Flexera Software unveils On-Demand Cloud-Based Software Licence Optimisation Suite

Flexera Software has announced the unveiling of a cloud-based version of its market-leading Software Licence Optimisation solution, FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises. FlexNet Manager Suite On-Demand provides software licence management functionality to enterprises seeking to reduce software spend and maintain licence compliance through a low overhead software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering.

“While on-premises applications will always be part of the IT mix, many organisations see operating expense (OPEX) and capital expense (CAPEX) benefits in purchasing software through a SaaS-based delivery model,” said Alan Swahn, Vice President of Product Management at Flexera Software.“FlexNet Manager Suite On-Demand will enable these organisations to implement best-in-class Software Licence Optimisation, while enjoying the benefits of reduced infrastructure requirements, accelerated deployment times, lower learning curves, and a lower initial investment.”

FlexNet Manager Suite On-Demand’s web-based user-interface provides anytime, anywhere access to critical Software Licence Optimisation functionality that includes:
• Application Discovery & Inventory: To ensure an organisation can determine how many licences it is consuming, Flexera Software’s Inventory Beacon provides cross-platform (Windows, Linux, UNIX, and MAC OS) discovery, inventory, and application usage data collection at the customer site and securely uploads this data to the cloud. It also performs discovery and inventory of virtual machines for VMware ESX/vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V servers, and supports Citrix XenApp application virtualisation environments.
• Purchased Versus Installed Reconciliation: Understanding how many licences an organisation is entitled to use is challenging for a variety of reasons including a multiplicity of purchase dates, product versions, renewals, support and maintenance metrics. FlexNet Manager Suite On-Demand automates the process of reconciling software purchases against software installed on computers and virtual machines within an enterprise, and derives an accurate licence position that will stand-up to the scrutiny of an audit.
• Software Licence Optimisation: To continuously optimise an enterprise's software licence position, a solution must be capable of leveraging the “product use rights” found in licensing agreements – such as the right of second use, multiple use, roaming use, virtual use, and licence mobility – to minimise licence consumption. Optimisation ensures new licences aren’t purchased unless they’re required, and existing licences are fully utilised in compliance with vendors’ licence terms.
• Dashboard and Reporting: IT Asset Managers need a real-time window into their software estate to ensure continuous software licence compliance and optimisation. FlexNet Manager Suite On-Demand provides an intuitive management dashboard enabling an administrator to understand the current licence position, receive alerts on issues, and review key events such as data imports. A compliance overview report summarises an organisation’s exposure, such as its financial liability and the number of licences in breach per publisher, with the ability to drill down deeper into individual vendors.

“With as much as twenty-five percent of an organisation’s software budget wasted on shelfware, poor licence allocation, and responding to audits, CIOs know that to realise substantial savings software inventory alone isn’t sufficient. They must connect the dots between software procurement, inventory, usage, and vendor entitlements for each application in order to maintain licence compliance and reduce ongoing costs. The complexity of getting an accurate licence position in a physical and virtualised environment across diverse and changing vendor licence models has driven Software Licence Optimisation to prominence as a new category in the industry,” said Swahn.

“With the addition of FlexNet Manager Suite On-Demand, organisations can identify and recover wasted software spend by leveraging our industry standard solution through the delivery model of their choice – on-premises or in the cloud.”