Autumn 2008

A subscription-based licensing agreement has been unveiled by Exact Abacus as an option for its new-generation graphical 3EX.NET Enterprise multi-channel supply chain system.

3EX.NET is already available as a hosted system, offered on a pay-as-you-go licensing basis, but the subscription version adds a further dimension to this, in which the user-company runs the product locally, but still pays for it over time. As the company puts it, the system 'grants clients total sovereignty over hosting, administration and usage of the application.'

Not only that, but the system also provides for unlimited user licensing, support and upgrades. The tariff is calculated on the basis of the software modules adopted and the user's turnover (a banded approach is applied).

The new option was previewed in a feature on the company in our last issue. According to sales and marketing director Lee Thompson, the company's approach steals the march on other suppliers, providing an enterpriseÐclass vertical solution 'without any of the compromises associated with orthodox software-as-a-service offerings'.