Case Study: License Statistics drives down Daimler Trucks’ software license costs

December 9, 2014| | in category License Statistics Comments Off on Case Study: License Statistics drives down Daimler Trucks’ software license costs

Company Overview

Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Daimler Trucks North America LLC, a Daimler company, is part of one of the world’s most successful automotive companies. This prestigious company with a global reach is North America’s largest heavy-duty truck manufacturer and a leading producer of medium-duty trucks for both local and long-distance deliveries, as well as specialized commercial vehicles that can be used for municipal applications. With more than 21,000 employees and annual production bigger than 118,000 units DTNA operates in a number of countries such as the United States, Canada, Mexico, and more than 35 countries outside of the NAFTA region. Apart from manufacturing, the company specializes in selling and servicing renowned commercial vehicle brands.

Experience with License Management solutions

Previously, Daimler Trucks North America LLC had no experience with using license management solutions. As a result, the company could not trim its software costs, correct its license shortfalls or plan its budget for future software purchases effectively – hence the need for a complex software license management product.

The Business Challenge

Since DTNA did not make use of any license management solution, what it needed was a highly efficient tool that would enable a detailed analysis of monitoring license usage both for real time and historical aspects. A specific capability that DTNA found very impressive was the ability to be automatically notified by email when license usage reaches certain thresholds. This solution was highly appreciated by the company. License Statistics was particularly valuable for helping DTNA align their software purchases based on usage. Generally, License Statistics, both in terms of its simplicity and its flexibility, met all DTNA’s functional requirements.

Summary

DTNA is very pleased with the features offered by License Statistics mainly because they proved to be both powerful and easy to use. License Statistics made it possible for DTNA to optimize their software purchases and significantly trim the company’s costs.

The Next Step

Why not find out more about how License Statistics can help your company boost its business and generate more profit? Contact us for more information about our products or give License Statistics a try and download the 30-day free version today!

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Here we grow again!

December 3, 2014| | in category Company Comments Off on Here we grow again!

EARLIER this year we celebrated X-Formation’s 10th anniversary in business and its successful transition from a youthful start-up to a company with an established track record of more than 500 Customers , to whom we are genuinely grateful for their contribution and collaboration with us over these amazing 10 years.

We take pride in our “can do” approach and our ability to provide reliable software licensing solutions and solid, unflagging support, because we know that being able to deliver on promises and meet customers’ needs translates into our ability to retain so many of them. Our customer retention rate is a stunning 96%+, and the goal is to keep it that way.

As our customer base grows, so does our staff.

We continue to add talented individuals to our team—this year we have expanded our engineering staff and support crew. As our team grows, so does our overall skill level, and we become stronger and therefore able to provide even more sophisticated software licensing solutions and superior level of support to our customers.

Our multinational team, which is made up of almost 25 people, is comprised of passionate individuals with diverse backgrounds, each of whom is committed to embrace a collaborative approach to working and serving our customers.

IN THE WAKE OF our growth and expansion over the past years, as well as our increased team size, we realized that we needed to have more space for our employees. This is why we bought new real property which is almost double the size of the one where we work now. The new seat will get the super modern setup and will undoubtedly be one of the best-designed, inspiring offices in Europe’s Silicon Valley, Cracow .

With this great change, which is one of the biggest oneson record, we are planning to further increase our performance and enhance our three end-to-end software licensing solutions: License Statistics , LM-X License Manager and License Activation Center (LAC) so that our customers can continue increasing their productivity and boost business operations.

Some even more ambitious plans are in the offing, and we will keep you up-to-date on the latest news and events at X-Formation. Suffice it to say that we stay focused on keeping an eye for ways to reach new markets and grow further.

Follow us on our website and Facebook to get the latest updates and know what changes are on the cards.

Thank you for you support! But for you, we wouldn’t be here now. The credit for all our remarkable success goes to the trust we’ve been able to gain thanks to our valued Customers.

On this occasion, we would also like to wish all our Customers Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a lot of success and prosperity in the coming year.

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5 things you don’t know (but should know) about managing your software assets

September 24, 2014| | in category General, License Statistics Comments Off on 5 things you don’t know (but should know) about managing your software assets

Knowledge is power.

Having accurate information about the license usage across your organization can help you save amountain of expenses, because software costs can represent a large part of your company’s budget. Before anything else, organizations should see the full picture of how software assets are deployed and utilized across their networks. Read about5 thingsyou probably didn’t know about managing your software licenses.

