If you are looking to buy any dealership management software, you need to understand how software licensing works. After all, licensing is the base of any software's pricing model, from Microsoft Office to Netflix. Dealership software is no different.
By understanding licensing and how it fits in a company's pricing model, you will be able to determine how much money you need to invest in dealership software. You will also be able to determine how much is "too much."
What is a software license?
Software is like any other good. It costs money to create, maintain and support. The only difference is that with most goods, it is concrete. You can drink a Coke, wear a shirt or drive a car. Software is abstract. You can only interact with software. Thus, you are simply buying the right to interact with the software under certain conditions. This is a license.
RELATED: Software updates: Do you have to pay for them at EverLogic?
So, when you buy dealership management software like EverLogic, we are giving you a license, or permission to use our software to improve the efficiency of your dealership. Neither EverLogic nor any of our competitors sell a license that covers everyone in your dealership.
RELATED: What the cost of EverLogic includes for your dealership
Instead, when you buy a license, we are giving your dealership permission for anyone in your dealership to use that license at a given time. Understandably, this will cause major problems if only one person is allowed to use the software at any one time. That is why encourage people to buy multiple licenses to increase efficiency.
How EverLogic's licensing should work at your dealership
EverLogic limits the number of users who can be on the software at the same time to the number of licenses purchased by the dealership.
- The green dots represent your users. Assign as many users as you wish. Users are known as Log-ins. By assigning each user (employee) a login in EverLogic, you benefit by keeping track of what each of your employees is working on in your dealership.
- The slots represent licenses. The number of licenses you subscribe to determines how many slots are available to you.
- The numbers represent how many licenses the dealership subscribes to.
In this particular example, the dealership has six users (employees) and they subscribe to five licenses. When all the slots are full, you reach your maximum number of users. When this happens, for an additional user to use the software, one of the users simply logs off. This is also referred to as concurrent licensing.
RELATED: Is EverLogic DMS cloud-based, online, or desktop only?
If you subscribe to five licenses and a sixth user needs to work in the software, then one of the users must log off. Ultimately in determining the number of licenses your specific dealership needs, it helps to start with how many employees need access. Then you should answer whether they need access at the same time. As you successfully grow your business, typically your license usage also grows.
RELATED: How many DMS licenses does your dealership need?
How many licenses do you need?
There isn't a maximum number of licenses you can buy, though a health maximum would equal the number of employees you have at any given time.
The only requirement is the purchase of a minimum of three core desktop licenses. Based on past experience, evidence shows that a dealership with less than three licenses to start is not a good fit for EverLogic. We found dealer management software is often too much for some startups and small businesses, which often do not need the expense of a DMS.
RELATED: Determining the value of a dealership management system (DMS)
This goes back to our fundamental belief that EverLogic should help your dealership succeed. For most dealerships, EverLogic can perfect the solution you need to take you to the next level. For others, we may not be the best option. Yet, we are happy to work with you to find the best solution to help your business grow.
If you would like to see how EverLogic's software works in action, click the button below to view our free demo.
