Where to go to a desktop software developer when SaaS comes

First of all, I would like to say that “cloud product” and “SaaS” are not the same thing. Often, SaaS means a web service that a person uses via a browser and pays for it on the basis of a monthly subscription (or daily — in general, regular). But SaaS stands for “Soft as a Service” (“Software as a Service”). Those. SaaS should be understood not only as a web-service, but also ordinary desktop software, which is provided on the basis of subscription fees.

There are many desktop products on the market, and the developer of such software may not want to rewrite the project from scratch, but begin to indirectly compete with “browser-based” projects using the attractive SaaS feature - a monthly micro-schedule (subscription). For the user, such a scheme is very convenient: you do not need to immediately pay a large amount of money. Those. You can automatically debit the cost of a month of using the software from a credit card, Yandex.Money, WebMoney or even from the account of the subscriber's Internet provider in a single check with Internet payment.

This is especially true in Russia: people prefer to download "pirates", and they can be understood - the licensed software is too expensive to afford . At the same time, many people use the “antivirus by subscription” service from their Internet providers, paying an additional $ 1-2 along with the Internet. Antivirus is a special case of such "subscription" software.
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(There is always a second way - to rewrite everything, create a web version of your application and start gradually transferring your users to it. Indeed, for many types of desktop software there can be a similar web service. True, for this, companies will have to either hire web programmers or relearn yourself ...)

This article is about the first way, the adaptation of an existing desktop product so that it does not hit the user's pocket, but everyone remains happy. I think that in the coming years, the distribution of desktop software will change - the transition from the sale of expensive keys to the scheme of micropayments and a monthly subscription. Those. the authors of the “downloadable” software, in order not to lose the client base, will switch to the SaaS-model of sales of their existing products.

How to transfer software to the monthly subscription fee?

Desktop SaaS: RentSoft and VMProtect Protection

We want to share tools and developments that have accumulated over a couple of years of cooperation with vendors on a subscription model. This article announces the launch of a new section for vendors of our startup RentSoft (the project was launched in 2010).

We created the RentSoft platform to enable the developer to sell SaaS programs on his website, as well as in our existing sales channels (showcases around fifty Russian Internet service providers with a total subscriber base of more than 3 million people, showcases of private webmasters, applications on social networks, etc.). The connection to the platform is “self-service”, i.e. you can check it out right now

Let us distract for a second and look at the subscription process through the eyes of the buyer. So, the user chooses a product on one of the fifty windows of Internet providers (or in the window of the vendor itself) and connects the payment: either directly from the account of his Internet provider, or from a credit card, electronic money, etc. He is given a link to the "subscription" version of your program and activation key. Then the user once (during installation) enters the activation key into the program, and then the product, using RentSoft tools, tracks the key status via the Internet. When the money in the user's account runs out, the program is blocked. As soon as the money arrives, the program starts working again (if there are several subscriptions, they are successively included in the order of priority). The user does not need to enter new keys: simply replenish your account.

Let's go back to the tools. To switch an existing product to “SaaS mode”, the developer can go one of the following ways .

1. Use the system of protection of EXE files of VMProtect RentSoft edition (free for those who connect to RentSoft). This version was developed by VMProtect Software, a company well known in the “gloomy world”, specifically for our platform, so integration with RentSoft is already integrated into it.
2. Or, connect the RentSoft license server and the C ++ SDK: slightly modify the program code so that when starting it will access the SDK API to check the status of the key on the RentSoft license server.
3. Or, implement the key status management API on your own license server (if the developer already has one) and provide it to RentSoft.
4. And, of course, the last option - you can organize everything yourself: write your license server, embed protection into the product, connect support for payment systems and credit cards, create a storefront for the product and advertise it through Yandex.Direct or Google Adwords. But this is exactly what we have already done on our platform; and you can use these tools under the scheme of division of revenues from the sale of subscriptions (see below).

