FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises A.P. Møller-Mærsk Success Story
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This document discusses FlexNet Manager Suite, a software license optimization solution that helps organizations reduce software costs and maintain compliance. It does this by providing visibility into software assets, optimizing license usage, and automating reconciliation of licenses purchased versus installed. The solution helps organizations improve maturity in software asset management from basic inventory to continuous optimization. It covers desktop, server and engineering applications from major vendors through components that provide discovery, inventory, software license models and reconciliation functionality.
FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises A.P. Møller-Mærsk Success Story
- 1. DATASHEET Benefits to Your Organization • Optimize license consumption to reduce software costs • Maintain continuous software license compliance to minimize audit risk • Manage contracts to reduce software maintenance costs • Track and manage application usage to optimize renewals and reduce denials of service • Automate license management to reduce manual efforts and improve operational efficiency FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises Complete Desktop-to-Datacenter Software License Optimization Solution Software License Optimization = Software Savings Compliance Software is one of the major items on IT expense budgets. Industry analysts estimate that software license and maintenance fees represent 20 to 35% of total enterprise IT spend. Not only are desktop and server applications from major vendors—Adobe, IBM, Microsoft® , Oracle® , SAP® , Symantec™ — strategic to businesses, they also represent the vast majority of an enterprise’s software spend. For technology companies, engineering applications from vendors such as Autodesk, Cadence Design Systems and The Mathworks, to name only a few, are critical assets that drive productivity and time to market. The approach for managing this software asset portfolio is typically immature, local rather than global, and frequently involves spreadsheets or other ad-hoc methods. The lack of mature software asset management processes exposes enterprises to software audit liabilities and overspending on licenses and maintenance. It also requires excessive manual effort and IT staff time to manage the software estate, including preparing for software license audits and annual true-ups. What is needed is a Software License Optimization solution that allows organizations to control costs and reduce risks associated with software assets while increasing operational efficiency. FlexNet® Manager Suite for Enterprises provides a comprehensive set of products that enable organizations to manage software applications and optimize licenses for pervasive desktop and server software. Organizations are also able to maintain software license compliance, which significantly reduces software audit cost and risk. FlexNet® Manager Suite automates critical processes to dramatically reduce the time and effort required from both IT operations and IT procurement staff. The Flexera Software solution allows organizations to realize ongoing cost savings of up to 25% per year on their software spend. Software License Optimization Maturity Levels The first step in the maturity model (see figure 1 on page 2) is to gather evidence about the hardware and software installed in the estate. Level 1 answers the question “What hardware is installed and where is software deployed?” Most organizations have a good handle on the hardware installed and have tools and processes in place to track hardware through its lifecycle. Accurately identifying and managing software is much trickier—unlike hardware, there is no physical asset you can count to determine how much software is installed in the environment. At Level 2 maturity, the organization answers the question “What is deployed and how is it being used?” It requires gathering and combing through reams of file, package, registry and other data to determine the applications installed on any one machine. This process can be automated with an Application Recognition Library, which processes all the inventory data and produces a consistently named (normalized) list of applications per device. Organizations at Level 2 lack SAM processes and tools for continuous management of their assets and are generally in a reactive mode. They may be able to manually reconcile purchases against installations to determine their license position for certain vendors. This is a time consuming process, which means that they are generally not going to be “Our annual true-up with one of our key software vendors in 2011 was the proof point for our revamped ITAM program and investment in FlexNet Manager Suite. The zero dollar true-up cost, in sharp contrast to the millions of dollars paid each year previously, erased all doubts about the program and showed how powerful it is to have accurate asset information at your fingertips.” Luis Peluffo Johansen Global Head of IT Purchases Assets A.P. Møller-Mærsk
