- Software piracy is big in China, Russia and India – and growing in Germany
- Many track telemetry but do nothing with it, reducing observability
- Clear functional pricing is key to eradicating piracy
Despite increasingly stringent measures and the growing popularity of subscription-based packages, a third (31%) of software manufacturers now say that piracy is a major source of revenue leakage.
New research from Revenera claims that unlicensed use is a major problem in China, Russia and India, with Germany rising from 11th to sixth place and appearing to be particularly fond of engineering simulation and CAD software.
Despite the challenges, many software companies lack sufficient visibility into their software usage – 30% collect telemetry but don’t analyze it, creating what Revenera says is a major blind spot.
Unlicensed software is still a problem globally
“In addition to compliance, usage insights can also help with product roadmap decisions and churn prevention, yet nearly a third of companies admit they ignore the usage data they collect—revealing a significant blind spot that can sabotage revenue growth,” explained SVP and GM Nicole Segerer.
Although only 31% see piracy as a major problem and 25% see license abuse as a major problem, 43% and 41% respectively see it as a moderate problem, underscoring the wide scope of improperly licensed software.
Revenera says software makers should use AI to improve reporting, as they’ve already determined that around a third are letting telemetry data go to waste. The need is clear, with 8% not even sure how they are losing revenue to unlicensed software (up from 5% last year).
The report also revealed that converting unlicensed users to paying customers in markets with strong IP laws is “highly possible” – with the right tools and data.
“The most successful companies integrate compliance into sales teams and treat breach data as a pipeline of qualified leads to the target,” Segerer added.
Looking ahead, Revenera says predictability is key to reducing unlicensed use, noting that many companies are planning significant changes to their usage-based pricing by 2027. About two-fifths each plan to use prepaid models (38%) and postpaid models (43%).
“Companies that approach compliance as a sales function rather than a legal enforcement channel see the greatest success,” the report concludes.
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