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Handling Software Licensing and Management Issues Sensibly and Automatically

By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor

A good recent blog post from Flexera Software, a provider of software licensing solutions, deals with software license management – specifically process improvement using automatic renewal.

While it may sound like a minor housekeeping issue, it has caused more than its fair share of headaches in companies that didn’t give it proper time and attention.

As the blogger notes, “I have recently engaged with a software publisher who needed to deliver licenses to customers worldwide. For some countries, customers are allowed to divide payments into multiple chunks over time.”

It must be noted that it’s the Flexera EMEA consulting department which authored the post, so clearly they speak from experience. “The publisher, on the other hand, must ensure the customer performs the payments at the times expected.”

Such a system results in the scenario Flexera outlines: “The process of delivering software licenses depends on the ongoing status of their contractual agreement with the publisher: customer receives a new time-limited license with extended validity period every time the publisher receives the payment in advance for that period.”

This can work for you, as the blog post makes clear, with the key insight that you need to “use the renewal functionality of your software license and entitlement management” product, since this means the software order “will now generate only one entitlement line item in your entitlement and license management system.”

Also the duration will be set to the initial number of weeks that depends on the order.

It makes it easier, too, since as Flexera officials note, “the new activation IDs will be sent in one email with a link to a self-service portal to the license administrator,” and “all interface operations are performed via web services.”

Company officials explain that the simplicity and reliability of such a system is what inspired Flexera to give the FlexNet Operations entitlement management tool the ability to handle license management.

So if this is an issue you’re finding vexing or confusing, it might pay to give them a call.

In other company news, Flexera Software blogger Michael Smith (News - Alert) recently posted some thoughts on what characteristics are shared by successful entitlement management programs.

He defines an Entitlement Management Program as “completely separate from any existing ERP or CRM system,” since those are dedicated to financial and customer driven responsibilities, while entitlement management for licensing “should be a hub of all operational activities and license-based business process.”