- 2. continuously compliant– hence it is “point-in-time” management that will revolve around software audits, annual true-ups and contract renewals. Levels 3 and 4 require a big step-up in tool capabilities, as well as implementation of best practice processes. To enable organizations to reach Level 3, Continuous Compliance, FlexNet Manager Platform, the foundation of the Suite, utilizes its SKU Library of more than 700,000 software part numbers, to automate purchased versus installed license reconciliation and generate a license compliance position. Purchase orders provide basic entitlement data—how many licenses did you buy for a specific software title. PO’s with SKUs can automatically be processed to understand exactly what has been purchased and then this can be compared to the inventory data. Traditional SAM tools only get you to level 2 and don’t have the built-in SKU Library to help automate the license reconciliation process. Minimizing license consumption and reducing software spend requires deep vendor domain knowledge. Software vendors have different license models, entitlements, and contracts that are used to determine the number of licenses required for each software product. Product use rights such as upgrade, downgrade, second use, virtual use and disaster recovery (DR)/failover rights must be understood and applied. FlexNet Manager Suite optimization products have a Product Use Rights Library that contains license entitlements for key vendors, including Adobe® , IBM® , Microsoft® , Oracle® , SAP® , Symantec™ and VMware—to minimize license consumption and allow organizations to achieve the Optimization level of maturity—Level 4, with a highly automated process. At this level, organizations also have the capability to manage and optimize complex license models such as Oracle Named User Plus, Oracle Processor, IBM PVU, IBM RVU, Microsoft processor-core, and many others. FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises is unique in providing a Level 1-4 solution for more than 16,000 software vendors’ products and automated Level 4 solutions for key, high-value vendors. FlexNet Manager Suite products enable organizations to move rapidly up the curve from the lowest levels of license management maturity to the highest through automation and optimization. Figure 1: FlexNet Manager Suite and the Software License Optimization Maturity Model Optimization Level 4 Continuous Compliance Level 3 Usage Understood Level 2 Installation Assessed Level 1 Is the enterprise optimized? Optimally apply all entitlements via a Product Use Rights library to proactively manage and reclaim unused licenses, minimize spend, assess financial impact of change and consolidate vendors Are we compliant? Establish governance to continuously and automatically monitor and reconcile entitlements utilizing a SKU library and contract management to know your license position and ensure compliance What is deployed and how is it being used? Develop consistent (normalized) list of installed applications and measure their usage leveraging an Application Recognition Library and a wide variety of built-in license models Where are assets deployed? Discover where software and hardware assets and collect evidence (including capabilities/capacities) across multiple platforms (Windows, Linux, UNIX, etc.): manage hardware assets Software Asset Management Software License Optimization Software License Optimization Maturity Levels FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises ProcessMaturityandBusinessValue Legacy License Model Complexity Modern Platform: Desktop/Client License Optimization Continuous Compliance for: • 16,000+ Vendors • 150,000+ Applications • 710,000+ Software SKUs Application Recognition Normalization Across The Enterprise Measure Application Usage Discovery of Legacy and Modern License Model Apps Software License Optimization Datacenter Server License Optimization for: • IBM • Microsoft • Oracle • SAP • Symantec • VMware “What If” Financial Analysis Vertified Oracle Solution Hardware Asset Management Hardware Asset Inventory
- 3. FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises Components FlexNet Manager Suite consists of FlexNet Manager Platform and add-on server Software License Optimization products. • FlexNet Manager® Platform - (Desktop to Datacenter Discovery, Inventory, Hardware and Software Asset Management and Desktop Software License Optimization) • Server Software License Optimization Solutions – FlexNet Manager® for IBM® – Accepted by IBM for Sub-capacity Reporting – FlexNet Manager® for Microsoft® – Flexera Software is a Microsoft SAM Gold Partner – FlexNet Manager® for Oracle® – Verified by Oracle LMS – FlexNet Manager® for SAP® Applications – Certified by SAP – FlexNet Manager® for Symantec™ – FlexNet Manager® for VMWare® • FlexNet Manager® for Engineering Applications – Concurrent License Optimization and License Server Administration • Workflow Manager FlexNet Manager Platform FlexNet Manager Platform Provides: • Desktop to Datacenter Discovery, Inventory, Hardware and Software Asset Management - FlexNet Manager Platform provides scalable desktop to datacenter hardware and software asset management functionality to identify and manage hardware assets and applications installed on physical and virtual machines. The Platform provides discovery, inventory and hardware asset management (HAM) for desktops, laptops, servers, mobile devices and other physical IT assets (Maturity Model Level 1, see figure below). It provides application recognition and normalization for enterprises across more than 16,000 publishers and 150,000 applications from desktop to datacenter (Maturity Model Level 2). Asset reports provide actionable insight into hardware assets, software installations, application usage, license compliance status, upcoming payments, and