Microsoft aims to make software licensing simpler

In the tech world there's probably only one thing more complicated than software integration: software licensing. The complexity and cost of figuring out which licences to buy can leave the most hard-headed CIO reeling with confusion - and that's before adding the fresh licensing headache being caused by the move to cloud-based computing.

In an exclusive interview with silicon.com, Microsoft UK's managing director, Gordon Frazer, agreed that the company's licensing is complicated, but said it is making an effort to reduce the number of licence options, to make it easier for customers to understand what software they're buying and how to get the best value for money.

Frazer said the number of licensing options Microsoft has means it offers choice "and choice, by definition, comes with a certain amount of complexity". Frazer told silicon.com: "If we only had one model, and the one and only model we had was 'pay X per user per month', that's a great model: but doesn't necessarily suit everybody for everything."

For more on this story, read Microsoft licensing: How the cloud is changing your software options on silicon.com.