Our History

Since 1982, we've been perfecting the science behind the art of software pricing.

1980s

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IBM

1981

IBM introduces its first personal computer: IBM Model 5150.

1981

IBM

1981

IBM introduces its first personal computer: IBM Model 5150.

1981

Microsoft develops MS-DOS 1.0, which is licensed by IBM.

1982

Denon

1982

Denon develops the CD-ROM and introduces it with Sony in 1984.

1982

Tron

1982

Walt Disney Productions releases the movie TRON.

1982

Software Pricing Partners becomes the world's first global software pricing consulting firm. It would take decades for competitors to enter the space.

1983

Software Pricing Partners invents the world's first software monetization methodology, featuring three distinct disciplines of licensing, packaging, and pricing.

1984

Apple

1984

Apple launches the first Macintosh personal computer.

1984

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology to handle hardware and hardware components sold with software.

1985

Microsoft releases Windows 1.0, a graphical shell for MS-DOS.

1987

Apollo Computer launches the first commercial license manager, NetLS, which allows a client to find a license server on a network. Software Pricing Partners invents the "Floating License" pricing model for CAD & Engineering software companies struggling to utilize this innovation. This model allows companies to charge for the number of "floating" licenses accessed at the same time by multiple users (later called concurrent user licensing). It rapidly becomes the dominant monetization strategy of the 90's.

1987

Software Pricing Partners invents "financial overlays”—a.k.a. subscription billing—for B2B software companies navigating through "Black Monday", the stock market crash of 1987 that led into the recession of the early 90's.

1989

Software Pricing Partners invents "Market Fairness Pricing", a technique for software companies to credit unused licenses in an effort to more proactively protect and retain customers. This concept would later appear in the early 2000's as "fair billing policies".

1990s

1991

The first web browser, WorldWideWeb, is released to the general public.

1991

Linux

1991

Linus Torvalds develops the Linux operating system kernel while attending the University of Helsinki.

1992

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology to handle professional and advisory services, utilized with clients like Forrester.

1992

AOL

1992

America Online (later known as AOL) launches an online software suite for Windows, including a web browser, email service, and messaging client.

1993

Intel

1993

Intel introduces its flagship line of Pentium microprocessors.

1993

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology to handle enterprise content management, utilized with clients like Documentum (later acquired by OpenText).

1994

Amazon

1994

Amazon founded by Jeff Bezos as an online marketplace for books.

1994

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology to handle networked storage platforms, utilized with clients like EMC2.

1996

Software Pricing Partners continues to show its dominance in hardware and software monetization, monetizing early Ethernet products like hubs and routers for clients like Bay Networks (later known as Netgear).

1997

Software Pricing Partners further cements its methodology around open source, content management, and identity management, utilized with clients like Sun Microsystems.

1998

Google

1998

Larry Page and Sergey Brin launch Google, a web-based search engine.

1998

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology to handle network operating systems, utilized with clients like Novell.

1999

“IoT” term is coined by Kevin Ashton, executive director of the Auto-ID Center. Software Pricing Partners begins expanding its methodology to monetize IoT and edge devices.

2000s

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2001

The English-language version of online encyclopedia Wikipedia is launched.

2001

The English-language version of online encyclopedia Wikipedia is launched.

2002

Software Pricing Partners expands methodology to handle analytics & predictive analytics, the precursor to machine learning, for clients like Resolve Technologies.

2003

Facebook is founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates at Harvard University.

2003

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology for 2-sided and n-sided marketplaces, utilized with clients like Monster Worldwide.

2003

Skype

2003

Skype software is founded to address the high cost of voice calls.

2005

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology for infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), utilized with clients like OpSource.

2005

YouTube

2005

YouTube is created by three former PayPal employees. YouTube is purchased by Google in 2006.

2006

Software Pricing Partners expands methodology to handle APIs, integrations, imbedded components and pure data plays, utilized with clients like Boomi.

2006

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology for compliance, risk and audit software, utilized with clients like LexisNexis.

2006

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology for large-scale enterprise deals measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars, utilized with clients like Haliburton.

2007

Apple “reinvents the phone” with the release of the first generation iPhone.

2007

Software Pricing Partners expands methodology to handle open source, security, privileged access, and identity management, utilized with clients like BlackDuck.

2007

Twitter

2007

Twitter debuts at the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas.

2008

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology for supply chain and procurement software, utilized with clients like Navarik.

2010s

2010

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology for gaming, gaming platforms, and gaming tools, utilized with clients like SideFX.

2010

Instagram is released as an iOS app through the Apple App Store.

2010

The first cryptocurrency stock exchange is launched for trading in Bitcoin.

2011

4G LTE is commercially deployed in the United States by Verizon.

2011

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology for mobile applications and software, utilized with clients like Antenna Software.

2011

The first consumer Chromebooks are introduced by Acer Inc. and Samsung at the Google I/O conference.

2012

NASA launches the Curiosity rover as part of a mission to identify evidence of intelligent life on Mars.

2015

Software Pricing Partners moves its headquarters to Charlotte, NC & expands its methodology for advertising models, utilized with clients like Wordstream.

2015

Oculus introduces the first consumer version of the Rift VR headset.

2016

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology for Business Process Automation, workflow, and low-code solutions, utilized with clients like K2.

2017

Software Pricing Partners expands its methodology for professional service providers and global management consultancies to monetize intellectual property hidden within service delivery models, utilized with clients like ZS Associates.

2019

SpaceX

2019

SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule becomes the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.

2019

Software Pricing Partners continues to innovate deeply into AI/ML monetization processes, with clients like Booz Allen. Booz goes on to win a $885M contract with the Department of Defense to implement its AI technology.

2019

SPP launches Clarity, a B2B pricing management & sales enablement software solution.

2020

Pfizer and Moderna introduce the first widely-available mRNA vaccines to address the global spread of COVID-19.

2022

Software Pricing Partners celebrates its 40th year anniversary!

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