2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing & Licensing Survey
Sponsored by Flexera Software
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 2
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing
& Licensing Survey Sponsored by Flexera Software
Overview of Survey Findings
The 2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey of 348 participants, prepared with assistance from
IDC, found that:
Perpetual/Subscription
Application producers derived 79% of their software revenues from perpetual licenses, 15% via
subscription.
Application producers expect perpetual license revenues to decline an average of 10% over the next two
years, and subscription revenues to increase by an average of 6% over the next two years.
Metrics
The number of application producers that are pricing based on a usage metric (number of uses, time
used and number of transactions) is expected to double in the next two years, from 22% today to 43%.
This is consistent with the results of last year's survey, with usage metrics expecting to experience the
most growth as compared to other models.
Of the total survey population, 47% of application producers do not monitor customer usage. Of the
survey population that is either doing usage-based pricing today or plans on doing usage-based pricing
in the next two years, 48% do not monitor customer software usage.
In terms of hardware-based metrics, the number of application producers offering processor-based
metrics is expected to decline by 18%, while the number of application producers offering processor core
is expected to grow by 34%.
The most common metrics used today, per seat and concurrent user, will remain relatively flat in the next
two years, with an 8% decrease in per seat offerings and a 7% increase in concurrent user offerings.
Enforcement
The most common means of enforcement is network-based licensing and product activation. According
to enterprises, these are their favored approaches as well.
These means of enforcement will also increase by the greatest margin in the next two years (48% and
54%, respectively).
Most enterprises (53%) rely primarily on software asset management for tracking, management and
reporting of their software licensing/usage today. 20% are doing this manually, relying primarily on
spreadsheets.
The most common primary reason that customers are tracking usage is for compliance purposes;
however 31% are tracking usage primarily to reduce shelfware.
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 3
Of the ways that customers track usage, the highest satisfaction rating is for vendor provided tools, with
90% of customers that primarily use that approach indicating that they are satisfied. The least favored
approach—manual/spreadsheets — registers only 22% satisfaction.
Enterprises believe that it is harder to maintain compliance for infrastructure (not applications) software.
The primary reason for difficulty, according to customers, is that licensing is too complex.
Audits
Most application producers did not perform any audits at all in the last year (60%)
Most application producers that did perform audits did 10 or less.
For the vast majority of application producers that performed audits, the award was less than $100,000.
Our enterprise survey corroborated this data.
The application producers listed by enterprises as conducting audits within the last year included
Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, and SAP.
Licensing Effectiveness
55% of application producers think their current licensing strategy does a good job of capturing value.
And 70% in that population plan on making additional licensing strategy changes to capture more value
in the next two years.
Application producers with concurrent licensing were most likely to rate their licensing/value equation as
being effective (77%). In addition, 40% of enterprises listed concurrent licensing as their preferred
approach, the highest percentage of any category.
Application producers with processor-based licensing were most likely to rate their licensing/value
equation as being ineffective or very ineffective (60%).
Entitlements
Most application producers (62%) believe that it is difficult to somewhat difficult for customers to
determine which products they are entitled to use and what they are using.
Survey Background
The 2011 Key trends in Software Pricing and Licensing survey was conducted by Flexera Software with input from
IDC‘s Software Pricing and Licensing Research division under the direction of Amy Konary, research vice president -
software licensing and provisioning at IDC. This annual research project looks at software licensing, pricing and
enforcement trends and best practices. The survey reaches out to executives at application producers and
enterprises who use and manage software and devices. Now in its seventh year, the survey is previewed at the
annual SoftSummit® Conference and made available to the industry at large each year.
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 4
Methodology and Sampling
In total, 348 respondents participated in the survey, including 98 enterprise executives and 250 application producers
(defined as software vendors and intelligent device manufacturer) executives.
Enterprise Demographics More than one-half of the enterprise respondents were from larger enterprises of more than $1 billion in
revenues, and more than a third were from companies with $3 billion in revenues or more. 45% were from
North America, 38% from Europe, 13% from Asia Pacific, and 2% from the Middle East.
Application Producer Demographics
The largest segment of application producer respondents (47%) came from companies with under $10
million in revenues. The remainder were divided relatively equally across all revenue levels. 72% were from
North America, 21% from Europe, 6% from Asia/Pacific, and 1% from the
Middle East.
Which of the following best represents your annual company revenues?