purchased versus installed license reconciliation (Maturity Model Level 3). • Desktop/Client Software License Optimization – FlexNet Manger Platform also provides enterprise-wide Software License Optimization across desktops, laptops, and other client devices, enabling organizations to reach Level 4 in the Software License Optimization Maturity Model, for desktop software. It automatically applies product use rights acquired through software license agreements from desktop vendors such as Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec. Product use rights can dramatically affect the number of licenses consumed by an organization, and therefore must be taken into account to minimize costs and ensure license compliance. • Foundation for Server Software License Optimization – FlexNet Manager Platform serves as the foundation for add-on server optimization products in FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises. These products provide automated Software License Optimization for server software by applying product use rights acquired through purchase agreements from high value vendors, such as, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Symantec, and VMware. The server optimization products leverage the extensive capabilities of the Platform, including comprehensive contract management, the Management Dashboard, analysis and reporting. Desktop to Datacenter Discovery, Inventory, Hardware and Software Asset Management Platform Discovery Inventory FlexNet Manager Platform provides both agent-based and agentless technology to collect physical (Windows, Linux, UNIX, MAC OS platforms), virtual machine (VM), and hard FlexNet Manager Platform WorkflowManager FlexNetManager ForEngmgApps FlexNetManager ForVMware FlexNetManager ForSymantec FlexNetManager ForSAPApplications FlexNetManager ForOracle FlexNetManager ForMicrosoft FlexNetManager ForIBM DesktopLicense Optimization ServerLicense Optimization Figure 2: FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises and Workflow Manager 633,309 4 $2.5M Unlicensed installation Publishers with the most products in breach Licenses under-consumed by 5% or more Total devices: 1,265 Devices missing for over 60 days Contracts expiring within next 30 days Over spend ($) Publishers in breach Under purchased ($) 52 1,2651 Discovered devices with alerts Contracts renewals within next 30 days 01 Licensed installations 7% Management Dashboard Management Dashboard License Compliance Hardware Assets Discovery Inventory Enterprise Procurement Management Reports SAP Figure 3: FlexNet Manager Platform Management Dashboard
- 4. partition inventory of hardware and software across the IT estate. Application usage data may also be collected. The Platform supports the ISO 19770-2 software tagging standard; the Windows agent collects software tags on each device, if available. These tags are used to identify software installations. The Platform also provides specialized discovery and inventory capabilities not provided by other tools including virtual environment discovery and inventory. Extensive Integration to Existing IT Systems FlexNet Manager Platform provides out-of-the-box integration to many existing IT systems, including configuration management, inventory and usage data tools as well as industry leading IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions from companies such as BMC and ServiceNow. In addition, FlexNet Manger Platform provides a connection layer to 3rd party HR, financial, service desk, ERP, and procurement systems to allow collection of user, purchase order, contract, organizational, and other data. FlexNet Manager Platform also integrates with Flexera Software App Portal, an enterprise app store that allows end users to perform self-service requests for products in an approved software catalog and then manages the approval and software deployment process. App Portal can make requests to FlexNet Manager Platform to check on license availability and reserve licenses for the requested products. This ensures that a license is available before the software is deployed to the user’s device, helping to proactively maintain license compliance. Hardware Asset Management Each hardware asset can have an extensive set of properties that are tracked in the FlexNet Manager Platform repository including: identification, purchasing, user allocation, financial, technical, and contractual information. Individual hardware assets (cell phones, printers, routers, etc.) are tracked differently from computers. FlexNet Manager Platform also imports mobile device inventory from Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync 2007 and 2010, and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012. This allows organizations to manage the lifecycle of mobile devices using the same tools and processes as all other hardware assets. Software Asset Management The FlexNet Manager Platform contains key Flexera Software content libraries that streamline the software asset management process: • Application Recognition Library (ARL) – For a software license to be consumed, an installation of an application must be found (via the discovery and inventory process for on-premises software), that can be associated with the license. (This is not the case for the Software as a Service delivery model, but is typically true for on-premises software). The Application Recognition Library is used to scrub raw inventory data and provide a normalized list of installed software per device (desktop, laptop, server, hard partition or virtual machine). It contains recognition rules to identify software— including publisher, title, version, and edition—for more than 150,000 software titles from 16,000 publishers across multiple platforms including Microsoft Windows, Linux, UNIX, and MAC OS. The ARL supports the use of ISO 19770-2 tags to identify installed software, when such tags are available. • SKU Library – The Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) library contains more than 700,000 software product SKUs and is used to match inventory and usage data with software purchase orders and contracts. It helps automate the creation of license records in the asset management repository from the software license entitlements in purchase orders. This is otherwise a manual, error prone process that may lack sufficient information to be done accurately. Figure 4- Flexera Software’s License Optimization Solution for Desktops Reports List of Installed Applications Asset Reports Desktop Datacenter Inventory Application Recognition Library Recognition Process • Files • Add/Remove Programs • Registry Data • ISO tags Figure 5: FlexNet Manager Platform’s Application Recognition Library automates the recognition and data normalization process LICENSE CHECK • Request Approved Apps • Automated Approval Process • License Availability Check • Manage Deployment • Automated Reclaration • Discovery Inventory • App Recognition Normalization; Usage Analysis • PO Processing • Desktop SW Optimization • Reduced Audit Risk • Reduced Security Risk • Optimized Desktop Software Costs • Reduced Time Effort to Manage the Estate • Improved Service Delivery BENEFITS
- 5. Automated Purchase Order Processing Purchase order processing is fully automated in FlexNet Manager Platform. Purchase orders (‘POs’) can be used generate new license records or update existing licenses, without any operator interaction. The Platform uses the SKU library or relationships between existing licenses and POs in the asset management repository. This feature also delivers a management by exception capability, where only “special case” POs require manual intervention. This purchase order processing automation can be controlled per vendor and limited to new software license purchases, upgrades, or maintenance renewals. Software License Optimization for Desktop Applications FlexNet Manager Platform enables true enterprise-wide automated license optimization for desktop software from top vendors such as Microsoft, Adobe and Symantec. The Platform not only manages all types of desktop applications and license models, but also reconciles the software license entitlements you have purchased with actual application installation and usage data allowing organizations to save on desktop license purchases, audits, renewals, and annual true-ups. The FlexNet Manager Platform contains a Product Use Rights Library for applications that streamlines the desktop software license optimization process. The Product Use Rights Library contains the license entitlements provided by software purchase agreements such as Enterprise Agreements (EA), Select Plus Agreements, Software Assurance (SA) and Adobe Cumulative License Program (CLP). These rights include: upgrade, downgrade, right of second use, multiple versions and virtual environment use rights. For example, the “right of second use” allows the application to be installed and used on both a desktop and a laptop, with the same primary user, under a single license. Adobe has a “multiple installations” use right that allows multiple versions of the same application to be installed on a device and consume one license. Use rights can dramatically affect the number of licenses consumed by an organization, and therefore must be taken into account to minimize costs and ensure license compliance. With this data, organizations can implement multiple desktop license and contract optimization strategies including: application of product use rights to minimize license consumption, smart allocation of licenses to devices and users, reharvesting of under-used licenses, maintenance cost reductions based on application usage, and consolidation of vendors and applications. Business Intelligence for Software Asset Management and License Optimization The Platform incorporates IBM Cognos technology to provide new business intelligence and reporting capabilities, including multidimensional analysis, making it easy to ‘slice and dice’ complex data, track key indicators over time for trend analysis, and create custom reports. These capabilities are available via the Business Reporting Dashboard giving enterprises a centralized view to report on and analyze software license optimization data and better forecast future software needs. (Note: Cognos based Business Intelligence capabilities are only available with the on-premises delivery model). FlexNet Manager Platform Summary FlexNet Manger Platform provides extensive reporting capabilities via a Web-based dashboard (see Figure 2 above) that allows users to identify and evaluate areas of license compliance concern and make informed decisions that reduce license and maintenance costs for software from thousands of publishers, while minimizing license compliance risk. The Platform enables true enterprise-wide automated license optimization for desktop software by applying vendor specific product use rights to reduce license consumption, allowing organizations to save on desktop license purchases, audits, renewals, and