Risks with a “Do It Yourself” Approach to Software Licensing

SoftwareKey works with a wide range of businesses, budgets, licensing requirements, and staff skill levels.  Frequently, we find that customers underestimate the level of detail involved in successfully launching and maintaining a licensed application throughout its lifetime.

Consider What You Don't Know

When it comes to software licensing, as with so many things in this world, often you don’t know what you don’t know.

The correct implementation of licensing is essential to the smooth operation of your software product.    By opting for the most professional and secure implementation and design, you can be confident that your investment will lead to profits.

Do It Yourself Approach Works Well With Simple Licensing

Most customers who have simple licensing requirements, or those who have senior-level staff with licensing experience, can implement the SoftwareKey System inside of their software using our Do It Yourself approach.   And you can always contact us if you get stuck: we’re happy to answer simple questions under our Standard Support plan.

Consider These Risks with Do It Yourself Approach

BUT, remember that there can definitely be risks if you choose the Do It Yourself approach, especially if your staff is new to software licensing technology:

  • Trying to bring together multiple different licensing models in the same application can create inter-dependencies that are easy to miss or not realize until it is too late.  What may seem simple can become complex very quickly.
  • Responses to questions posted to our Standard Support staff will come from one of the many skilled people on our team. However, on this level you do not benefit from a central project manager who understands your licensing goals in detail. And unfortunately, answering questions in piecemeal bites without understanding your overall goals is possibly going to result in extra time being spent by all parties involved.
  • You don't want to be surprised if a flaw in your implementation is discovered after the software is released.  Patching security or implementation flaws on released software can sometimes involve significant time and money, and may even generate customer dissatisfaction.
  • Finally, even during normal operations, licensing flaws can sometimes open up exploitable holes that could allow customers or hackers to steal your software more easily.
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Ashish Lal Scrum Master/Lepide Software Pvt. Ltd.

Simplified Product with Excellent Support

When it comes to streamline the customized licensing, the SoftwareKey System is your best bet. The SDK is easy to implement and doesn't take long to customize according to our needs.

Their incredible support and commitment helped us deliver licenses to our clients and distributors across the globe with the least efforts. In fact, using the Professional Services support option, they helped us with advanced licensing customization to solve some specific needs that we had.

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Andre Martinez Executive Business Services, Inc.

Flexible and Stable for Thousands of Users

We have used Protection PLUS for many years with thousands of users, and it has been a very flexible and stable product. We recently encountered an issue requiring FIPS-compliance in our software in order to participate with some US government contracts. We contacted SoftwareKey support to inquire about a FIPS-compliant version of Protection PLUS. Even though it required a special build of their library, they researched the issue and provided a solution very quickly. This was a big deal for us to support some large companies evaluating our product.

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Vu Nguyen Web and E-commerce Manager, RoboMatter

SoftwareKey Continues to Exceed My Expectations

We've been using SoftwareKey since 2005. They have been essential to our ability to license our software, and they haven't had any issues keeping up with our growth. SoftwareKey has been incredibly responsive with my needs and requests for features. Their support is also very proactive with issues I didn't even know I needed to fix. I can't recommend them enough when it comes to a product licensing. They are there whenever we need them, and they also continue to exceed my expectations when it comes to our company's needs.

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Clint Monari Lead UI Developer, Bridge Software Institute

SoftwareKey's support is extremely responsive!

The SoftwareKey team has been extremely responsive in assisting us with implementation of cloud-controlled network licensing. They've answered our questions and helped with troubleshooting on multiple occasions, including outside of normal business hours.

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Deb Babbitt Software and Engineering Associates, Inc.

A++++ Support from SoftwareKey

A++++ support from SoftwareKey! First your software is easy to use and flexible enough to accommodate new and legacy products. More importantly, your support team is phenomenal. The dedication you showed to solving our unique situation was more than just appreciated, it was praised. The ultimate result was a flawless installation and activation by our customers ... a definite tribute to SoftwareKey.

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Dave Poulin Senior Business Development Manager, Panasonic Computer Solutions Company

SoftwareKey Was a Good Decision for Us

SoftwareKey was able to help us address a business need in a quick and professional manner. They have consistently shown us how flexible and helpful their staff is. We took the selection of a vendor very seriously and the decision has proven to be a good one.

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Sterren Fisher Lead Software Developer at Atkins Transportation

Fantastic Solutions Provider Who Will Bend Over Backwards to Help

We have been able to provide entitlement management and software protection capabilities to two new .NET software products we are in the process of launching. The SoftwareKey team really puts their customers first and responds very quickly and effectively to support queries raised. Their software is also well designed and powerfully featured.

I recommend that you take advantage of their fantastic support.

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Mark Daniel Director of Explicit Business Solutions Ltd

The Jump Start Service Was Great and Helped Me Relax and Sort Things Out

We are a new startup business and will initially be selling software to the construction industry and providing consulting services.

What I really like about the SoftwareKey System is that it's quick to setup, provides full automation when using SOLO Server for customers to download and activate software instantly and it will also integrate with FastSpring for payments.

We are in the process of launching our first product. I went with the SoftwareKey System as the system looked relatively easy to implement and the fact that the client can purchase, download and activate automatically without me having to deal with that side of things is a great time saver.

I researched a lot of different products and kept coming back to SoftwareKey for the below reasons. They have a large amount of online information including online tutorials, webinars and tips, etc. which is great. As I am totally new to the licensing of software, one massive thing for me was good customer support for which I have only read good reviews about in regards to SoftwareKey. I also found their pricing to be very reasonable - especially important to me was that I did not want to be paying out huge amounts for the software automation for downloading and activating the software. This was important to me as a new start up company and not having massive cash reserves to rely on until the product gets some traction.

I used the Jump Start Service a few nights ago to make sure I was doing things correctly etc. Dan from SoftwareKey was who I dealt with and I have got to say he was great - relaxed and helped me sort things out - no worries. So yes the customer service is great. I would not hesitate for a second in recommending SoftwareKey.

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Dustin Armstrong VP Operations, Tenacity, Inc.

It's Nice to See Sales Come in at 3am

SoftwareKey is a one stop shop for software protection. Tenacity has been using their solutions since we opened in 2004, and I would not consider going anywhere else. I love the SoftwareKey built-in shopping cart and tools they provide to protect our software from theft. It is nice to see sales come in at 3am.

The support that these guys offer is top notch. Dealing with the lowest technician all the way to the company owner has always been a pleasure.

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Bill Roach Partner / ExhibitView Solutions, LLC

SoftwareKey's service and support are truly first rate.

My company, ExhibitView Solutions, LLC, has been using the SoftwareKey System for over a year now. We used to use a very developer-intensive system for our licensing. So, when we decided to launch a completely-revamped product, I knew I needed to simplify the licensing process. After searching online, my first phone call to SoftwareKey was to discuss how their system works. I was impressed that I never felt any pressure to end the conversation during that rather long phone call. My developers were able to implement the system in under one hour after I set up a short paid one-on-one tutorial with the SoftwareKey staff.

After the initial product launch, we implemented the system into all of our 3 products. I could not be happier. I would be happy to speak with anyone about my experience and would also encourage any other software company or entrepreneur to investigate SoftwareKey. The service and support are truly first rate, and I have certainly received a great value for my money.

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