Less than $100 million $101 - $999 million $1 billion - $3 billion > $3 billion
Do not know
Which of the following represents your annual product licensing revenues? Less than $10 million
$11 - $30 million
$31 - $50 million
$51 - $100 million
$101 - $500 million
$501 million - $1 billion
Over $1 billion
Do not know
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 5
Individual Findings
Pricing Flexibility and Value
Usage-Based Pricing Remains Popular, but Seat-Based Pricing Gaining Popularity
The most popular software pricing model for enterprises (40%) is concurrent user (floating/network) licensing
(down from 60% last year). However, the demand for usage-based pricing remains significant at 17%.
Seat-based licensing models (per machine/server and named user) have gained popularity, with 30% of
respondents preferring those models, compared to 9% in 2010.
What is the software pricing model you prefer for enterprise class applications?
Processor
Processor core
Seat (per machine/per server)
Seat (named user)
Concurrent user (floating/network)
Usage metric (number of uses, time used, number of transactions) Financial metric (revenue, cost, royalty)
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 6
Application Producers Continue to Offer a Wider Variety of Software Pricing Models: Application producers continue to offer a growing variety of pricing models in response to greater demand by
customers. More are offering seat (per machine/per server) – 70% in 2011 vs. 65% in 2010, seat (named
user) – 34% in 2011 vs. 27% in 2010, concurrent user (69% this year vs. 63% last year) and financial metric
(12% this year vs. 6% in 2010). There have been slight decreases over last year in the number of
application producers offering processor, processor core and usage metric models. Over the course of the
next two years, we can expect to see a large increase in the number of application producers offering usage
metric pricing models (43%).
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Pro
cessor
Pro
cessor
core
Seat
(per
machin
e/p
er
serv
er)
Seat
(nam
ed
user)
Concurr
ent
user
(flo
ating/n
etw
ork
)
Usage m
etr
ic
(num
ber
of
uses,
tim
e u
sed,
num
ber
of …
Fin
ancia
l m
etr
ic
(revenue,
cost,
roya
lty)
Oth
er
(ple
ase
specify)
Which pricing models do you offer for your packaged software or intelligent device today? Product that is
priced per…
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Pro
cessor
Pro
cessor
core
Seat
(per
machin
e/p
er
serv
er)
Seat
(nam
ed u
ser)
Concurr
ent user
(flo
ating/n
etw
ork
)
Usage m
etr
ic
(num
ber
of
uses,
tim
e u
sed,
num
ber
of tr
ansactions)
Fin
ancia
l m
etr
ic
(revenue,
cost,
roya
lty)
Oth
er
(ple
ase
specify)
Looking forward in the next two years, which pricing models do you expect to offer? (Select all that apply).
Product that is priced per…
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 7
Revenue Generation & Customer Satisfaction Driving Changes:
42% of application producers indicate that they have changed their pricing and licensing policies over the
past two years to make them more flexible. The top two reasons for this shift have been to improve
customer relations (46%) and generate more revenue (40%). Accelerating the sales cycle (27%) was also
cited as a key reason for broadening pricing and licensing policies.
Both Enterprises and Application Producers Are Largely Satisfied with Current
Pricing Models:
The survey asked enterprises to rate their satisfaction of pricing for database, middleware, ERP, CRM,
engineering and desktop applications. The applications eliciting the highest satisfaction (responses of ‗highly
satisfied‘ or ‗satisfied‘) included desktop applications (44 respondents) and engineering/technical
applications (38 respondents). Those eliciting the lowest (responses of ‗unsatisfied‘ or highly unsatisfied‘)
included ERP software (19 respondents) and database software (18 respondents).
0% 5%
10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
Genera
te
more
re
venue
Impro
ve
rela
tions
with
custo
mers
Accele
rate
th
e s
ale
s
cycle
Fre
e R
&D
re
sourc
es
Decre
ase
develo
pm
en
t cost
Not
applic
able
Oth
er
(ple
ase
specify)
Did providing more flexible licensing and pricing policies help the company:
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 8
62% of application producers said that their pricing and licensing strategies captured the value of their
software effectively, down considerably from 2010 when the response was 79%. 23% consider their pricing
strategies either ‗ineffective or ‗very ineffective‘, compared to 14% in 2010.
Software Usage, Delivery and Enforcement
Software Budgets Starting to Increase
43% of enterprises report that, looking ahead two years, they expect their software budgets to increase – up
from 33% in 2010. 28% expect their budgets to stay the same, and 22% expect them to decrease.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Da
tab
ase
Mid
dle
wa
re
ER
P
CR
M
En
gin
ee
rin
g/T
ech
nic
al A
pp
lica
tio
ns
De
skto
p
Ap
plic
atio
ns
# o
f re
sp
on
den
ts
How would you rate your price-to-value satisfaction of the following types of software?
