Malvern Panalytical Scales Licensing with Sentinel

Malvern Panalytical instruments analyze the chemical, physical and structural nature of materials, from proteins to polymers and semiconductors to minerals. They measure surface area, porosity, density, adsorption and particle activity. The addition of SciAps adds portable/handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF), laser-based (LIBS) and near-infrared (NIR) analyzers to measure any element in any environment. 

For its software, Malvern Panalytical has used Thales Sentinel for core licensing since 2012. In 2023, the company sought a way to provide a state-of-the-art, comprehensive, and automated ordering and delivery for their customers. Pleased with the Thales Sentinel platform, services, and support for over a decade, they chose to continue with Thales and take advantage of Sentinel’s backend and frontend capabilities for enterprises.

Software Licensing History 

Originally, Malvern Instruments and Panalytical were separate entities, each managing their own Sentinel licensing. Following their merger as Malvern Panalytical, the company used Sentinel to consolidate licensing into a single platform, streamlining operations. However, while operations were efficient, software licensing and delivery remained manual, sometimes taking weeks to fulfill and ship to each customer. 

For this reason, Malvern Panalytical wanted to transition to automated, “headless software sales” whereby licensing, delivery, and entitlement processes function without manual involvement. They wanted their customers to enjoy an e-commerce experience, purchasing directly through their Salesforce MyStore. Their goal: Deliver software products and login credentials immediately – in the time it takes to receive an email.

Transformation to Cloud-Based Flexible Entitlement Management 

Malvern Panalytical’s digital transformation process began by migrating from their on-premises Sentinel LDK licensing platform to Sentinel EMSaaS, the Thales cloud-hosted Entitlement Management System. This migration provided Malvern Panalytical with the following benefits: 

1. Easy integration capabilities with Salesforce. 

From the backend, Malvern Panalytical could visualize, configure, and automate entitlements directly from Salesforce. On the front end, customers now enjoy online self-service through their Salesforcebased e-store. Registrations and renewals were automated and swift. 

2. Software licensing automation. 

On-premises devices and license servers could automatically pull licenses securely from Sentinel EMSaaS, rather than the company needing to manually email a software license file or ship the license on a hardware dongle. 

3. Code-free flexible pricing and packaging. 

The company can set up diverse, customer-centric pricing and packaging models with Sentinel EMS’s agile, modular configuration options – without involving engineering. 

4. Software download and storage mechanisms. 

Sentinel Electronic Software Delivery as a Service (ESDaaS) eliminated physical software shipments, enabling secure, digital downloads for all purchased software.

5. Freed infrastructure resources. 

By moving hosting to Thales, Malvern Panalytical no longer needed to rely on its engineers and IT for the licensing platform environment and support. 

6. Future proofing for SaaS and data-driven sales strategies. 

The company now has the infrastructure to continue expanding into other software models, and leverage insights from licensing data to anticipate renewals, identify cross-selling opportunities, and mitigate churn risks. 

The Sentinel EMS capabilities established the foundation for Malvern Panalytical to flexibly scale their software business going forward. “The unified global process and integrated business systems solution empower our customers to use their software immediately after purchase without manual intervention from our side,” points out Rick van den Tillard, Senior Director of Commercial Solutions. “As a result of this successful digital transformation, the customer experience has improved dramatically while strongly lowering the workload on our supply chain organization,” emphasizes Van den Tillard.

Partnership for Support 

The comprehensive migration and integration project involved transforming sub-optimal processes that had been in place for over a decade. The Thales Professional Services support team therefore collaborated with all relevant stakeholders at Malvern Panalytical, including the Head of Commercial Solutions, the Customer Experience Product Manager, and several subject matter experts from Order Management, Service, R&D, and Assembly to accelerate decision making and ensure cross-functional alignment. Together, Thales and Malvern Panalytical worked in full partnership for the success of the migration to Sentinel EMSaaS. “Sentinel EMS offers flexibility by allowing different use cases, while maintaining operational robustness. They successfully strike a hard balance,” says Van den Tillard.

Summary 

Malvern Panalytical streamlined operations with Sentinel EMSaaS, benefiting several aspects of their business. From the backend, the company significantly reduced operational overhead, enabling teams to focus on innovation, enhanced customer support, and strategic growth initiatives. From a customer’s end, the new selfsufficient online purchasing portal allows for quick selection and access, ultimately leading to more sales. “By automating every aspect of software registration, delivery, and licensing, we vastly reduced our operations, and our customers now benefit from what they prefer - self-service purchasing,” tells Van den Tillard. Moreover, the new Sentinel platform also allows Malvern Panalytical to plan for SaaS and harness their data for sales insights in the future.

The transition exemplifies how the most modern, integrated software monetization and delivery platforms can change both customer experience and business trajectory. Malvern Panalytical’s initiative is much more than a technological upgrade—it is a strategic foundation for ongoing growth, digital business models, and global customer success.