license statistics Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Software License Management

A Year of License Statistics in Review

July 8, 2021| Gabrijel Zelic| in category License Statistics Comments Off

The past 12 months have seen major upgrades and enhancements in License Statistics, including powerful new features and redesigned monitoring tools for increased control and usability. Here’s why you should be using the latest version of License Statistics.

Over the last year, we’ve delivered important updates and enhancements to License Statistics to help you get even better control over your software license budget. The latest version of License Statistics includes:

License Harvesting with automatic license release.
The License Statistics Agent, enabling new features such as Autodesk named user license tracking.
Feature and User Reservations.
API enhancements.
New and enhanced reporting tools.

Here’s what you need to know about the key features released in the past year.

License Harvesting with Automatic License Release

License Harvesting helps you eliminate the extra costs associated with purchasing spare licenses by monitoring users’ machines to see when licenses are unused (e.g. due to meetings, coffee breaks, etc.). Every company has peak days when the highest number of licenses are used. License Harvesting helps you monitor and respond to such peaks by reducing idle license consumption and automatically return those licenses to the available pool.

Automatic remote license release for LM-X and Flexnet license servers was introduced in License Statistics v6.10. This gets idle licenses back into the available license pool just after the Agent has closed the end-user application. No more waiting or manual intervention required – simply set it and forget it.

See the License Harvesting documentation for more information.

The License Statistics Agent

License Statistics Agent is a License Statistics add-on tool that enables client usage monitoring for software using locally running applications that must be tracked on the clients themselves. License Statistics Agent communicates between these applications and License Statistics, running as a service in the background.

License Statistics Agent currently supports monitoring for Autodesk license usage and Autodesk named user licenses, and is currently available for Windows installations.

See the License Statistics Agent documentation for more information.

User and Feature Reservations

Customer enhancement requests are one of our top priorities. Several customers had requested a way to view User and Feature reservations to further simplify software license asset management tasks. The User and Feature Reservations pages were the result.

The User Reservations page provides an overview of all reservations across all features and license servers for a selected user or group. You’ll find the User Reservations page under the Users section in the left navigation pane. (See the documentation for User Reservations for details.)

The Feature Reservations page provides an overview of all reservations for a selected license server and feature. You’ll find it under the Features section in the left navigation page. (See the documentation for Feature Reservations for more details.),

API Enhancements

Not only did we release a significant update to the License Statistics API with API v2, but we released the first version of API v3.

With API v2 came enhancements making it much cleaner and easier to use. New endpoints were implemented to make it even more extensive. The API v3 release lays the groundwork for future API enhancements and releases. It includes extended reports that allow extended selection of all license servers and features.

See the API documentation and interactive API tool documentation for more information.

New and Enhanced Reporting Tools

We were also quite busy this past year building new reporting tools and enhancing / extending current ones.

User Usage History report now gives you the ability to view license usage history by a selected user or group (available only with the new licensing model). The report makes it easy to select the user/user group for which you want to view usage history and specify time intervals to include in the results.

We are 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.

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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.”

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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.”

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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.

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