Gabrijel Zelic, Author at Software License Management

Customer Case Study: LuK

June 9, 2021| Gabrijel Zelic| in category License Statistics Comments Off

LuK leverages License Statistics to reduce software license costs by analyzing floating versus single license use provided by License Statistics comprehensive data gathering solution.

Client: LuK
Problem: High Software License Costs
Solution: License Statistics

Problem

LuK, a member of the Schaeffler Group, is an renowned manufacturer of clutch and transmission systems, torque converters, and dampers for cars and tractors. One in every four new cars produced in the world carries a LuK clutch.

Founded in 1965 and headquartered in Buhl, Germany, LuK Has more than 9,500 employees at 18 sites around the world, producing 14 million clutches, 4 million lock-up clutches, and 5 million dual mass flywheels.

The Schaeffler Group is comprised of the well-known brands LuK, INA, and FAG. It is a leading manufacturer and supplier of ball and roller bearings, clutch and clutch releasing systems, and engine and transmission components.

LuK not only produces automotive hardware. Its 50-person software engineering team builds software for transmission technology using such specialized software tools as MKS, ETAS, Doors, Matlab, and Tricore. IT Coordinator Oliver Winkler wanted an accurate picture of floating versus single license usage to know what mix of licenses they really needed.

How LuK Approached It

X-Formation offered LuK a trial period to determine whether License Statistics would solve its business problems. “The trial was easy-going and we saw a lot of impressive new features, which led us to the decision to invest in it,” said Winkler. “The Web-based standard reports, easy installation, and straightforward configuration were what sold us on the product.”

After only six months’ use of License Statistics, Winkler had collected enough statistical data to precisely identify which software tools could be covered by floating licenses and which needed single licenses to support power users.

What It’s Like Now

“We were able to achieve significant license cost savings by adjusting the number of floating licenses,” Winkler added. “At the same time, I was able to quickly and in accurate detail see what licenses were required at any given time to prevent development delays.”

Thanks to License Statistics, LuK now effectively monitors its license usage to accurately plan license purchases while avoiding development process disruptions.

Winkler concluded, “We have used License Statistics for evaluating our software tool licenses. We have never experienced a problem with it and the level of support is very good.”

Learn More

License Statistics Case Study - Leitner Technologies

Customer Case Study: Leitner Technologies

May 27, 2021| Gabrijel Zelic| in category License Statistics Comments Off

Leitner Technologies boosts productivity, reduces licensing costs thanks to effective license management solutions enabled by License Statistics.

Client: Leitner Technologies
Problem: Low Productivity and Out-of-Control Cost of CAD/CAM/CAE Software Licenses
Solution: License Statistics

Problem

Leitner Technologies, established in 1888, is one of the leading manufacturers of ropeways, snow groomers, wind turbines, and urban transportation systems. Leitner has approximately 130 CAD Workplaces supporting 2D/3D CAD production, and uses a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) System for collaboration. Most CAD licenses are shared network licenses, with 3D CAD licenses being the most expensive.

Because licenses were being purchased ad hoc to cover productivity problems caused by inconsistent access to critical software. Frequent, small purchases were expensive and caused budgeting challenges.

“Our license purchases were reactive,” said Moritz Amort, Leitner IT Engineer. “We bought additional licenses when users started complaining about license shortages, or we bought a bundle because a certain number of additional Workplaces had to be installed,”

Leitner discovered the source of the problem: They had no means to optimize and effectively manage their shared network applications while meeting user demand for access. Complicating matters, the company lacked the ability to appropriately budget and distribute licensing costs based on the needs of each of their business divisions.

How Lietner Approached It

At first, Leitner was forced to estimate how many licenses each division needed based on the number of installed clients for that division. Because not all clients had the same demand for licenses or usage requirements as others, the license partitioning scheme was inefficient and more costly than it should have been.

Seeking a full-featured and affordable license management solution, Leitner evaluated X-Formation’s License Statistics monitoring software. It surpassed Leitner’s expectations, Amort explained. “We chose License Statistics over the competition because the software met all of our requirements right out of the box.”

Once it put License Statistics into production and began monitoring actual license usage throughout their divisions, Leitner was pleased with achieving an effective license management solution that met all their needs. “Unlike our past reactive license purchasing practices,” Amort continued, “License Statistics now makes it possible for us to monitor our license usage over the year so we react proactively to anticipated license shortages. License Statistics enables us to buy additional licenses right when we need them, saving on license and maintenance costs, as well as minimizing the troubles of license shortages.”

