Electronic software distribution is where licensing is going

But you'd better get used to it. ESD is the shape of things to come, and if you buy software for the government, you're going to have to incorporate ESD into your buying plans fairly soon.

With electronic software distribution, you buy a license, then download the software over the Internet. This is more than just a way to make sure you get the absolutely latest versions of whatever you buy. It's also a way to shift much of the software administrative burden away from your office and back to the software publishers and their distribution channels.

ESD tracks licenses and manages software assets without a lot of paperwork for your LAN managers.

The Defense Logistics Agency recently made a ground-breaking agreement with Microsoft Corp.'s channel partner, CyberSource Corp. of San Jose, Calif., to license up to $50 million worth of software this way over the next five years.

Kendall Fargo, CyberSource director of sales and marketing, said a variety of programs will be available, from the Microsoft Office suite to Windows NT Server. All the software will be downloadable from the Internet via a World Wide Web interface.

DLA will keep copies of the software on local cache servers to speed the distribution. DLA LAN managers who want a program will visit an internal Web page that lists available software. When one of them sends a download request, the DLA server will return what Fargo called a challenge, basically a key request.

The LAN manager will enter a password, which will be encrypted along with the challenge and sent back to the server. To make sure what's stored locally is the latest version, the DLA server will first check with CyberSource's servers.

If a later version is available, it will get the newer copy. Then the LAN manager can download the programs, compressed and encrypted to protect DLA against the spread of viruses.

Public affairs officer Arthur Bailey said DLA will save through faster and more efficient distribution, less downtime for users, and less reliance on a help desk for software and installation glitches.

Bailey said ESD reduces the total cost of ownership for software because DLA makes only one distribution that any authorized employee can tap. If users of one version of Microsoft Word find they can't exchange files with people using a later version, they can get an upgrade right away.