Software licensing

With a license, the customer buys ongoing access and outcomes; the vendor keeps the intellectual property and the responsibility of keeping the product alive. Commissioned or custom software is the opposite trade: the customer pays much more upfront, owns the result, and inherits the burden of maintaining it forever.

When it makes sense

Licensing wins whenever the software already exists and your business does not depend on owning it.

• The product is already built and running for other customers, so you launch in weeks instead of months
• You want the vendor to keep improving the software, since every customer funds the same roadmap
• You prefer a predictable recurring cost over a large upfront build plus an open-ended maintenance budget
• You do not want to hire engineers to look after code you would own

When it does not

Commissioning custom software is the right call when the software is your competitive moat, when you need full control over the roadmap, or when the code must eventually sit on your balance sheet as an asset, for example ahead of an acquisition. Owning code is only worth it if you are also prepared to own its maintenance.

How Cazullo applies it

Cazullo licenses the Cazullo Platform per brand. The licensee brings the brand and the local knowledge; Cazullo brings software that is already built, plus the operation behind it: releases, monitoring, payments, and infrastructure. The platform code stays with Cazullo, while the brand, its content, and its user relationships belong to the licensee. Commercial terms depend on which modules a brand enables and how much of the operation Cazullo runs.