[discussion] Schema of Valentina server licensing

[Lynn Fredricks]

> >VDN subscribers will also be able to buy Valentina 2 Server at a 
> >discounted rate. At some point, you might have a customer 
> who wants to 
> >use a single install of Valentina 2 Server serve up data to 
> multiple, 
> >different types of apps you make. It might make sense to 
> just sell them 
> >a full Valentina 2 Server (and yes, there will be an unlimited 
> >connection version of this available). Paradigma prefers that VDN 
> >subscribers can be competitive with resellers so that the VDN 
> >subscriber's customers don't just go out and buy Valentina Server 2 
> >from someone else cheaper. It also makes the VDN subscriber 
> competitive 
> >against Paradigma direct sales.
> 
> But by selling the product, the VDN subscribers become de facto 
> resellers and thus assume full product support and responsibility for 
> the servers they sell (tech support, consulting, returns, etc), which 
> some developers may not care for. Or don't they?

Only with their own solutions using Embedded Server are they really
taking on all responsibility. If you buy a copy of FileMaker Server from
MacConnection or even FileMaker directly, the tech support in that case
is going to FileMaker, not you. If a VDN subscriber buys Valentina 2
Server, tech support is Paradigma's problem, unless you elect to provide
it as a consultant to them.

Something else which isnt too clear I think -- there will be non-runtime
clients as well included with Valentina 2 Server. Now of course, to get
access to those, you need to buy a copy of Valentina 2 Server. But
conceivably, you could write a client side app that can connect to
Valentina 2 Server and do your business. You wouldn't have the
client-side full runtime to go with that. But with the license that will
come with Valentina 2 Server, you'll be able to use those light weight
non-runtime clients in your apps, making it possible to sell some
solutions that would either allow your client to go out and buy his own
copy of Valentina 2 Server to work with, or, if you are a VDN
subscriber, you can buy Valentina 2 Server at a discount and resell it
to him.

In these kinds of reselling, sometimes you only need to give a slight
discount in order compete directly with a vendor on reselling their
packaged solution. I see this happen very often with some of my other
clients. We get products sold at X% discount to the reseller, then the
reseller sells at 5% lower than the vendor. All else being equal, that
5% can mean the difference betweent getting the sale or not. Or they
sell for the same price, but add value in some other way that's
meaningful for their target customer.

Best regards,


Lynn Fredricks
President
Proactive International, LLC

http://www.proactive-intl.com