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Consider ‘volume licensing’
when buying software

A reader of this column recently inquired about software costs and the myriad of options available.

If you're just buying software for your personal use, the options are quite simple. Go to the local big-box retailer, find what you're looking for, and buy it off the shelf. Or you could buy it off the Internet, but unless you will be downloading it (which could be time consuming even if you have a high-speed connection) you will pay shipping costs. Those of you lucky enough to still be in school can usually buy the same piece of software at a significant discount. For college students and faculty, this can usually be accomplished at the campus bookstore.

If however, you are buying software to be used on multiple PC's, the options become more complicated. Sure, you could still buy it off the shelf, but do you really need to buy 50 boxes, CD's, and manuals? Moreover, do you really need this stuff cluttering up the office?

There is a better way. Known as volume licensing, this option allows you to purchase a single "media kit" which usually includes the CD (or DVD) of the software and associated manuals. The licenses to install multiple copies of software are simply pieces of paper, or sometimes electronic documents.

Volume licensing is often accompanied by discounts -- the more licenses you buy, the bigger the discount.

Volume licenses can be bought as little as five at a time, or up to the magical number of "unlimited." That is, if you shell out enough dough, you can install the software on as many computers as you like. Usually, you need to buy several hundred licenses before the "unlimited" route makes sense.

The options listed above apply primarily to PC- or workstation-based software.

For server-based software, where applications are installed onto a server and shared by multiple users, another option, known as processor-based licensing is often available. Costs for processor-based software licenses are based on the number of CPU's in the server. Depending upon the type of software and number of users, processor-based software licenses can be a better choice than volume licenses.

What about maintenance and support? This can be one of the most confusing topics when buying software. Usually, a license entitles you to use that particular piece of software forever. It generally does not allow you rights to upgrade to the next version of the software. Upgrades are usually packaged in something called "maintenance" or "subscriptions." Maintenance allows you free upgrades to the next version of the software during the maintenance period, which is usually one year.

Support is often confused with maintenance. Support is the right to contact the manufacturer with questions about the software. This may be via e-mail, phone, or even access to an online knowledge-base.

What lends to this confusion is that sometimes maintenance and/or support is bundled into the software license, and sometimes it's not. If, however, you think about these three items separately, it will be easier to decipher exactly what it is that you're buying.

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