Traditionally, software is sold as a per-seat license. You’ve probably been buying software this way since your first computer. Imagine an office with 30 people. Under the per-seat license model, you’d buy 30 licenses, so each user can access the software. If you hire a new person, you need to buy another license.
Concurrent licensing is a newer approach with the potential to save you money. The number of concurrent licenses you need is based on the number of users accessing the software at the same time.
Let’s take that same office with the same 30 people. You have 18 people on the day shift—10 technicians, three parts room employees, two admin assistants, one foreman, you, and your boss. On the night shift, you have another 10 technicians, one parts room employee, and one foreman.
Because not all users will be accessing the system at the same time, you can reduce the number of licenses you need by more than a third. So you’re not paying extra for users who use the software at different times or only need access occasionally.