Click here for Part 1 (What is SaaS Licensing?) and Part 2 (Pricing & Strategies).

What is SaaS license management?

SaaS license management (SLM) for software developers involves an ongoing strategic process of documenting, monitoring, and updating the SaaS license agreements made with customers. While small businesses can more easily manage their licenses, larger businesses tracking thousands or even millions of licenses will need automation to assist managers with SaaS license management. SaaS license management enables software development companies to:

  • Keep up with the large volumes of information
  • Reduce the error margin
  • Help customers optimize their accounts
  • Ensure software security
  • Stay on top of customer compliance
  • Avoid legal pitfalls
  • Keep track of all data, including payments, user experience, and feedback

Maintaining successful software license management ensures that customers have a consistent and reliable SaaS app they can depend on.

Best Practices

Successfully maintaining SaaS licensing demands intense dedication to researching, evaluating, and implementing best practices. Taking a holistic approach and focusing on every aspect of the SaaS licensing process enables your company to build and deliver a high-quality, desirable app that brings in significant profit. Take a look at these best practices to develop a SaaS app that will delight your customers:

Make tech-support availability a priority.

Providing support to your clients for the long term is just as important as the deployment stage. Clients want to feel that they are receiving quality service in return for their payments. Ensuring 24/7 availability to answer any questions allows your customers to feel at ease with their purchases. Moreover, you can actively boost engagement by sending frequent emails that offer helpful tips to guide customers through their SaaS usage. Integrating the emails into an automated email sequence can streamline the process.

Consider which contract is appropriate for your business.

A click-through contract enables employees to acquire the SaaS with a few clicks of the mouse. An enterprise contract, in contrast, involves building a relationship with a vendor and meticulously reviewing the contract together. Consider which contract works for your customers, or perhaps offer an option for both.

Make your pricing models simple.

Prioritize simplicity. You may lose customers due to overly-complicated pricing options, so make sure the pricing options are straightforward and uncomplicated.

Establish a strong records system.

Maintain a centralized, easily accessible dashboard or spreadsheet with each customer’s licensing agreement and purchasing details. With hundreds, thousands, or millions of clients, a clear display of each licensing contract is key to effective SaaS license management.

Answer customer SaaS implementation needs.

Each company has different implementation needs depending on its size and resources. Offering a range of implementation services, from automatic implementation to full-service, from in-house to remote, to satisfy companies’ SaaS deployment needs.

Supporting Successful SaaS Licensing

SaaS licensing demands countless hours of analysis, strategizing, and planning. To ensure optimal SaaS functioning, protection, and customer satisfaction, visit Sentinel, and find the right Saas licensing solution for your company.

(Source: Thales)