Basis International Looks to Revenera to Automate Licensing

Founded in 1985 on the principles of open software architecture and platform independence, BASIS has become the industry leader in the Business BASIC software market, supporting more than 100 different product ports on various platforms. Since 1999 the company has relied upon FlexNet Licensing to automate, secure and manage a highly-complex licensing process in its dynamic market.

According to Dr. Kevin W. King, BASIS International’s chief information officer, the company faced an ongoing challenge to keep its licensing strategy secure, given the high number of product ports. “We knew we needed a more comprehensive and powerful means of controlling the licensing of our products, particularly because our market was expanding internationally,” King says. “With Revenera, I knew we were entrusting our software assets to the unequivocal leader in licensing software.”

SPOTLIGHT ON REDUCING SOFTWARE PIRACY

“It was clear that BASIS needed to turn the protection of its software assets over to the experts in licensing technology,” he continues. “In particular, we looked for the node-locking capability that protects BASIS software by locking it to a unique piece of hardware and not allowing random and indiscriminate copying.”

Specifically, BASIS wanted to reduce purposeful and inadvertent piracy potential, and in so doing, recapture revenues that were being lost. The company looked to Revenera to simplify internal license tracking and additionally sought to gain a solution that would free the BASIS team to focus on its core competency: software product development.

FLEXNET LICENSING MAKES EVERYTHING EASIER

Today, BASIS relies on FlexNet Licensing to protect all of its software development products. Revenera enabled BASIS to automate the entire licensing process, simplifying internal procedures and making it easier for customers to comply with licensing requirements. FlexNet Licensing also reduced the incidence of casual copying and allows BASIS to get a precise count of the core licenses it sells in a given time period.

Required registration of software before its initial use, combined with Revenera’s market-proven FlexNet Licensing technology, helps software vendors reduce unlicensed or illegal use of their products while maximizing revenue capture. With FlexNet Licensing, BASIS can separate usage rights and licensing policies from the application binary, affording the flexibility to easily change and electronically enforce licensing terms without incurring development costs. The same binary file can serve as a demo, evaluation, limited, standard, or premium software version. Equally important, FlexNet Licensing automates typical license management activities, reducing support and operational costs throughout the entire license lifecycle.

“When BASIS introduced the new licensing model into its existing product offerings, it was essential to make the licensing process as straightforward and seamless as possible for our customers,” King explains.