficient clout to make it happen. If the SaaS model takes off, will the confusion get worse? To read the article, go to http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9061321&source=NLT_ES&nlid=42
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One Response to “Lamenting the Complexity of Software License Language”
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Phara and I attended the Gartner ITxpo last week in Las Vegas where a broad number of topics are discussed. Comments from Gartner analysts concerning Microsoft have been the most talked about that I can see. The analysts were focused on the major issues for Windows, with slow adoption of Vista, the issues from legacy compatibility and the need for smaller, specialized versions. With all of these big topics, it was refreshing to see licensing make the list of top redesign suggestions from Michael Silver and Neil MacDonald, the Gartner analysts.
In an article posted by Larry Dignan, Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic, he quotes the Gartner presentation on licensing issues:
” It is possible that several entities will own different hardware and software components on a single machine, and there needs to be flexibility in ownership, management and movement of the assets. Microsoft Windows and Office licenses are ultimately tied to the device and not to the user, which makes no sense in a world in which a user’s work space migrates between multiple devices.”
(http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=8428)
I spoke to a corporate IT asset manager late last year that gave me a great example of this issue. They had numerous staff that traveled between facilities who wanted to be able to be recognized when they logged on anywhere and have access to everything they needed. Seems to me like things do have to change.