1. The financial overhead and hassles associated with managing your licenses can be enormous.

Companies overspend by around 30% on licenses that are not being used — this amount very often represents a large part of the entire IT budget. With License Statistics, X-Formation’s software license monitoring toolwhich lets you track and report software usage in real time or through log importation, you can:

  1. prevent over-deployment of software
  2. minimize maintenance and staff training costs
  3. drive down your operational costs
  4. improve your company’s ROI

Find out which licenses are under and overused and plan your ongoing management and purchases accordingly. Sounds smart, no?

2. There are different causes of over-licensing.

Over-licensing takes place when an organization purchases more licenses than needed which can be caused by a number of fluctuating users with each having different software needs. Another reason underlying over-licensing can be attributed to “buying too many licenses just in case” which is often an unnecessary step taken by IT managers. With License Statistics you can easily get a clear picture of your license usage and prevent over-licensing.

3. License Statistics is easy to be used by everyone.

License Statistics is easy to install and use — a few clicks is all it takes to get it up and running , so its installation is simple and hassle-free; you don’t need to install different modules, components, and clients anywhere, sparing yourself lots of time and effort.

License Statistics reportsgive you a high-level overview of your license usage, including most-used features, licenses nearing expiration, features checked out for over 24 hours, license servers being monitored, and other, allowing you to make well-informed budget decisions.

License Statistics is a powerful tool which in an automated way gathers usage statistics from the monitored license servers. This is a simple answer to a difficult question: “What is going on with my software licenses?”

4. Depending on your unique needs, you can generate different reports on license usage.

License Statistics reports target the usage details you need to stay on top of to be able to plan your future software purchases accordingly, including:

  1. Current Users
  2. Usage Per Feature
  3. Usage Per User
  4. Realtime Utilization
  5. Realtime User Count
  6. Expiring Features
  7. Realtime Borrowed Licenses

5. You don’t need a crystal ball to be able to precisely forecast your future licensing needs 🙂

Once you gain insight into users that were denied access to applications, identify unused licenses and get information about important events that affect users’ access to licensees, including license utilization rising above a specified rate, features nearing expiration or licenses servers going down, you will know how to plan your purchases and budget accordingly.

If you would like to find out more about our software give us a call or download a free 30-day License Statistics evaluation.

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New License Activation Center End user Portal has just been released!

August 5, 2014| | in category LAC License Activation Center Comments Off on New License Activation Center End user Portal has just been released!

The new License Activation Center End User Portal has just been released! You can now fully enjoy its revamped interface, which will help you get where you want to go, faster!

Check out the portal’s responsive design, more intuitive way of providing your HostID information, and much more.

We’d love to hear your suggestions on what could make the End User Portal an ideal solution for online license activation.

What are we doing well? What can we do better? Help us provide the best possible service to you by.

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Update: the refreshed look of License Activation Center End User Portal

June 25, 2014| | in category LAC License Activation Center Comments Off on Update: the refreshed look of License Activation Center End User Portal

We’ve been super busy in the last few weeks making the interface of License Activation Center (LAC) better to help you get where you want to go, faster. And today we’re excited to show you a glimpse of what we’ve been up to.

Responsive user interface

We have revamped the interface of the LAC End User Portal, and now it looks significantly different to what you have used so far. We hope that you will agree that it’s much more intuitive and can greatly increase your experience with LAC.

With the new, responsive design,web pagelayout adjusts itself to the size of the specific device fitting the available space (for example, a laptop computer, tablet, or smartphone).

More intuitive way of providing your HostID information

The new, improved End User Portal lets you type in the required HostID information in a more intuitive way, because you no longer have to — but still can if you decide to keep using the old portal— follow certain rules when entering the data, i.e. TYPE1=value1, TYPE2=value2 format (for example, Username=JohnSmith, Hostname=HostC). Furthermore, we’ve made it possible for you to obtain your license directly using the URL by typing in the shared link in a web browser. You can access the LAC End User Portal for a given license order directly from the vendor side of LAC.

Please note that although the new End User Portal has already been released, it will replace the existing one on August 05, 2014. Until then, the End User Portal will remain fully accessible to everyone who is in the possession of a proper link or has access to the vendor side of License Activation Center.

We are continuously improving the service, and we’ll keep you posted about any changes we introduce. Thanks for being so patient!

To find out how LAC can improve your company’s licensing strategy or to discuss LAC pricing options please.

