Enterprise mobility management (EMM) provider SOTI Inc. is adopting a new licensing model for its latest device management upgrade.

MobiControl version 11 offers managed services providers (MSPs) user-based licensing, instead of per-device licensing, which has been the traditional mobile device management (MDM) license model, SOTI COO Ron Hassanwalia told MSPmentor.

"What we're finding, talking to our managed service partners, is that their customers don't care about devices," he said. "They care about users."

Hassanwalia said the reason why a per-device licensing model has become a challenge for IT and procurement is the constant changing of devices in today's market, making it difficult to monitor and manage these devices.

MobiControl version 11 allows each user to have up to four devices. According to Hassanwalia, the company determined that the average user has about two devices, but SOTI wanted to provide more flexibility.

"We know the industry is growing, and what we think is the standard today will probably change by tomorrow," he said. "It's all about adoption. We want to be current with the times."

The latest upgrade also includes a self-service portal, geo-aware content access, mass configuration and application provisioning, and support for all the latest devices.

"One of the important things in this industry for SOTI is that we consistently deliver technology as its released," Hassanwalia said. "When I looked at the Microsofts and the RIMs of the world that are trying to enter the MDM space, the real advantage a company like SOTI has is we can give you same-day support."

SOTI MobiControl version 11 will be available in late October 2013.