MIS developer DolphinWorx is planning significant changes to its licencing model a month after it cancelled the contract of its local distributor to go direct to customers.
Chief executive Stephanie Gaddin said the decision last month to cut ties with 13-year partner CT Consulting was because DolphinWorx is ‘restructuring’ to no longer use distributors or resellers and instead sell software licences directly to clients.
Gaddin says as well as a new version of its flagship Dolphin 4 MIS system coming next month, clients will now use a single site licence instead of individual user licences in an effort to keep cost down.
“This is the first of several changes to restructure the outdated licensing and billing model. A single site licence makes more sense because everyone needs access to the program,” she says.
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Gaddin says printers will also be able to spread their licence payments out over the term of the licence instead of having to pay it all at once, making it more affordable for small businesses.
“I believe the days of having to get finance to fund a software project are over. I don’t see how small printers can survive with what is happening in the industry unless they are able to afford what they need to do business,” she says.
“DolphinWorxs will be actively working on updating and modernising the entire business model throughout 2015.”
The first part of Dolphin 4 to be affected is the reports module next month, and Gaddin says several long-time clients have taken up a pre-offer with their January license renewals and purchases.
Gaddin also flagged ‘aggressive expansion’ into the cloud MIS space this year. Dolphin 4 is not currently cloud based but its PrintWorxs and JustWorxs programs are.
Gaddin says herself and other key executives have been personally visiting clients since late December to meet as many as possible to reassure them they will continue to get good service with the developer going without a reseller.
“I am committed to meeting as many of our clients and users as I can to hear firsthand what they think of the software, and more importantly what they want to see in it,” she says.
DolphinWorxs has more than 200 users in Australia that are affected by the change in distribution strategy.
Industry sources say CT had recently signed an agreement with a Singapore distributor and this may have had some influence on the timing of DolphinWorxs’ decision.
They say legal action may be on the horizon, but CT managing director Stephen Leverington said earlier this month that he hoped that would not be necessary and Gaddin now says the issue seems to have been resolved without resorting to it.
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