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License Statistics helps Severfield-Rowen Plc effectively manage network licenses

April 24, 2014| | in category Company Comments Off on License Statistics helps Severfield-Rowen Plc effectively manage network licenses

Company overview

Severfield-Rowen Plc is the UK’s leading structural steelwork fabricator. The combined resources of the Group of Companies have the design, engineering skills, extensive expertise and experience to handle complex projects over a diverse range of market sectors, including high rise towers and complex structures undertaken by the Group.

Challenge

The challenge Severfield-Rowen Plc was facing was that it needed to monitor network licenses managed by FlexNet license server. Furthermore, because the company’s design departments work closely with the Consulting Engineers at the concept of the project and with the assistance of the latest “state-of-the-art” computer software for 2D and 3D analysis modelling and design, the company needed a license tracking solution capable of gathering the data reported by FlexNet license server, which would manage the CAD software environment together with all its instances of executable files.

Solution

With its unbeatable support for over 15 license servers , License Statistics worked out really well for Severfield-Rowen Plc and quickly turned out to be “the” solution rather than “a” solution for them. Prior to discovering License Statistics, they had used a solution that was not capable of collecting data reported by FlexNet license server. This is why X-Formation’s solution proved to be precisely tailored to the unique needs of Severfield-Rowen Plc and provide the options sought by the company. Furthermore, License Statistics’ ability to track floating licenses managed by FlexNet license server, as well as associated license instances fulfilled the company’s requirements in terms of monitoring network licenses.

Summary

Thanks to License Statistics , Severfield-Rowen Plc can quickly gain insight into license utilization, discover areas for potential savings and avoid the cost of overspending on software licenses.

By eliminating the need to purchase additional, unneeded licenses, License Statistics generates significant cost reductions and productivity gains for the entire company.

Try License Statistics demo and take advantage of the outstanding options it offers.

Interested in License Statistics? if you’d like to discuss this unique license monitoring solution with us more.

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Unleash the power of license activation with License Activation Center

April 1, 2014| | in category LAC License Activation Center Comments Off on Unleash the power of license activation with License Activation Center

Automated license activation is paramount to accelerate the growth of your company, keep up with new technologies, trends and, most importantly of all, meet your customers’ expectations. An efficient license activation solution will let you quickly and easily generate licenses and activation keys for your end users.

In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at License Activation Center (LAC) and some its features that will help you automate the entire license activation process, making license activation an extremely efficient, user-friendly, and positive experience. Read on…

How you can benefit

Designed to streamline software license creation, distribution, and activation, LAC gives end users a means to activate their own licenses without your intervention. LAC combines key success factors of license activation that you will greatly appreciate:

  1. No installation hassles or maintenance worries
  2. No need to create multiple license jobs to handle license activations and control license deployment
  3. Smart interface that can be accessed by end users 24/7 from a web browser
  4. Higher customer satisfaction
  5. Ease of use
  6. Reliability

How LAC works

LAC provides a web-based SOAP API that can be used across many programming languages and streamlines communication between LAC and other applications. The SOAP APIs are separated into the Vendor API and End-user API . The former is used for the administration of licenses, including managing customers or license orders, whereas the latter is used to enable end users to activate licenses by means of an activation key and, if relevant, HostID parameters. It’s enough to use the End-user API to activate a license.

With LAC, you can automate license activation for end users thanks to two smart solutions that can be built in the vendor’s application. One such tool, License Activator , enables license activation on Windows, letting your end users:

  1. Activate a license over the internet by entering the activation key obtained from you
  2. Browse for and use an existing license file that has already been activated
  3. Optionally (if provided by you), run the software as a trial without requiring license activation. In this case, you will see a “Run as 30-day Trial” option when you start License Activator

License Activator will also let your end users export the current computer’s HostIDs to a file.

Apart from License Activator, LAC includes a command line utility, lacutil ,thatlets you activate a license from a command line on a number of OS. You can retrieve HostIDs and send them as a part of the activation request, as well as specify proxy information.

As an ISV, you’re probably juggling many tasks, including license activation. Try LAC and get one thing off your plate. Be the true architect of your licensing strategy and unleash the power of license activation.

To find out how LAC can improve your company’s licensing strategy or to discuss LAC pricing options please .

Struggling with license activation? Do not hesitate to let X-Formation know about your experiences and hassles that prevent you from meeting your customer’s needs.

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10 years later

March 12, 2014| | in category Company Comments Off on 10 years later

Today is X-Formation’s 10th anniversary in business.

