Evolution of Subscription-Based and PPU Licensing Models
Subscription-based and pay-per-use licensing models will continue to evolve as business demands for vital software applications continue to increase.
ENABLING FLEXIBLE, USAGE-BASED LICENSING FOR SOFTWARE VENDORS
Open iT® Elastic Licensing
Our solution for ISVs to enable “pay per use” and other consumption-based compensation models, powered by secure and accurate usage metering.
Designed for the Software Ecosystems Your Customers Already Use
Elastic Licensing integrates with the licensing infrastructure of a wide range of enterprise and engineering ecosystems—including those where accurate software metering is business-critical.
Engineering & CAD/CAE Software
Simulation & Modelling Platforms
Semiconductor Design Tools
Geoscience & Energy Applications
HPC & Scientific Computing
Enterprise SaaS & Developer Tools
What is Elastic Licensing?
Elastic Licensing is Open iT’s flexible model for extending usage-based licensing options—such as pay-per-use, consumption tiers, and hybrid agreements—on top of an ISV’s existing license manager.
Instead of pricing solely around user counts or concurrent use, Elastic Licensing incorporates actual metered usage into the licensing equation, enabling more adaptive and customer-aligned software agreements.
How Elastic Licensing Works
Works With Your Existing
License Manager
Elastic Licensing extends your current licensing system—no re-engineering required. It layers usage-based charging on top of the ISV’s existing license manager, preserving all entitlement controls while enabling flexible pricing models.
Accurate Usage Metering
(TrueUse™)
Using Open iT’s proven metering engine, Elastic Licensing captures precise, non-alterable usage data directly from license servers. This provides ISVs with reliable insights into true software consumption for billing and reporting.
Secure, Digitally-Signed
Data Collection
Usage data collected at the customer site is digitally signed to ensure tamper resistance. Data can be transferred directly or through a staging collector, ensuring secure, validated exchange between customer and ISV.
Two-Component Architecture:
Collector + Core Server
Elastic Licensing consists of a Data Collector installed with the existing license manager, and a Core/Billing Server that processes usage, applies cost catalogs, and supports usage-based billing models. This architecture enables scalable, low-impact deployment.
Flexible Pricing &
Usage Models
ISVs can offer pay-per-use, prepaid with elastic overage, hybrid fixed + usage, token-based consumption, and usage-tiered pricing—without modifying their software or license manager. Usage-based billing is fully derived from metered data.
Cloud-Ready, Hybrid &
Offline Capable
Elastic Licensing operates across on-premise, cloud, hybrid, and distributed environments. Embedded Elastic Licensing (EEL) extends coverage to offline or lightweight devices, enabling usage metering even without persistent connectivity.
Related Reading & Resources
Open iT Elastic Licensing – Key Benefits
Elastic Licensing is a pay-per-use licensing model that provides license
The Path to Elastic Licensing
Learn how the Elastic Licensing solution can enable software vendors to easily provide flexible licensing based on actual measured usage into their portfolio of products.