In what ways is Orion more effective at providing standard commodity licensing capabilities compared with other high-end licensing solutions?

At a general level, Orion adds security, non-intrusiveness, operational efficiency and sophistication to the capabilities that are normally expected of a high-end licensing solution. Here are a few examples.

1. Product activation

   Orion’s product activation capabilities allow for offline activation in addition to online activation; self-service relocation of licenses (no call center required) even in offline mode; the ability to have licenses securely returned; leased activation for revocability; and activation of complex licensing policies. There are many other benefits as well – for full details on Orion product activation, please see the licensing topic on product activation.

2. Floating licensing

   When using Orion for traditional floating licensing, a single Orion server instance can be used to control multiple floating license pools over a wide area network, and a single Orion server license can be issued to realize complex license configuration policies. Application don’t have to be restricted to acquiring a license at the time of startup and releasing the license upon application termination, and it is not necessary to resort to non-secure “license borrowing” gimmicks for the purpose of obtaining temporary licenses for prolonged offline usage (aka. “commuter licensing”).

3. Auditing and reporting

   Orion captures licensing, administration and system events on an audit trail that is online and accessible from a browser via search screens. An exhaustive set of historical and analytics reports may be run on the audit trail. The audit trail may also be downloaded and imported into any third party analytics tool for more complex analysis.

4. License security and flexibility

   Orion provides a higher level of security from common attacks. Search the FAQ with the keyword “Security” for full details.

   The Orion product activation system’s automatic node locking mechanism utilizes a proprietary extensible fuzzy fingerprinting algorithm, which gives you the option to control the degree of tradeoff between node locking security and flexibility for the end customer:

   • Maximum security: you can require that all the built-in node locking parameters, including any you may add, must match in order for the offline license to function.
   • Maximum flexibility: you can require that any one of the built-in node locking parameters or your own matches in order for the offline license to function in a machine that has some hardware and / or operating system upgrades, without requiring the end customer to obtain a new license from you.
5. Rapid application integration for Java and .NET applications

   For Java and .NET environments, Orion includes functionally complete high-level client libraries that facilitate one-line-of-code integration in a matter of hours. The libraries encapsulate licensing integration know-how for the full range of licensing functionality such as operating in connected or disconnected environments, implementing product activation, implementing user registration forms and other data capture, etc., so you don’t have to undergo a learning curve or write extra code. The libraries include default dialog boxes and registry implementations for storage of license activation records, so you don’t have to code for this functionality and at the same time you have the option to override the default implementations with your own.

6. Secure native Java client libraries, for Java applications

   Many vendors natively support C/C++ but provide second class support for Java via “JNI” (JNI is a Java technology that enables Java applications to call C/C++ APIs). The problem with this approach is that (a) Java is supported only on those platforms for which the C/C++ libraries are provided by the vendor, rather than all Java-enabled platforms, and (b) JNI is less secure from client library spoofing attacks.

   Orion’s Java client library, on the other hand, is implemented in native Java, and therefore runs on any Java enabled platform. Furthermore, it is obfuscated with a highly sophisticated flow-control obfuscation technology to prevent reverse engineering, and it includes a digital signature mechanism for tamper detection of the library and your integration code.

7. Seamless licensing through resellers and distributors

   Typically, when products are marketed via reseller and distributor channels, the vendor has little visibility into the effectiveness of the channels, other than manual reports that are run periodically as part of reporting requirements.

   Orion enables you to host resellers and distributors’ license pools and delegate day-to-day licensing operations to their respective administrators, yet provide you with immediate visibility into their licensing activities. This eliminates the need for manual reporting procedures and enables you to take early action on channel performance issues.