What It’s Like Now

Not only did License Statistics ensure Leitner always had sufficient licenses at the best cost, but it solved the problem of accurately determining per-division costs. Amort said, “With License Statistics we can now monitor the real usage of each license for every user and partition the costs in a more realistic and fair way.”

License Statistics solved Leitner’s issues surrounding both license purchasing and cost allocation. The company can ensure its users are optimally productive at the lowest cause thanks to more effective and accurate planning made possible by License Statistics.

Amort concluded, “We have been fully satisfied with License Statistics. Not only does the software solve our business problems, but the support during and after the trial period and the documentation are great.”

Get to know License Statistics

License Statistics v6.12 Introduces API v3, Enhanced UI Capabilities

May 12, 2021| Gabrijel Zelic| in category License Statistics Comments Off

First release of License Statistics API v3, enhanced UI responsive design, and ability to control user session length among the new features and enhancements included in License Statistics v6.12.

The License Statistics v6.12 release continues adding new features and enhancements to the administration UI, and brings with it the first release of the latest License Statistics API. New features and enhancements include:

Support for remote monitoring of CodeMeter Network License Server.
The ability to control user license session length under Administration.
First release of License Statistics API v3.
New and enhanced UI features:
- The ability to maximize content such as grids and charts to take up the full size of the application window.
- The ability to select all license servers and features on the License Servers – Current Usage report.
- Improved UI responsive design.

Before upgrading to License Statistics v6.12, ensure your environment meets the following requirements:

As of Java JDK v16, the deprecated protocols TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are no longer supported.
The minimum supported version of MySQL server is v5.7.28.
License Statistics API v1 was deprecated as of License Statistics v6.8 and is being removed in the current release. Use the stable API v2 instead.

Details on these new features and enhancements are provided below. For complete information on all features, refer to the License Statistics v6.12 Release Notes and associated v6.12 documentation.

Remotely Monitoring CodeMeter License Manager

License Statistics v6.12 now enables you to gather usage statistics on the CodeMeter license manager using remote data sources.

As we learn of new and popularly used license managers, trust us to give you the support you need for them. See the License Statistics documentation for currently supported license managers.

Setting User License Session Length

The ability to set user Session length is now available in License Statistics v6.12. You can set a maximum license session length when you add or edit a user and user authentication is enabled (the default).

Use the “Session length” slider on the User Management page in the Authentication Settings section to set the number of days that the session will last after users log in. The session length defaults to 1 day and has a maximum of 356 days. The session length you set is saved automatically.

See Managing License Statistics Users in the v6.12 documentation for more information.

License Statistics API v3 First Release

The first release of API v3 includes extended reports that allow extended selection of all license servers and features. The following reports are affected:

Features – Usage History
Features – Current Usage
Features – User History
License Servers – Current Usage

NOTE: We’ve provided this first API v3 release to lay the groundwork for future API features and enhancements. It is still under development and we reserve the right to release breaking changes as the API continues to evolve. For production environments we recommend using the stable API v2 release.

User Interface Enhancements in v6.12

Several new user interface features and enhancements have been added in the License Statistics v6.12 release.

You can now maximize content such as grids and charts to take up the full size of the application window for a better view.
- Most content can be expanded to take up the entire License Statistics application window by clicking theexpand icon at the upper right corner of the page. Maximizing the content is particularly useful for viewing reports that have a large amount of data, more easily viewing data on a phone or tablet, or setting the view up for a screen capture.
- When you expand content to maximum size, the navigation panel and other content of the page, such as selection controls, will not be visible. To return the page to its normal layout, click therestore icon at the upper right corner of the page, or press Esc on your keyboard.
The ability to select all license servers and features on the License Servers – Current Usage report.
- The License Server and Feature pick lists at the top of the License Servers – Current Usage report now include an “All” option. To see all features for a selected license server, select “All” from the Feature pick list. When you select “All” from the License Server pick list, the Feature selection defaults to “All” as well.
Improved UI responsive design.

The X-Formation team is devoted to simplifying your license administration tasks through detailed reporting and complete automation of routine tasks – including recapture of idle licenses that would otherwise cost you hundreds of lost productivity hours every month.

As always, please contact support@x-formation.com with your questions. We’ll be delighted to serve you.

Learn More

Customer Case Study: Skoda

April 30, 2021| Gabrijel Zelic| in category License Statistics Comments Off

Through better planning made possible by using License Statistics to gather more accurate usage data, Skoda achieved a 373.79% ROI and significantly cut license costs.

