PARTNERS ’ PERSPECTIVE
Usage-based cybersecurity licensing is way forward
John Maddison , EVP of Products and CMO , Fortinet
IT teams need flexible cybersecurity solutions to address near-constant evolution in enterprise networking needs and licensing models for those solutions should be just as flexible says John Maddison at Fortinet .
When it comes to technology , the one thing you can count on is change . Requirements evolve over time as organisations adapt their environments and deployments to meet new demands and challenges . But in the past few years , this rate of change has skyrocketed . What an organisation needs one quarter may be drastically different than what it needs the next .
IT teams need flexible cybersecurity solutions to address this near-constant evolution in enterprise networking needs . And the licensing models for those solutions should be just as flexible .
Flexible licensing programmes that allow organisations to pay by usage have emerged as a solution to this challenge . Although there will always be a need for traditional product licensing models , usagebased pricing offers an additional way to
You should seek out licensing options that can be applied in all the environments where you need to deploy your solutions . leverage solutions and adapt to dynamic business needs .
With usage-based pricing , you can provision services and solutions when you need them and only pay for what you use . As your business needs evolve , you can dynamically scale your solutions up or down and in or out to fully secure your technology initiatives , no matter how they may evolve or shift over time .
For maximum flexibility , you should seek out licensing options that can be applied in all the environments where you need to deploy your solutions , including on-premises , physical and virtual datacentres , clouds , hybrid clouds , and hybrid mesh firewall environments . Additionally , look for flexible licensing programmes that offer a wide portfolio of solutions and services rather than one or two .
With usage-based licensing , you can eliminate excessive procurement cycles and lead time because teams do not have to preplan and presize their deployment purchases and risk underestimating or overestimating their needs . They can deploy exactly what they need rather than go through a procurement process whenever additional solutions and services are called for .
Additionally , select usage-based licensing programmes can help organisations meet their minimum-use commitments with cloud providers . IT teams can use solutions offered through a flexible licensing programme within their cloud environment and the
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