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Software Licensing: Is SaaS the Solution to End Software Piracy?
Pirated software is a problem. But the size of the problem can be a real shocker. A recent survey by IDC/BSA found that 43 percent of the software installed on PC’s globally isn’t properly licensed. Nearly three quarters of the software running on PC’s in emerging nations (India, China, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Turkey) is unlicensed. The value of lost revenues from this software amounted to more than $60 billion in 2013.
Vipin Aggarwal, BSA India Committee chair, said that “we have often seen cases where enterprises may not even be aware that they are using unlicensed software. With software licensing becoming increasingly complex, compounded by fast-paced cloud adoption and proliferation of devices through BYOD, organizations require a fresh approach in the way they manage licenses.”
The move by vendors from packaged software to cloud-based SaaS apps though may begin to change this. With SaaS, software resides on vendor-managed servers and access is restricted to paying customers. Adobe is one company that is benefiting now from their shift into SaaS-based software. The newest versions of Adobe’s best-selling products, like Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign are now only available via a subscription to their cloud service Creative Cloud. Initially Adobe revenues fell after they announced the shift, but that’s stabilized, and the popularity of the software is leading many analysts to predict strong growth coming. 90 percent of creative professionals use Adobe products.
Andrew Froehlich, President & Lead Network Architect at West Gate Networks, wrote that “SaaS and other cloud models might be the only real way to eradicate piracy for good. If you can control software and keep it protected inside the cloud, users can access it only when it’s been paid for.”
This is pretty much a fact. You could expect that SaaS providers are only using legit software or apps as it is one of their selling points alongside the many benefits one can get from SaaS. The more SaaS subscribers are, the lesser the necessity for an “individual” software use will be — this then leads to fewer software piracy incidents.