annual true-ups. FlexNet Manager Platform is the foundation for Server Software License Optimization products in the FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises that provide automated license optimization for server software from high value vendors, on top of the Platform, to deliver the maximum return on your software investment in the shortest time. For more information about the capabilities of FlexNet Manager Platform, please refer to the FlexNet Manager Platform datasheet. Installed Software Reports Purchased Versus Installed License Position License Compliance Financial Data • ERP • Procurement Systems • Financial Systems SKU Library Purchase Orders SKU = 5402051AS PO Import Figure 6: FlexNet Manager Platform’s Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) Library automates PO processing to capture license entitlements and automates purchased versus installed license reconciliation
- 6. FlexNet Manager Suite Server License Optimization FlexNet Manager for IBM , FlexNet Manager for Microsoft, FlexNet Manager for Oracle, FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications, FlexNet Manager for Symantec, and FlexNet Manager for VMware are next generation server software asset management and license optimization solutions that analyze inventory, application usage, purchase order data, license entitlements, and contract terms to optimize license consumption. By optimizing software license management for these key vendors, the FlexNet Manager Suite products enable organizations to save on license purchases, audits, renewals, and annual true-ups. To enable true enterprise-wide license optimization for IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Symantec, and VMware server software products, the FlexNet Manager Suite optimization products include a Product Use Rights Library that enables them to determine an optimized license position. The Product Use Rights Library contains the license entitlements provided by software purchase agreements, such as Enterprise Agreements (EA), Select Plus Agreements, maintenance and support agreements, and many others. These rights include: upgrade, downgrade, disaster recovery (DR)/failover rights, and virtual environment use rights. Use rights can dramatically affect the number of licenses consumed by an organization, and therefore must be taken into account to minimize costs and ensure license compliance. License Change Review The License Change Review feature in FlexNet Manager Suite server optimization products (for IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Symantec, and VMware) enables the system to alert organizations when changes in the content libraries (e.g. the Product Use Rights Library) may impact their existing licenses. This can occur when software vendors make changes to their product use rights or when Flexera Software makes improvements to the content libraries (Application Recognition Library, SKU Library and Product User Rights Library). License Change Review ensures that an organization’s license compliance position is always accurate and optimized. Predictive ‘What If’ Analysis FlexNet Manager Suite provides industry-first ‘What If’ Analysis capabilities that allow organizations to see the impact of hardware and software changes on their license position, before the changes are actually made. A simulation capability is provided by the Platform—for Oracle Processor (in conjunction with FlexNet Manager for Oracle), IBM PVU (in conjunction with FlexNet Manager for IBM), and Microsoft Server Processor (in conjunction with FlexNet Manager for Microsoft) licenses, as well as the general purpose Processor Points and Core Points licenses. Actions such as modifying hardware properties, moving a virtual machine across hosts or installation of a new software title can be simulated, providing an estimated license position and cost analysis that reflects these changes. This enables organizations to proactively maintain license compliance and control software costs in today’s dynamic IT environments. FlexNet Manager for IBM FlexNet Manager for IBM provides a Product Use Rights Library which encapsulates IBM licensing rules, including PVU, RVU, and UVU points tables, and virtual use rights. License templates in the IBM Product Use Right Library cover more than 50,000 IBM software product SKUs. FlexNet Manager for IBM enables organizations to calculate an optimized license position for IBM software products—reducing license consumption and ongoing software costs. FlexNet Manager for IBM is able to calculate Processor Value Unit (PVU) license consumption in both full capacity and sub-capacity (i.e. virtual) environments. This calculation is independent of the IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT) provided by IBM. A report can be provided that shows a side-by-side comparison of the calculation results from FlexNet Manager for IBM and ILMT. The product also calculates PVU license consumption in VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V server cluster environments. • Reduced Audit Risk • Optimized Software Costs • Reduced Time Effort to Manage the Estate • Better Contracts BENEFITS Server Optimization Products - • IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Symantec, VMware • Complex License Model Use Rights Support • What If Analysis Reports Optimized License Position Savings Annual True-up Product Use Rights: • Second Use • Multiple Installations • Virtual Use • DR, etc. IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Symantec, and VMware FlexNet Manager Suite Optimization Engine Product Use Rights Library Contracts Figure 7: Flexera Software’s License Optimization Solution for Datacenter Servers
