Acquiring Software (2)

Hello to everybody especially to this blog reader,

Today I will continue my post yesterday just a little bit more..

I'll start here; An organization, in contrast to individual users, must take a different approach in acquiring software. Most organizations such as businesses, governments & non-profit agencies have computers & their users need software. Although software publishers' policies vary, several options are usually available. If an organization is going to install the software on individual computers, it might be able to arrange a volume discount for the required number of packages. Alternatively, the organization could purchase a site license, which allows the software to be installed either on all its computers or on a specific number of computers, depending on the license terms. The customer agrees to keep track of who uses the software & takes responsibility for copying & distributing the software & manuals to its own personnel. Incidentally, if you work for a large corporation, check with your employer before you buy a copy of the expensive software you use at the office. Under some license agreements, employees are allowed to use the same software at home.

Organizations with local area networks (LANs) often install a network version of widely used software, such as word processing, on the network 's server computer. Thus the software is available to users connected to the network without the necessity of installing the software on each user's computer. In this case, the license fee may be based on the total number of users on the network or may provide for a maximum number of concurrent users.

Another software movement is gaining in popularity: electronic software distribution. Never mind the trip to the store. You can get freeware, shareware & even commercial software from the internet. One common scenario is to download copyrighted software free from the manufacturer for atrial period. When you use the software, you are encourage to go back online & register (pay with a credit card or etc.) . Unregistered software often disables itself automatically after a given time period, such as 21 days. In the not-so-distant future, users will not need to purchase software, but will be able to download it temporarily from a vendor via the internet for a per-use rental fee.

Application service providers provide an alternative method of delivering applications to businesses via the internet. An application service provider (ASP) is a company that sets up & maintains application software on its own systems & makes the software available to its customers over the internet. By using an ASP for its complex applications, a business can avoid the expenses of installing & maintaining those applications on its own system. According to some estimates, the cost of renting a major enterprise-wide application, such as a human resources package, can be as much as 30% less than the cost of buying, deploying & supporting it in-house.