Altair adopts on demand multi-core licensing model

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Altair Engineering (makers of PBS Pro, Hyperworks, and other tools) is talking today about

Altair logo its new software business model to enable the first on-demand computing software environment that tackles the challenges of multi-core processor licensing. In response to industry changes, Altair’s innovative and patented software licensing model for PBS ProfessionalTM allows users to only pay for what they use, thus powering a pure on-demand computing environment.

Over the past several years, designers of microprocessors have begun building two or more processors into a single package, introducing multi-core technology – and a challenge to software companies worldwide. Software vendors have continued to implement outdated and inflexible licensing models, limiting customer value and the adoption of grid and on-demand computing. In response to industry and customer demands, Altair has developed its innovative software licensing model that allows customers to enable their entire enterprise infrastructure to be shared globally while only paying for actual usage of software licenses.

Other changes include flexible software licenses that can float across enterprise computing resources. The new licensing model is being released in conjunction with PBS Professional 9.0.

I can tell you as an HPC service provider that the cost of software is skyrocketing as companies simply multiply their old per-CPU license costs by 4,000 and 8,000 cores in today’s high end supercomputers. I’m not sure this model is the answer, but I’m glad to see someone is working on it.