A little about the first method. VMProtect protection translates part of the EXE code into the instructions of the special virtual machine using 2048-bit RSA keys, which gives very reliable protection. For those who write in C ++ or Delphi under Windows, this connection method is especially convenient:

• VMProtect RentSoft edition is free , while it provides the same degree of protection as the version that supports the "traditional" licensing (and costs from $ 399).
• The developer does not need to refine the program code to connect to RentSoft.

We will devote one of the following articles to full VMProtect, but for now, if you are interested, see the VMProtect documentation (HTML-version of the CHM-file in Russian), as well as the minimum instruction with screenshots (DOC).

New market and new sales channels for vendors

Subscription model - a new direction in the sale of desktop software, weakly intersecting with the traditional, already existing market. Really,

• the subscription is mainly aimed at private users, while in Russia “traditional” keys are sold to individuals rather poorly;
• we at RentSoft provide sales on the territory of Russia, while the Russian “sharovarschiki” mainly trade in western sites.

So we invite you to open a new market: after all, sales to the West and subscriptions in Russia do not compete, but complement each other.

What are the ways to sell subscriptions?

Sale of subscriptions on your own website

When registering your product in RentSoft, you get a storefront, which can only be painted in the colors of your main site (replace CSS or even a header with a basement) and connect to the level 3 domain (for example, podpiska.VashSayt.com) with CNAME records in DNS. All this is automated and provided with detailed instructions. At the storefront, users will be able to buy subscriptions through credit cards, electronic and mobile payments, etc., while remaining on your site.

An example of the showcase of one of the software suppliers connected to RentSoft: podpiska.atlansys.ru .

RentSoft Affiliate Network

If you do not have your own marketing budget to sell on your website, RentSoft places at your disposal a large network of affiliates - mainly Internet providers of Russia (there are 43 of them now, a few dozen more are about to launch) with a total subscriber base of more than 3 million people .

The main advantage of selling through Internet providers is that subscribers already monthly bring the provider 400-500 rubles of payment for the Internet. We are able to write off payment for software (which in this case looks like an additional service provider) directly from the subscriber's account. Therefore, when a user connects your program to the provider's website, he pays for it in the same check that he pays for the Internet! Add to this that the account of the subscriber’s personal account almost always has an unencumbered balance, which means that the software purchase barrier is minimal: clicked - and it works. (Naturally, the user can manage his subscriptions from the personal account of the provider: disable, re-enable, etc.)

If desired, your product will appear on all of these partner windows. For example, corresponding additional services will be automatically created on the websites and personal offices of Internet providers. The subscriber of the provider will be able to pay for your software along with the payment for the Internet, and in fact in Russia there are more than 25 million "internetized" apartments, of which currently 15% already have access to add. RentSoft services.

Revenue sharing model

The subscription model is based on regular microscripts from the user's account. We deduct a certain commission depending on the sales channel from each such write-off: if the vendor sells on the subdomain of his site, the commission is 20-25%, and if through our affiliate network it is 40-50% (we share the revenues with the sites in half). It is according to this scheme that we work with already connected vendors - companies ABBYY, Kaspersky Lab, Atlansys, ESET, etc., but in connection with the launch of the section for vendors, we provide developers who have connected before August 1, 2011 substantial discounts .

How exactly to calculate the size of the monthly payment - the vendor decides. There are several things to keep in mind: firstly, a subscription in Russia practically does not compete with sales of annual or perpetual keys to the West (so there is no danger of losing the effectiveness of already existing sales channels). Secondly, the subscription for the user is significantly more attractive than the acquisition of the “annual” key, so the audience of potential buyers is wider (someone may never buy a key in Russia, but will easily buy a subscription).

We welcome any feedback.

We are trying to move quickly, so we welcome any comments and suggestions on the development of our new toolkit for vendors. Let us together provide a wide range of users with a way to purchase software that will not afford to afford, and thereby reverse the situation with piracy in Russia. Join now!