- 7. FlexNet Manager for IBM data used to determine a license position for IBM software is accepted by IBM for sub-capacity reporting as an alternative to IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT), Tivoli Asset Discovery for Distributed (TADd) and IBM Endpoint Manager for Software Usage Analysis (IEM SUA). For more information about FlexNet Manager for IBM, please refer to the datasheet for that product. FlexNet Manager for Microsoft FlexNet Manager for Microsoft includes a Product Use Rights Library for Microsoft server products that contains the product use rights acquired through Microsoft purchase agreements, such as Enterprise Agreements (EA), Select Plus Agreements, and Software Assurance (SA). These rights include upgrade, downgrade, disaster recovery (DR)/failover rights, virtual environment use rights, and license mobility rights FlexNet Manager for Microsoft supports license management and optimization for Microsoft server license models including Server Core and Server Processor License Models. • Server Core License Model factors in the latest licensing rules from Microsoft for server products using a core-based metric. This includes the core factor table attached to it, the minimum core counts on virtual machines for which the license is applicable, and the limit on the number of Operating System Environments (OSE) permitted for each core license. • Server Processor License Model License models for Microsoft server products licensed using the processor metric are also available. They cover products such as Windows Server 2012 (one license covers 2 physical processors), SQL Server (pre-2012), BizTalk, Commerce Server and Forefront. FlexNet Manager for Oracle FlexNet Manager for Oracle provides discovery and inventory for Oracle database, E-Business Suite, WebLogic and other products. Flexera Software’s Oracle solution has been verified by Oracle License Management Services (LMS), which determined that it provides ‘detailed and accurate’ reports on installations and usage for Oracle databases, including options and management packs. FlexNet Manager for Oracle inventory data will be accepted by Oracle LMS during a software audit. FlexNet Manager for Oracle supports license management and optimization for many Oracle license models including Processor, Named User Plus (NUP) and Application user. The Processor and NUP license models are used for Oracle’s Database and Middleware products, while the Application User license is used for business applications, such as E-Business Suite. The Product Use Rights Library provided by FlexNet Manager for Oracle contains the Oracle processor points table and the NUP user minimums per processor to enable it to calculate an accurate license position. It also understands and applies Oracle’s virtual environment licensing rules for both hard (LPAR, vPar, Solaris Zones) and soft (VMware ESX/vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V) partitioning technologies, including virtual server clusters. As a result, FlexNet Manager for Oracle is able to report license compliance and over licensed situations for Oracle software running in today’s dynamic, virtualized IT environments. For more information about FlexNet Manager for Oracle please refer to the datasheet for that product. FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications In many enterprises, SAP® applications are the most highly valued and widely used in the company. Without precise management of software license usage, organizations risk duplicate users, unused licenses or misclassified users – potentially increasing the cost of their SAP investment. With Flexera Software’s FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications, organizations centrally monitor and analyze their SAP named user license usage to help ensure accurate licensing and usage- based spending on an ongoing basis. This license management solution provides detailed insight into employee SAP use, allowing organizations to better plan and budget for future SAP purchases. Until now, enterprises have had a limited view into SAP usage, forcing them to perform many manual, error-prone steps or make guesses about license needs. FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications not only helps uncover who uses licenses and to what extent, but also helps organizations more accurately assign license types in compliance with the SAP contract. As a result, enterprises can budget correctly for renewals and potentially reduce on-going software license costs. Certified by SAP, FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications also helps enterprises chargeback software expenses internally based on actual use and more easily monitor and demonstrate license compliance. Test, 8 CB, 0 Developer, 0 2,211 Professional, 6,834 Limited Professional, 4,682 CB, 143Test, 39 Multi Client, 2,060 Employee Self Service 17,412 CAT, 16,313 Employee Self Service, 10,285 Optimized StateOriginal State Multi Client 2,776 4,195 Multi Client Professional Limited Professional CAT Developer Employee Self-Service Test Example of Original and Optimized States for SAP Named User Licenses - shows a significant decrease in the number of required high cost license types, such as Professional and Limited Professional User licenses.
