Software is one of the most essential parts of any program that is run on any electronic device. Software can be coded in order to attain any kind of functionality that runs any kind of machine.
Softwares are coded into small chips that can be easily placed inside any device that helps in carrying out all kinds of operations such as in mobile phones, smart home devices and even automobile consoles. Software license is a legal document that controls the usage of software which is copyrighted by the author.
Software license management is a method of managing the licenses that are purchased by a company or organisation using which they can make newer softwares based on existing coding that has already been developed by another organisation or author. It could be for personal use or for corporate use, either way, a protected software such as a proprietary software has reserved rights for usage by a third party.
Why is Software Licensed?
Softwares is developed using many man hours of coding, testing and debugging which takes a lot of resources in terms of human resource, time, money etc.
Once a software is successfully developed, it can be used by others to make new versions of the same software which can prove to be challenging for the original software owner having spent all the resources on it. Therefore, softwares are licensed which means that their code work is protected by legal policies and regulations.
A software license is a legal document which may bind the owner and the user of the said software to certain rights and reservations for the usage of the software. A license document permits the usage of the software in certain ways such as:
- Only for personal usage
- Only for corporate usage
- Only a portion of the code can be used
- Circulation rights
- Modification rights etc
- Downloading rights
- Reusage and replication of code rights
Working of Software License
When a software license is purchased, often a key is provided which is referred to as a product key or an activation key. The key provides authentication and verification of the user for using the software.
When there are several such licenses that are purchased by a company such as those firms who are into engineering of electronic devices, electrical devices, automobiles, systems, networking, software, gaming etc – it may become hard to keep track of all the softwares and their keys that have been purchased by the user.
In such instances, software license management is the solution for such companies. A software license management provides the facility to safely handle and use the licenses for each software that a company procures. It can help with saving the activation key for each license that has been procured by the company as well.
This makes the job easy for the developers and the other allied companies that work with several softwares. It also helps keeping a check on usage and regulation of violences when it comes to the privacy of proprietary softwares.
A Software License management has many managers that help in safely preserving the various legal rights and reservations and helping developers with identifying the various usage norms that is allowed by the author of the license. In a large scheme of things, a license manager is one of the most important things when it comes to software asset management for a company.