Highly satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Unsatisfied
Highly unsatisfied
N/A
How would you rate the overall effectiveness of your company’s pricing and licensing strategies in capturing the
value that your product provides to customers?
Very ineffective
Ineffective
Effective
Very effective
Don't know
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 9
Percentage of Total Software Budgets Assigned to New Software Varies
The percentage of total software budget within enterprises assigned to new software purchases varies
greatly. 23% report that between 1-10% of budget is assigned to new software, 21% report the figure being
between 11-20% of their budgets, and 24% report it being more than 20%.
Managing Software Licensing & Usage is Critically Important for Enterprises
Looking forward two years, do you expect your software budgets to...
Decrease
Stay the same
Increase
Do not know
What percentage of your total software budget is assigned to new software licenses?
0%
1-10%
11-20%
21-30%
31-40%
41-50%
51-60%
61-70%
> 70%
Do not know
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 10
72% of enterprises indicated that compared to other objectives, managing software licensing and usage is
important or very important. Only 12% indicated it is unimportant.
Application Producers Aware of Customers’ Usage & Entitlement Tracking Challenges
62% of application producers believe it is somewhat or very difficult for customers to determine their software
product entitlements. 34% believe customers have no difficulty.
Moderated Approach to Adopting Cloud Licensing Strategies
Compared to your other objectives, how important is managing software licensing/usage?
Very unimportant
Unimportant
Neutral
Important
Very important
0
10
20
30
40
50
No difficulty Somewhat difficult Very difficult N/A
# o
f re
sp
on
den
ts
How difficult do you believe it is for your customers to determine which of your products they are entitled to use
and what they are actually using?
Answer Choice
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 11
Application producers are taking a gradual view in anticipating licensing strategy changes to accommodate
the Cloud. 46% indicate the changes they‘ll need to make will be moderate over the next two years. 34%
anticipate no change. While 21% indicate changes will be significant or dramatic.
Please rate the level of your agreement with the following statement: In the next 24 months, my company's current
licensing strategy will need to change in order to adapt to the requirements of cloud computing.
1 = Stay the same/no change
2 = Moderate changes
3 = Significant changes
4 = Dramatic changes
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 12
Subscription Software Licensing Models Continue to Grow
Subscription-based license models represent an important source of revenue for application producers today
– though the majority still derive most of their revenue from perpetual licenses.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
1
5
9
13
17
21
25
29
33
37
41
45
49
53
57
61
65
69
73
77
81
Thinking of your total software licensing revenue, what percentage is associated with the following license types?
Percent of Revenue Associated with Perpetual Licenses
Percent of Revenue Associated with Subscription/Term Licenses
Percent of Revenue Associated with Other License Types (such as usage based)
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 13
Over the next two years, subscription-based licenses will represent an increasing source of revenue for
application producers.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
1
5
9
13
17
21
25
29
33
37
41
45
49
53
57
61
65
69
73
77
81
Looking forward in the next two years, what percentage of your total packaged software and/or intelligent device license revenue will be associated with the following
license types?
Percent of Revenue Associated with Perpetual Licenses
Percent of Revenue Associated with Subscription/Term Licenses
Percent of Revenue Associated with Other License Types (such as usage-based)
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 14
Virtualization on the Rise Within Enterprises
Most enterprises report that they have adopted some level of virtualization technology. The type of
virtualization deployed and the extent of that adoption vary widely across respondents.
Strategies for Managing Software Licenses in Virtual Environments Vary
36% of enterprises use automated commercial license management software to manage their virtual
licenses. 26% do so manually, while 21% use the tools supplied by their virtualization vendor.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Server virtualization (% of servers)
Desktop virtualization (% of desktops)
Application virtualization (% of
desktop apps)
Hard partitioning (% of physical servers)
# o
f R
esp
on
den
ts
What virtualization technologies has your organization adopted?
< 20%
20-40%
40-60%
60-80%
> 80%
How do you manage software licenses in your virtual environments?
