Freedom is More than Just Another Word when it Comes to Software Licensing

A few weeks ago, we produced a short video that focused on a single word that embodies one of Wibu-Systems overarching goals – that word is “FREEDOM.” In theory, what we mean is that we aspire to offer software publishers and intelligent device manufacturers an unparalleled degree of freedom in secure software license management. For our customers, freedom means that they can select the optimum license container, whether it be hardware, software, or the cloud; freedom to choose the dongle that is best for them from a selection of more than twenty form factors; freedom to mix and match all types of license containers for each deployment; and many, many more freedoms of choice to enable and tailor solutions specifically for each customer and the challenge at hand. You can watch the rest of our freedom story in this video.

However, Freedom is more than just a theory or an esoteric company platitude. Let’s take a look at what freedom really means in practice and delve further into the story of one of our long-standing customers, Civilserve, and how freedom of choice in licensing opened up new business growth opportunities and enabled them to better serve their customers.

Civilserve is the exclusive sales partner for GGU-Software, a global developer of a comprehensive geotechnical software package. The GGU-Software comprises 50 individual applications and modules, providing civil engineers with everything they need for complex geotechnical and geohydraulic analyses in building projects. Architectural and engineering plans and measurements and test data from the field can be fed into the system for immediate processing and visualization. The software technology and equations making this possible constitute a digital asset of enormous value, not just monetarily for their makers and distributors, but also practically for the users in the field.

Shortly after Civilserve was founded in 2001, they selected Wibu-Systems WibuKey dongle technology to protect and monetize their valuable software assets. As the licensing ecosystem evolved, in 2006, Civilserve worked with Wibu-Systems to create an integrated online shop to sell its product with licenses on the newer CodeMeter dongles (CmDongles). The online shop is based on the Cleverbridge platform, an all-in-one e-commerce and subscription billing solution for software, SaaS, and digital goods. The shop allows Civilserve to support their international customers while relying on Wibu-Systems to fulfill their orders via the consolidated worldwide network.

In 2012, the introduction of software-based licenses (CmActLicenses) by Wibu-Systems enabled Civilserve to benefit from new licensing models and branch out into new areas. The added flexibility allowed by these new license models, like rental licenses, was well accepted by Civilserve’s users who operated in a heavily project-driven industry. New subscription and time-bound licenses followed soon after, including a unique 10-hour license for ad-hoc use when and where customers needed time-limited access to specific GGU-Software modules for their projects.

In 2019, Wibu-Systems added Cloud licenses (CmCloud) to the mix, including a plethora of choices: permanent, time-bound, and ad-hoc single-user or network licenses, on dongles for top protection, software license files for maximum flexibility, or cloud licenses for the best of both worlds – all made possible with the ease and security of a fully integrated online shop and the cloud-based license management system, CodeMeter License Central.

So, for us here at Wibu-System, freedom is more than just another word. Freedom of choice is very important to us and we pride ourselves in delivering an unparalleled degree of freedom and flexibility in secure software license management so our customers, like Civilserve, can leverage the many advantages afforded by these freedoms.