Wibu-Systems wins the coveted German Innovation Award 2021

Wibu-Systems, the pioneer for software protection and licensing technology, continues its tradition of excellence by taking home the German Innovation Award 2021 for its new CmCloudContainers. Presented every year by the German Design Council, the much-coveted award is given to forward-thinking enterprises for the added value and benefits that they contribute to people’s lives through innovative products and technologies. This year, the six-member jury, drawn from industry and academia, named Wibu-Systems’ novel CmCloudContainers among the winners in recognition of their contribution to a safer and more secure life in the digital cloud.

CmCloudContainers are the third and latest member of the CodeMeter license container family. Joining hardware CmDongles and software CmActLicenses, these fully cloud-based containers complete the lineup for today’s increasingly connected, mobile, and intangible digital world. Every container type has use cases that it is uniquely suited for: CmDongles, with their on-board smart card chips, are mobile and secure vessels for the license keys; CmActLicenses are the easiest solution from a logistical standpoint; and CmCloudContainers are optimal when freedom is paramount for users. Without the risk of losing them or being bound to a specific endpoint, CmCloudContainers provide users with free access to their software anytime and anywhere, as long as they can connect to the cloud. As the transition towards mobility and new forms of working continues at a rapid pace, enterprises everywhere are discovering the many benefits of that liberty and flexibility.

Designed to accompany Wibu-Systems’ broader cloud services, including dedicated CodeMeter Cloud servers, and to fit in perfectly with the company’s versatile licensing technology, the new container format marks another milestone in the company’s evolution from its origins in conventional software protection to its role as a proponent of IT security as a business enabler. From embedded systems to end user devices, smart factories to smart homes, or hardware dongles to cloud servers, CodeMeter’s protection and licensing capabilities are intelligent and flexible enough to enable the most sophisticated and innovative business models, including subscription and pay-per-use options or Software-as-a-Service concepts.

True to Wibu-Systems’ long-standing commitment to full compatibility, the new cloud-based containers were developed to fit perfectly into the existing CodeMeter ecosystem. The means and process for protecting and licensing software remain unchanged: developers and vendors can continue to use the protection approach of their choice, using either the popular CodeMeter Protection Suite or the CodeMeter Core API to encrypt, protect, and license their products. The difference lies only in the way licenses are distributed. With no physical dongle to ship or license file to send, the process relies on special credentials for each cloud user: CmCloudContainers are created, either manually or automatically, and reside in the cloud with the license for the users’ software. The users can then access these with their credentials, again either sent separately or distributed by an existing ERP or e-commerce platform. With optional integration of a Single-Sign-On system, the entire process of creating and managing CmCloudContainers can be integrated into the existing landscape, making the entire workflow as lean and unobtrusive as possible for both vendors and users.

As receipt of the German Innovation Award 2021 demonstrates, CmCloudContainers are more than a perfect complement for the existing CodeMeter universe. They also represent a major step towards truly securing software in the cloud and thereby overcoming the remaining concerns of initially cloud-wary developers and users.

Ruediger Kuegler, VP Sales and Security Expert at Wibu-Systems, is proud to receive the award: “For us, the German Innovation Award is a sign that people recognize the passion and effort that we invest into our products and technologies and the benefits they bring to society at large. This is the Wibu-Systems’ way: technical excellence that makes our world more secure and easier to navigate.”