- 8. SAP License Ratios Some SAP contracts stipulate a minimum ratio of Professional versus Limited Professional named user licenses. FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications calculates both an optimal license position based on real usage data and also a contractual license position that takes into consideration SAP’s license ratio requirements. This enables organizations to optimize their SAP named user licenses while staying in compliance with their license agreement. It also allows organizations to understand what license ratios are costing them, which helps with future SAP contract negotiations. SAP Indirect Access License Management and Optimization FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications helps organizations to discover instances of indirect access, and to manage and optimize the license requirements for users of non-SAP systems in the following ways: • Identify accounts on non-SAP systems that have not logged in for an extended period and may be able to be retired (Idle Users) • Identify users who have accounts on both SAP systems and non-SAP systems, to avoid licensing these users multiple times (Duplicate Users across systems) • Determine the optimal SAP license type for each indirect access user based on all available information including their system authorizations and usage history. SAP Package Licensing FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications also runs package (aka engine) measurements independently of system measurements, allowing it to collect package metrics at any time. Licensing rules define how these metrics are combined to determine a single license consumption figure for each SAP package. SAP package licensing rules and metrics are encapsulated in the FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications Product Use Rights Library. This allows the product to streamline the process of calculating SAP package license consumption, reducing annual true-up preparation time and easing SAP license management. For more information about FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications, please refer to the datasheet for that product. FlexNet Manager for VMware FlexNet Manager for VMware provides a Product Use Rights library for VMware that enables it to determine an accurate license position and optimize license consumption. For VMware, these rights include: • Upgrade—for some products, VMware allows “functionality upgrades,” which means that the customer can upgrade from a product with “lesser” functionality to a product with more functionality. (A Support and Subscription benefit). • Downgrade—the right to use an older version of the software than the version purchased. • Non-production use—in some cases, VMware license agreements allow the installation of more than one copy of an application for non-production use. For example, 2 additional installs of vCenter Application Discovery Manager are allowed for Development. In this case, FlexNet Manager Platform provides an Exemption feature that can be used to flag these installations so they are not counted in the VMware license consumption calculation. In addition, FlexNet Manager for VMware provides unique introspection capabilities on top of the extensive discovery and inventory capabilities of FlexNet Manager Platform. This includes discovery and inventory of the vSphere and vCenter datacenter server products. Each installation is queried and licensing data such as the license key, the license metric, and assigned capacity for that server is captured. FlexNet Manager for VMware provides visibility into license key assignments across servers. It is able to detect if license keys are overused, which could cause an organization to be out of compliance. It is also able to compare actual server capacity against assigned capacity to find underused license keys that may uncover over purchasing of VMware products. For more information about FlexNet Manager for VMware, please refer to the datasheet for that product. FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications tracks and reports on actual concurrent license usage. These usage reports provide a complete understanding of concurrent licensing needs, so organizations can optimize software licensing and save as much as 30% on software costs. The product also simplifies license server administration, reduces denials of service and enables organizations to accurately forecast future needs across a wide range of applications. FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications provides a comprehensive concurrent license (also known as floating or network licenses) management solution that: • Centrally monitors and reports on concurrent license usage • Tracks and reports on Tiered and Token based license models, such as those used by Autodesk (Multiflex Tiered Licenses), IBM Rational products (Token Licenses), and Cadence Design Systems (Token Licenses). It reports token license usage by feature or total number of tokens • Helps organizations efficiently perform license server administration (start, stop, restart license servers, etc.) in real time • Identifies under-utilized licenses and provides the insight to remix or reallocate them to other locations or projects • Reduces license denials while also reducing ongoing software costs • Enables effective chargeback processes within your organization
