Every business considering a partnership with a FileMaker developer is going to have questions. In this series we will address the frequently asked questions that our customers have about our services.
Answer: One of the most important parts of any business software solution is the licensing. This is a legal instrument and contract law that governs the use or redistribution of a particular piece of software. As part of United States copyright law, software is copyright protected and a license is needed to install and run it on a computer.
Typically, a piece of software comes with a single license that grants the end-user permission to access one or multiple copies. This prevents a single piece of software being purchased or downloaded illegally and installed on multiple systems. It prevents users from committing copyright infringement.
Licenses are also used as a way to create provisions that allocate liability and responsibility between the developer and the end-user. This means if there is an issue with the software and it has a warranty, the integrity of that is upheld when the end-user looks to get the problem fixed.
Every piece of software has a license and FileMaker is no different. By partnering with Kyo Logic, we can ensure that the copies you are using have the right license. There are two ways this can be done.
The first is an outright purchase. This keeps software updated but does have recommended annual maintenance after the first year. The second is annual leasing, which comes with an annual fee but requires maintenance. This does have possible discounting. There can also be not-for-profit pricing available for both models.