Automated commercial license management software
Software provided by the (virtualization) vendor
Automated homegrown software
Manual methods, including spreadsheets
We don‘t manage software licenses in our virtual environments
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 15
Varied Software License Optimization Approaches for Virtualized Environments
While 83% of enterprises take into account license entitlements such as software product use rights, and
upgrade/downgrade rights when managing licenses in a virtualized environment, 50% do so for only key,
high-value vendors and only 33% do so across all vendors.
Shelfware and License Non-Compliance Challenges Persist for Enterprises
Only 15% of companies report that none of their software spend is associated with out of compliance
applications – down from 30% last year. 35% report that between 1-10% of their software license spend is
associated with applications that are out of compliance – slightly lower than 2010 (37%), 16% report that 11-
20% of their applications are associated with out of compliance applications (up from 7% last year).
Do you take into account license entitlements (e.g., software product use rights such as upgrade rights, downgrade rights, etc.), which are part of all software license agreements, in your analysis when reconciling your organization’s software license
pos
Yes, for all vendors
Yes, for key high-value vendors
No
What percentage of software license spend within your organization do you estimate is associated with applications that
are overused and therefore out of compliance?
0%
1-10%
11-20%
21-30%
31-40%
41-50%
> 50%
Do not know
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 16
The levels of software underuse (―shelfware‖) have not changed substantially over 2010 and suggest there
still is room for improvement. Only 4% of enterprises report no spend associated with shelfware, 25% report
that up to 10% of their application spend is associated with shelfware, and 27% say that up to 30% is
associated with underused applications.
Tracking Customer Usage Remains Blind Spot for Application Producers
Of the application producers responding, the largest proportion, 47%, report that they do not monitor
customer usage of their products. For those that do, 20% report doing so using internally developed tracking
tools, and 16%, using manual audits. Only 10% use third party tracking tools.
What percentage of software license spend within your organization do you estimate is associated with applications that
are underused (shelfware) and therefore over-licensed?
0%
1-10%
11-20%
21-30%
31-40%
41-50%
> 50%
Do not know
How do you primarily monitor your customers’ usage of your product?
We do not monitor customer software usage Manual audits
Third-party usage-tracking tool(s) Using internally developed usage-tracking tool(s) Do not know
Other (please specify)
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 17
Enterprises Use a Variety of Tracking Methods
98% of all enterprises track, manage and report on their software usage – the majority of which (53%) use
commercial software asset management systems. 20%, however, still track usage manually using
spreadsheets. The top two reasons for tracking usage were the same in both 2011 and in 2010 – but the
ratios were reversed. In 2011 56% cited ‗ensuring compliance‘ (32% in 2010), and 55% in 2011 cited
‗reducing software costs/minimizing shelfware spending‘ as their primary reasons (32% in 2010). 66% of
respondents are satisfied or very satisfied with their current methods for tracking licensing and usage.
How do you primarily perform tracking, management and reporting of your software licensing/usage today?
Automated (commercial) software, which is part of our asset management system
Use software provided by the vendor
Automated (homegrown) software, our own system used only for license management
Manual methods, including the use of spreadsheets
Do not currently track
If you are currently managing your software licensing/usage, what is the most important reason for doing so?
Reduce software costs/minimize shelfware spending
Ensure compliance with vendor agreements (and reduce cost and risk of an audit)
Prevent downtime due to denials in the middle of critical projects (concurrent licenses)
Do not manage software licensing/usage
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 18
Enterprises Would Prefer Enforcement via Network Licensing
48% of enterprises prefer enforcement of their software license via network licensing (activation by an
internally shared license) down from 67% in 2010. Lesser-preferred methods include product activation,
vendor-supplied monitoring with annual true-up, and compliance audits. Dongles and locally-checked serial
numbers are the least preferred enforcement mechanism.
If you are currently managing your software licensing/ usage, how satisfied are you with the current method?
Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied
Satisfied
Very satisfied
If a software vendor gave you a choice, which of the following means of software license enforcement
would you prefer most?
Product activation (software activated over the internet by vendor key) Network licensing (software activated by internally shared license) Trust-based licensing with manual vendor compliance audit
Vendor-supplied automated monitoring mechanism with annual true-up Serial numbers checked locally
Dongle/USB
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 19
Lack of Automation Hinders Usage Tracking in Enterprises
Enterprises most frequently cited desktop, engineering and middleware software as being difficult or very
difficult to track usage and maintain license compliance. They most frequently (33%) cite lack of automated
tracking mechanisms as the reason.
