Flexera Software Adds Desktop Enterprise License Optimization to Existing Datacenter Capabilities

SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Flexera Software™, the leading provider of strategic solutions for Application Usage Management to application producers and their customers, today announced the immediate availability of its Enterprise License Optimization solution FlexNet Manager for Desktops.  

Software is a growing strategic corporate asset that constitutes 20-35% of total IT spend according to analysts. Organizations' only option in the past to minimize software spend was to negotiate upfront discounts on a per vendor basis, with no process to track their on-going license position, almost ensuring over-buying or software license compliance liability.  With software commonly deployed across business units and geographies, it is difficult for organizations to have complete visibility of their entire software estate.  To the extent that organizations are being proactive, they typically have only a local rather than global approach to these software license management problems.  

FlexNet Manager for Desktops is a game changer by optimizing the software license position for strategic vendors like Microsoft and Adobe and enabling procurement to make knowledge-driven decisions to buy new licenses only when necessary and fully understand the root cause and minimum costs to correct any out-of-compliance situation.  FlexNet Manager for Desktops provides next generation software asset management functionality, including insight into software installations and usage, purchased versus installed reconciliation, and Microsoft and Adobe software license optimization through the application of product use rights.  

FlexNet Manager for Desktops is part of the FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises, a next generation software asset management solution, delivering Enterprise License Optimization from the desktop to the datacenter. Built on a common platform, the Suite includes integrated solutions for Microsoft, Adobe, SAP, Oracle, over 20,000 engineering applications and more.

"Software has become a strategic corporate asset and companies now realize they lack a strategic solution to manage application usage," said R "Ray" Wang, founding partner and analyst with Altimeter Group.  "Enterprise License Optimization solutions deliver the accurate and rich information on software entitlements and usage companies need to gain control of their software assets.  More importantly, this information allows organizations to optimize their software license spend from the desktop to the datacenter."

FlexNet Manager for Desktops is comprised of two components:

1.  FlexNet Manager Platform

FlexNet Manager Platform serves as the foundation for the FlexNet Manager Suite and provides asset discovery, asset inventory, application recognition for over 100,000 software titles, usage tracking, purchased versus installed reconciliation, basic contract management, and a common dashboard. It also discovers and manages software and hardware assets in the enterprise across a wide range of operating systems, including Windows, Linux, UNIX and MAC OS. In addition, FlexNet Manager Platform offers discovery and inventory of virtual servers for VMware vSphere environments. The executive dashboard provides visibility, proactive alerts to notify executives of software compliance issues and software license optimization insights across the entire IT software and hardware estate.

Flexera Software is also introducing an updated version of its FlexNet Manager for SAP Business Suite that integrates SAP software license information directly into the FlexNet Manager Platform. The common dashboard provides IT and procurement executives globally centralized command and control of their SAP software estate.  

2.  Enterprise License Optimization for Microsoft and Adobe

To enable true enterprise-wide license optimization for Microsoft and Adobe products, FlexNet Manager for Desktops includes a Product Use Rights Library that enables it to determine an optimized software license position and minimize license consumption.

• Microsoft—The Product Use Rights Library defines the license entitlements provided by Microsoft purchase agreements, such as Enterprise Agreements (EA), Select Agreements and Software Assurance (SA).  Enterprise License Optimization for Microsoft also supplies the license and contract wizards that help automate the process of creating license and contract records in the FlexNet Manager Platform repository.
• Adobe—The Product Use Rights Library defines the license entitlements provided by Adobe product-specific End User License Agreements (EULAs), volume purchase agreements, such as Cumulative Licensing Program (CLP) and their Upgrade Plan maintenance program.

Use rights include upgrade, downgrade, right of second use, multiple versions and virtual environment use rights. The application of these 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 software compliance.

FlexNet Manager for Desktops automates software license management tasks to significantly reduce time and effort while making software license management and optimization accessible even to organizations that don't have in-depth licensing expertise.  FlexNet Manager for Desktops helps you:

• Maintain continuous software license compliance to minimize audit risk and minimize audit preparation time
• Automate license management to improve operational efficiency. License and contract wizards ease the task of modeling entitlements and entering contracts into the system
• Reduce errors associated with managing complex license models and license agreements
• Optimize license allocation to make the best use of licenses already owned

"While software applications have become strategic to the enterprise, they remain one of the least managed corporate assets," said Alan Swahn, vice president of product management at Flexera Software.  "Microsoft and Adobe products are used by virtually every company in the world and now FlexNet Manager for Desktops is a major addition to our integrated Enterprise License Optimization Suite and provides a strategic solution to manage usage of these critical assets, delivering the control, continuous software compliance and spend reductions that organizations need."

With over 20 years of experience in complex software licensing as the producers of FlexNet Publisher, a leading licensing technology embedded in over 20,000 applications, Flexera Software is uniquely capable of providing meaningful insight into high-value application usage like Microsoft and Adobe, and the expertise to help translate that data into greater control and savings.

About Flexera Software

Flexera Software is the leading provider of strategic solutions for Application Usage Management; solutions delivering continuous compliance, optimized usage and maximized value to application producers and their customers.  Flexera Software is trusted by more than 80,000 customers that depend on our comprehensive solutions- from installation and licensing, entitlement and compliance management to application readiness and enterprise license optimization - to strategically manage application usage and achieve breakthrough results realized only through the systems-level approach we provide.  Flexera Software is a privately-held company and an investment of private equity firm Thoma Bravo, LLC.  For more information, please go to: http://www.flexerasoftware.com.

SOURCE Flexera Software