It has been a challenging and very enjoyable journey so far, and we’re glad to be part of it. Some of our Customers have been on that journey for a long time; others are just starting out. Over all this time we’ve been committed to helping our Customers meet their diverse license management needs, because it’s always been invaluable for us to be able to see that the solutions and products we continuously deliver have a positive impact on the productivity of their business operations.

Our 10th anniversary indicates the transition from a youthful start-up to a proven company with an established track record. This event is a big success

given the fact that vast majority of technology start-ups struggling to bring new ideas to market fail within the first few years.

Constantly growing since 2004, we have expanded from our headquarters in Arhus, Denmark to establishing our fast-paced (and fun!) R&D center in 2008 in Eastern Europe’s Silicon Valley, Krakow, Poland, where we work with talented, dedicated specialists to develop the solutions you need. Today, we’re honored that more than 500 customers are taking advantage of our products and our commitment to make things better. Our customer base has grown so significantly, because dozens of professionals around the world are turning to our licensing solutions when looking for simple and flexible licensing solutions.

X-Formation’s products are used by small to large businesses around the world, including Fortune 500 companies and other billion-dollar corporations such as Siemens, Nokia, NASA, Honda, to name just a few. Our customers represent virtually every industry, from computer graphics, movie production, automotive, aircraft, aerospace, military, bio-informatics, to education, and more.

We appreciate the confidence you have placed in us and we’re grateful we can be a part of your success. We promise to make the most of our time, serving you the best we can.

Thank you for the opportunity to build these licensing tools for you.

Thank you for these 10 years.

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License Statistics imported usage: maximum data accuracy guaranteed

March 7, 2014| | in category License Statistics Comments Off on License Statistics imported usage: maximum data accuracy guaranteed

Ever since its launch in version 3.6, we’ve been thrilled with your response to License Statistics ’ ability to import log files. Just in case some of you haven’t discovered it yet: this feature lets you import and review log files from a number of license servers, including:

  1. LM-X extended log files denied requests and pay-per-use log
  2. FLEXlm/FlexNet denied request logs and encrypted report log files
  3. Reprise License Manager (RLM) denied request and report log files
  4. HASP license manager logs

How does it work and how can I benefit from it?

The obvious question you may want to ask is: “What’s in it for me?” Well, License Statistics imported usage reporting is especially useful when you need to reliably generate usage statistics for applications that run for a very brief period of time (such as compilers), and when you must havemaximum accuracyin the produced results.

Imported usage lets you import and review log files from a number of license servers, and is different from gathering realtime usage data in that realtime usage reporting refers to gathering realtime data and usage statistics from the license server at configurable time intervals, wheras imported usage reporting lets you gather all the existing information stored in the log files.

With imported usage, License Statistics doesn’t need to query the license server, so it doesn’t matter if the querying session started and stopped between two subsequent update intervals. Thus, logs record information about all activities no matter how long those activities lasted.

Since imported usage reporting doesn’t require a connection to the license server, it can be used for:

  1. Billing purposes, where the license servers are at the customer’s site and License Statistics software is at the vendor’s site, making this feature especially helpful for companies that do back-billing or pay-per-use billing.
  2. Analyzing datafromremote license serversin departments that run on separate networks.

Imported usage is another License Statistics feature that will help you unlock the doors to license optimization, letting you make sensible business decisions and allowing your company to save time and money.

We’d love to know what you think of our products so drop us a line .

Haven’t used License Statistics yet? Try our online demo or download a free trial now!

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Feel that a free 30-day License Statistics trial is not enough?

February 25, 2014| | in category License Statistics Comments Off on Feel that a free 30-day License Statistics trial is not enough?

We’re pleased to announce an exciting new License Statistics offer that is highly useful for monitoring the most crucial software in an organization.

Particularly attractive for small and medium businesses (SMBs), this new offer lets you purchase a 1-year subscription license and use License Statistics Realtime usage for monitoring and tracking 100 users and 2 license servers.

With this new option you can gain insight into the deployment of licenses across your organization and easily identify underused or even untouched licenses.Understanding your license usage will help you make smart business decisions regarding your software purchases, maximize software investment, and improve your company’s ROI. The price of this offer is very competitive, making it easier for start-ups and SMBs to start benefiting from all that License Statistics has to offer: simplicity of use, intuitive UI, robust functionality, and the best support in the industry. Act now and get your company to start saving!

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