0 20 40 60 80
100 120
Data
ba
se
Mid
dle
wa
re
ER
P
CR
M
En
gin
ee
rin
g/T
ech
ni
ca
l A
pp
lica
tio
ns
Deskto
p
Ap
plic
atio
ns
Oth
er
Se
rve
r-B
ase
d S
oft
wa
re
# o
f R
esp
on
den
ts
For which types of software is it difficult to track usage and maintain license compliance?
No difficulty
Difficult
Very difficult
N/A
If you checked "difficult" or "very difficult" to any software type in the previous question, what is the primary reason why?
Licensing policy is too complex
IT environment is too complex
IT management is too decentralized
No automated tracking mechanisms in place
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 20
Application Producers Cite Numerous Methods Their Customers Use to Track Entitlements
Application producers believe their customers use a variety of methods to manage entitlements including
web-based entitlement management systems, home grown systems, manually, and through customer
inquiries. 24% do not think their customers manage entitlements.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Via
acce
ss to
we
b-b
ase
d
en
title
me
nt m
an
ag
em
en
t syste
m p
rovid
ed
by u
s
By u
sin
g th
eir
ow
n h
om
eg
row
n
en
title
me
nt m
an
ag
em
en
t syste
m
Ma
nu
ally
, w
ith
so
me
au
tom
atio
n
for
sp
rea
dsh
ee
ts o
r sim
ilar
too
ls
Ma
nu
ally
, w
ith
alm
ost n
o
au
tom
atio
n
Th
ey d
on
't m
an
ag
e th
eir
e
ntitle
me
nts
By c
alli
ng
cu
sto
me
r su
pp
ort
to
g
et u
p-t
o-d
ate
en
title
me
nt
info
rma
tio
n
Don
't kn
ow
How do you believe your customers manage their entitlements today?
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 21
Many Application Producers Lack Automation to Monitor Usage; Recognize Need to modify
Licensing Strategies
47% of application producers say they either do not have technology in place that enables them to know
what product, product version or platforms their customers are using – or they simply do not know. They see
the need to change their licensing strategies to deploy technologies that better track licensing (42%), that
better enforce their licenses (40%), that support pay-as-you-go schemes (26%), and that accommodate
short bursts of use (19%).
Do you have technology in place that enables you to know what product, product versions or platforms your
customers are using?
Yes
No
Do not know
0% 5%
10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
Need to
accom
modate
short
burs
ts o
f use
Need to
accom
modate
mic
ro-
licensin
g
Need to m
ove a
way
from
CP
U-b
ased
licensin
g
Need to d
eplo
y better
enfo
rcem
ent
technolo
gie
s
Need to d
eplo
y te
chnolo
gie
s t
hat
better
track lic
ensin
g
Need to d
evelo
p a
te
mpora
ry lic
ense
type
Need to s
upport
a
pay-a
s-y
ou-g
o
schem
e
We d
o n
ot
pla
n o
n
makin
g a
ny c
hanges
to o
ur
licensin
g
str
ate
gy
In the next year, in what ways will your licensing strategy need to change?
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 22
Compliance Audits Continue to Gain Steam
Network licensing (56%) continues to be application producers‘ most predominantly used enforcement
mechanism, followed by product activation (48%). ‗Compliance audits‘ tied with ‗serial numbers‘ (28%) for
the third most used method. 15% indicated that within the next two years, the need for compliance audits
will increase.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
None
Serial num
bers
checked locally
Dongle
/US
B
Pro
duct
activation
(soft
ware
activate
d o
ver …
Netw
ork
lic
ensin
g
(soft
ware
activate
d b
y …
Vendor-
com
plia
nce a
udit
(tru
st-
based
licensin
g)
Vendor-
supplie
d
auto
mate
d-
monitoring
mechanis
m …
Oth
er
(ple
ase
specify)
Which of the following means of enforcement does your company use today?
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
100
Serial num
bers
checked locally
Dongle
/US
B
Pro
duct activation
(soft
ware
activate
d
over
the inte
rnet
by
vendor
key)
Netw
ork
lic
ensin
g
(soft
ware
activate
d
by
inte
rnally
-share
d
license)
Vendor-
com
plia
nce
audit (
trust-
based
licensin
g)
Vendor-
supplie
d
auto
mate
d-
monitoring
mechanis
m w
ith …
# o
f re
sp
on
ses
Looking at your license enforcement practices today and projecting ahead two years, do you see your need for the
following as increasing, decreasing, or remaining the same?
Don't know
Will Not Use
Increase
Stay Same
Decrease
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 23
Application Producers Commonly Use Compliance Audits as Enforcement Means 40% of all application producers reported having conducted software license audits within the past year.
