The SaaS catalog definition, provisioning, management, and usage tracking service software publishers have been waiting for!
For Enterprise organizations, utilization of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications means easier budgeting, faster deployment, and reduced risk. For cloud service providers and established on-premise software publishers alike, SaaS presents a new opportunity to give customers what they want – while ensuring recurring revenue streams and exploring new markets. It is no wonder that industry-leading analyst firm Saugatuck Technology predicts that 45% or more of new enterprise IT spend will be devoted to cloud-based applications by 2014 and that IDC predicts that by 2010 nearly 65% of new product from established ISVs will be delivered as SaaS services and nearly 85% of net-new software firms coming to market will be built around SaaS service composition and delivery. Software vendors who don’t adapt will be left behind/replaced by vendors who do offer cloud based options.
As early adopters of SaaS have realized, it is not easy to find the right catalog segmentation, feature bundling, and pricing models. It takes time, experimentation, and most importantly service catalog flexibility. As with traditional software consumption, ensuring user compliance with the terms of a service agreement is critical to profitability. Before SaaS, data collection was a premium feature of most software licensing and entitlement management systems, used to forecast trends and make informed business decisions. In the cloud, usage data is not only used for business intelligence but is vital for supporting business critical processes such as billing, therefore, it is essential that cloud service providers are able to easily track, organize, and report on service usage.
At the highest level, many software vendors setting up shop in the cloud rely on a staggered two-tiered approach to success — phase one: offer a single offering and sign-up as many subscribers as possible; phase two: diversify the service catalog, introduce new pricing models, and start charging existing customers a premium for new features and services. Success in phase one and the ability to easily transition to phase two is critically dependent on four competencies:
- Flexibility – the ability to package and re-package service offerings and pricing models quickly and without having to involve R&D;.
- Control - the ability to control what aspects of a service a specific end user can access, view (without access), trial, or be up-sold;
- Automation - the ability to integrate all back office systems to create a clean, automated process for receiving orders, provisioning service agreements, license and entitlement management, and ongoing customer management;
- Measurement - the ability to track and report on service usage at the feature level to fuel billing and subscription management services while also gaining valuable insight into how a service is being used.
While is clear that flexible cloud service licensing and management is critical, until now, SaaS vendors have had to build their own software monetization solutions – either entirely homegrown or by piecing together a mixture of homegrown and commercial functionality. Earlier this week SafeNet, the world’s leading provider of software monetization solutions, announced general availability of Sentinel Cloud Services (read news release). Sentinel Cloud Services is the industry’s first and only software licensing and entitlement management solution delivered from the cloud for the cloud. Sentinel Cloud Services make it quick and easy for SaaS providers to define their service catalogs, provision and control user access at the feature level, measure service usage for billing and business intelligence purposes, and instantly adapt their service catalog to embrace new and evolving market opportunities.
According to Mike West, VP and Distinguished Analyst, Saugatuck Technology, “SafeNet’s Sentinel Cloud Services provides a viable alternative to traditional billing and payments services because of a catalog-driven licensing and entitlement management solution that integrates with back office ERP, accounting and installed base billing solutions, either in the Cloud or on premises.”
To learn more about Sentinel Cloud Services or to request a free trail please visit www.sentinelcloud.com
Join SafeNet, Saugatuck Technology, Dell Boomi, ZDNet’s Phil Wainwright, and others at LicensingLive! “Monetizing Software in the Cloud” and hear first time how SaaS vendors and transitioning on-premise software vendors alike are tackling software monetization in the cloud. The series of day-long events provide a blend of industry case studies and hands on interaction with Sentinel Cloud Services. View a full agenda or register now to attend an event in a city near you at www.safenet-inc.com/LicensingLiveEvents
Dates currently scheduled in Boston, Santa Clara, London, and Tel Aviv.