Choosing the right license model for your engineering team
In engineering software, licensing is not just an administrative detail. It directly affects productivity, deployment flexibility, and how easily a team can work across locations, infrastructure boundaries, and security requirements.
PCB-Investigator offers three distinct license systems: SOD (Software on Demand), Floating, and Dongle. Each one is designed for a different operational reality, from distributed teams to secure standalone environments.
What each model is built for
SOD is the most flexible option for distributed teams, home offices, and users working from multiple locations. Licenses are managed online, can be accessed worldwide, and come with central administration, statistics, and logging. A stable internet connection is required.
Floating licenses run through an internal license server within the company network. This allows efficient sharing across multiple users, without assigning a dedicated license to every engineer. It is a strong fit for companies with internal IT infrastructure and shared tool access.
Dongle-based licensing uses hardware binding via a USB dongle. It delivers maximum independence from servers and networks, making it well suited for single-user setups or security-sensitive environments.
The best license model is the one that matches how your team actually works, not just how your software is installed.
Key benefits at a glance
- SOD: location-independent access, centralized management, high scalability
- Floating: efficient license utilization, no public internet required, simple internal administration
- Dongle: strong hardware-based security, offline independence, simple local deployment
If you are evaluating software access for your organization, compare team structure, IT constraints, and security needs before making a decision. That is usually the fastest path to a setup that engineers will actually use without friction.
Learn more about PCB-Investigator license systems and find the model that fits your workflow.