Client: SKODA ICT S.R.O.
Problem: High Costs of CAD/CAM/CAE Software
Solution: License Statistics

Problem

Skoda ICT s.r.o. provides ICT services for SKODA HOLDING a.s., which manufactures and repairs commercial vehicles (electric locomotives, subway, railway wagons, tramways, trolley buses) and manufactures steam turbines and related parts.

A global business slow-down led Skoda to focus on prudent use of resources. Stanislav Cechura, IT Engineer, said, “During the current economic downtime, all companies are increasing their focus on minimizing costs and on effective use of expensive licenses.”

Skoda knew it could better manage use of costly CAD/CAM/CAE software licenses if it had a more effective way to monitor and evaluate license usage. The license management tools supplied with the CAD/CAM/CAE products it used did not provide the detailed information needed to make solid decisions about how many licenses they actually needed. Though they added custom scripts to import simple reports on license usage, those reports were not enough.

How SKODA Approached It

Skoda chose License Statistics because the software met, at an affordable price, most of their requirements for monitoring license usage on their individual software applications. Cechura explained, “License Statistics helps us to stay on top of our license requirements. This is vital for planning extension or reduction of the number of licenses we’ll need in the future, helping us save license costs. The detailed monitoring of used licenses allows us to better divide the software costs for the individual companies of the Skoda holding and to find possible reserves.”

What It’s Like Now

Through better planning made possible by using License Statistics, Skoda was able to cut their license fees and achieve an ROI of 373.79% with a 500-user License Statistics license.

X-Formation’s expert support team helped Skoda overcome initial problems with LUM server monitoring, and now, after using License Statistics for over a year, they are trouble-free and satisfied with the product and the level of support.

Learn More

Support for Autodesk Feature Collections Debuts in License Statistics v6.11

March 31, 2021| Gabrijel Zelic| in category License Statistics Comments Off

Autodesk Feature Collections support, Zoo License Manager support, and a redesigned license server administration interface lead the pack of new features and enhancements delivered by License Statistics v6.11.

The License Statistics v6.11 release brings with it new features and enhancements that further streamline license server monitoring and administration tasks. The new features include:

Support for Autodesk feature collections.
Support for Zoo License Manager.
A redesigned license server administration interface, including:
- Support for multiple data sources for a single license server.
- New Single License Server grid allowing you to manage all servers independently from data sources.
- New add/edit license server form.
Added ability to import usage data from LM-X log files and FlexNet debug log files.
Redesigned data importing, including:
- Ability to import data using API endpoints.
- A simplified two-step wizard to configure import settings for each file.
- Four strategies for merging imported data.
The host IP address is now included on applicable reports.

Discover what the new features will do for you below.

(For details on all features, refer to the License Statistics v6.11 Release Notes and associated v6.11 documentation.)

Manage AutoDesk Feature Collections

The License Statistics v6.11 introduces Feature Collections support for the Autodesk License Manager.

Collections allow you to separate specific Feature usage reporting based on which package the Feature belongs to, rather than combining all usage of that Feature in a single report. You get more granular information about how your licenses are being used – and whether you’re getting the value for them you expected.

By default, Features do not belong to a Collection until you add them in the Gathering section as you create a license server. Once you have enabled Collections for a license server, features for that license server will be reported based on their Collection name.

Refer to the License Statistics Features Collections documentation for further information on Autodesk Feature Collections.

Zoo License Manager Support

You asked, and so in License Statistics v6.11 we added support for the Zoo license manager used with the popular Rhino 3D modeling software.

Remote and Import data sources are allowed for generating reports, and log files can also be imported. License Statistics v6.11 supports feature versioning and license borrowing for imported data.

As we learn of new and popularly used license managers, trust us to give you the support you need for them. See the License Statistics documentation for currently supported license managers.

Redesigned License Server Administration Interface

The License Statistics v6.11 release brings a License Server Administration interface redesigned to streamline administrative functions. Included in the redesign: You can now specify multiple data sources for a single license server. A simplified single License Server grid now allows you to manage all servers independently from their data sources.

A new add/edit license server form is also included in the release. On the reporting side, the host IP address for each user consuming a license is now identified in applicable reports.

New Data Import Features

Not only can you now import usage data from LM-X log files and FlexNet debug log files, but the entire data importing interface has been redesigned both for usability and added functionality.

You can now, for example, import data using API endpoints, giving you more flexibility in the way you bring data into your organization’s dashboards and custom reports. A simplified two-step wizard now guides you through importing settings for each file. There are also four new strategies for merging imported data to give you more flexibility.

As always, please contact support@x-formation.com with your questions. We’ll be delighted to serve you.

Learn More