15% of those conducted 21 or more audits as part of their enforcement efforts. 60% did not conduct any
audits.
Software True-Ups Usually Small, but Can Represent a Substantial Revenue Stream for
Some Application Producers
The vast majority (84%) of application producers report that the average true-up revenue received per audit
over the last year was less than $100,000, though 6% reported that the average was more than $1,000,000.
10% reported the average to be between $100,000 and $1,000,000. 79% of respondents said their total
true-up revenue last year was less than $100,000. 12% reported that the total was more than $1,000,000.
How many license compliance audits did your company perform within the last year?
0
1-10
11-20
21-50
51-100
More than 100
What is the average true-up revenue per audit your company received within the past year?
More than $1 million
$300,000 to $1 million
$100,000 to $300,000
< $100,000
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 24
The Majority of Enterprises Have Been Audited Within the Last Year
56% of enterprises reported having been audited over the past year, and almost a third report having been
audited more than once. 17% were audited three times or more.
What is the total true-up revenue from compliance audits your company received within the past year?
More than $100 million
$50 - $100 million
$20 - $50 million
$5 - $10 million
$1 - $5 million
$500,000 to $1 million
$100,000 to $500,000
< $100,000
How often have you been audited (or had a license review) by your vendor(s) within the last year?
More than 3 times in the past year
3 times
2 times
1 time
We have not been audited or had a license review within the past year
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 25
Microsoft is the Most Frequent Auditor
Half of all respondents report that they have been audited by Microsoft over the last year, making it the most
frequent auditor. Oracle (41%) SAP (35%) and Adobe (24%) were the next most frequent auditors.
Average Size of Enterprise Compliance True-Ups Vary
Consistent with the application producer survey findings, 68% of enterprises report that their average, true-
up penalty was less than $100,000 per audit. But some enterprises reported broader exposure, with 8%
reporting true-up costs of more than $1 million per audit, and 24% reporting average true-up per audit in the
$100,000 to $1 million range.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Adobe IBM Microsoft Oracle SAP Symantec
If you have been audited within the last year, which vendors have audited you?
What is the average true-up cost per audit for your organization?
More than $1 million
$300,000 to $1 million
$100,000 to $300,000
< $100,000
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 26
Total True-Up Exposure Moderate for Most, but in the Millions for Some Enterprises
64% of enterprises report their total software true-up bills were less than $100,000 over the past year. But
11% reported theirs to be more than $1 million. $25% reported their total true-up exposure to be between
$100,000 and $1 million.
What was your total software audit true-up cost within the last year for your organization?
More than $1 million
$300,000 to $1 million
$100,000 to $300,000
< $100,000
2011 Key Trends in Software Pricing and Licensing Survey 27
SOFTWARE LICENSING AND PROVISIONING RESEARCH AT IDC
IDC's global Software Licensing and Provisioning research practice is directed by Amy Konary. In this role,
Ms. Konary is responsible for providing coverage of software go-to-market trends including volume license
programs, evolving license models, global price management, and licensing technologies through market
analysis, research and consulting. In her coverage of software maintenance, subscription, electronic
software distribution and licensing technologies, Ms. Konary has been instrumental in forecasting future
market size and growth. Ms. Konary was also the lead analyst for IDC's coverage of software as a service
(SaaS) for eight years prior to focusing exclusively on pricing, licensing, and delivery. International Data
Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the
information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. For more information about
IDC, please see www.idc.com
ABOUT FLEXERA SOFTWARE
Flexera Software is the leading provider of strategic solutions for Application Usage Management; solutions
delivering continuous compliance, optimized usage and maximized value to application producers and
enterprises. Flexera Software is trusted by more than 80,000 customers that depend on our comprehensive
solutions- from installation and licensing, entitlement and compliance management to application readiness
and enterprise license optimization - to strategically manage application usage and achieve breakthrough
results realized only through the systems-level approach we provide. For more information, please go to:
http://www.flexerasoftware.com.
Flexera Software, LLC.
1000 East Woodfield Road,
Suite 400
Schaumburg, IL 60173 USA
Schaumburg (Global Headquarters),
+1 800-809-5659
United Kingdom (Europe,
Middle East Headquarters):
+44 870-871-1111
+44 870-873-6300
Japan (Asia,
Pacific Headquarters):
+81 3-4360-8291
For more locations visit:
www.flexerasoftware.com