- 9. • Reports on Borrowed license usage as compared to overall license usage • Manages multiple licensing technologies including: - FlexNet (FlexEnabled, FlexLM) software (more than 20,000 applications) - LUM-enabled software (CATIA, ENOVIA Smarteam) - Dassault Systems License Server (DSLS) - Sentinel, Reprise, and others FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications also includes the Software Investment Planner to analyze software usage and denial trends in relation to license terms, costs and organizational parameters, such as geographies, cost centers, projects, and users. Unlike any other tool on the market, it recommends purchase quantities based upon past usage trends and other customizable factors. Specializing in Electronic Design Automation (EDA), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Exploration Production (EP) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) applications, FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications constantly tracks activity and records all usage data in a centralized database. It tracks and manages FlexEnabled® (formerly FlexLM) licenses for over 20,000 applications from engineering software vendors that have embedded the FlexNet licensing technology. For more information about FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications, please refer to the datasheet for that product. Workflow Manager Workflow Manager helps enterprises efficiently administer their IT asset management processes and improve performance, control and accountability through standardization. It reduces costs and maximizes the productivity of IT teams by centralizing, automating and enforcing best practice processes and procedures tied to asset and contract lifecycles. It also provides a means for the IT department to interact with end users and improve service levels, which results in increased end user satisfaction. Process traceability, prioritization, control, and optimization allow Workflow Manager to improve license compliance across the software estate. Workflow Manager is integrated with FlexNet Manager Platform to allow real-time updates to the asset management repository. Workflow Manager also supports the Flexera Software AdminStudio Suite product to help automate and streamline software packaging, application compatibility testing and application virtualization projects. Complete Desktop-to-Datacenter Software License Optimization Solution FlexNet Manager Suite products enable organizations to implement multiple license and contract optimization strategies including: application of product use rights to minimize license consumption, smart allocation of licenses to devices and users, optimal selection of license types, reharvesting of under-used licenses, maintenance cost reductions based on application usage, and consolidation of vendors and applications. Today’s business imperative is to transition from counting what you have installed, to controlling, using and optimizing the software licenses you own while ensuring that you only buy what you need. FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises is the only Software License Optimization solution that optimizes license and contract management processes to reduce software license, maintenance and audit costs, while maintaining license compliance. FlexNet Manager Suite Delivery Models FlexNet Manager Suite is available through three delivery models: • On-Premises—the software is controlled and managed by an organization’s IT department within their own datacenter. A perpetual license purchase of the on- premises software is usually considered a capital expense that can provide a better return on investment over time. (Subscription licenses are also available for the on-premises delivery model). • Cloud—the product is installed in the Flexera Software datacenter and is delivered as a Software as a Service(SaaS) solution. The associated subscription licensing model is typically considered an operating expense. With lower upfront costs and accelerated deployment of the application, the SaaS model offers a shorter time to value. Additionally, there are no scalability or architectural issues for you to consider. (Note: all products in the Suite are available via Cloud delivery except FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications). • Managed Service— outsource software asset management and license optimization to a Managed Service Provider (MSP) via a hosted model (where the software is installed in the partner’s datacenter) or the Cloud model. This can be a good option if an organization is resource constrained as they can leverage the license management staff and expertise of the MSP.
- 10. Flexera Software LLC (Global Headquarters): +1 800-809-5659 United Kingdom (Europe, Middle East Headquarters): +44 870-871-1111 +44 870-873-6300 Australia (Asia, Pacific Headquarters): +61 3-9895-2000 For more office locations visit: www.flexerasoftware.com Copyright © 2015 Flexera Software LLC. All other brand and product names mentioned herein may be the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. FMS-E_DS_April15 Complete Desktop-to-Datacenter Software License Optimization Solution About Flexera Software Flexera Software helps application producers and enterprises increase application usage and the value they derive from their software. Our next-generation software licensing, compliance and installation solutions are essential to ensure continuous licensing compliance, optimized software investments and to future-proof businesses against the risks and costs of constantly changing technology. Over 80,000 customers turn to Flexera Software as a trusted and neutral source for the knowledge and expertise we have gained as the marketplace leader for over 25 years and for the automation and intelligence designed into our products. For more information, please go to: www.flexerasoftware.com Next Steps: To learn more about optimizing your software license management processes – please visit www.flexerasoftware.com/SLO or contact a Flexera Software representative.