Distributing and billing software according to customer use of program modules

Abstract

A software brokering method and framework are presented. The software brokering method includes a step of establishing a use-based pricing scheme for a set of software modules that are utilized at a customer's site. By pricing software according to its use rather than a set fee, flexible pricing is facilitated for meeting the broad spectrum of customers needs. The software modules are distributed to customers. The software modules are preferably downloaded from an e-commerce site, but may also be mailed or distributed from conventional retail outlets. Use of the software at a customer's site is monitored by processes integrated into the deployment and execution components of a software module integration platform residing at the customer's site. Customers are charged based upon their actual use of the software modules, as registered by the software module integration platform, in view of the software pricing scheme established for the downloaded software modules.In a preferred embodiment, the software modules are distributed and monitored through an e-commerce site.

Description

AREA OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention generally relates to the area of computer system software architectures and more particularly business methods and mechanisms for marketing, developing, distributing, licensing, maintaining, auditing and / or billing software provided to customers.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Currently one of the computer software industry's greatest marketing challenges is efficiency in the licensing of its products to a wide variety of customers. This challenge spans the entire spectrum of licensing including: pricing, distribution, administration, and policing licensed software. This is especially true in situations where customers have unique software requirements requiring customized packaging of software. Because of the software industry's prior failure to meet the aforementioned challenge, licensing obstacles are a factor in customers' selection of a particular software vendor's services. Moreover, licensing according to specific customer nee...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]In recognition of the shortcomings of the prior software distribution facilities, a software brokering method and framework are presented. The software brokering method includes a step of establishing a use-based pricing scheme for a set of software modules that are utilized at a customer's site. By pricing software according to its use rather than a set fee, flexible pricing is facilitated for meeting the broad spectrum of customers needs.

Problems solved by technology

Currently one of the computer software industry's greatest marketing challenges is efficiency in the licensing of its products to a wide variety of customers.

Because of the software industry's prior failure to meet the aforementioned challenge, licensing obstacles are a factor in customers' selection of a particular software vendor's services.

Moreover, licensing according to specific customer needs can involve a high overhead cost for both the software vendor and the customer.

A better software product may be dismissed because of high overhead involved in negotiating a license to use the software.

Large sums of revenue are lost through software piracy and users exceeding the scope of their licenses.

Additional unauthorized users acquire and execute the software on their computers.

Enforcing such use limitations is difficult because the licensor is typically unable to enter a customer's system or facility to determine how the software is being utilized.

Administering software licenses can also be expensive.

The inability to accurately monitor how licensed software is being used hampers market research efforts directed at establishing fair pricing arrangements for customers.

Licensors cannot accurately gauge the extent to which users obtain value from the licensed software.

Thus, it is difficult for software licensors to determine a proper price for using their software.

The above-described pricing scenario involving a large up-front commitment by the customer creates barriers to licensing new systems.

A user assumes a large portion of the risk that an installed system will not provide the expected value.

On the other hand, large businesses often focus upon the return on investment even in situations where the return cannot be accurately predicted at the time the software is provided to the customer.

Such an arrangement introduces a potential bottleneck as a large number of customers become frequent users of the computer system.

Furthermore, the communication link between the customer and the computer system may be unacceptable, unreliable, or economically impractical.

Because a single class may create an infinite number of objects, a vendor cannot determine what value the customer intends to derive from a particular object class at the time the vendor provides the object classes to the customer.

E-commerce presents its own challenges to the sales / marketing departments of software developers / vendors due to decreased customer contact (feedback) and the lack of flexibility in automated sales programs.

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