Software Licensing Featured Articles

Software Update Solutions Improve Overall Performance, Cut Costs

By Frank Griffin, TMCnet Contributing Writer

The software we have in our smartphones, tablets, PCs and servers is what makes it possible for us to communicate, play and work. The more efficient the software, the better we are able to do those things without any glitches. If, on the other hand, there are any issues with the software, it can result in a smartphone not making a call or a server not delivering the emails to employees, with the real possibility of more catastrophic scenarios. It is therefore essential to ensure the functionality and safety of the software that is in the organization with the best available solutions. Flexera Software helps software developers and enterprises increase usage and the value they get from it with usage management solutions.

One of the products Flexera offers is the FlexNet Connect software update solution, and in a blog written on the company's site, Marty Bakal highlights the value of having a platform that updates the applications used by an organization.

A software update solution improves the performance of the software, ensures security patches are updated and lowers the number of calls to customer service. According to the blog, support calls by customers decreased by 49 percent, while renewals increased by 30 percent.

The FlexNet Connect platform allows customers to gain insight while staying connected to customers with electronic software update, in-product messaging and detailed reporting. Developers, software vendors and intelligent device manufacturers can give end-users the latest update while gaining insight on how the product is being used. The system manages a rule-based software update delivery, displays in-product messages and reports key information about the installed base automatically.

With these insights time won't be wasted in: trying to figure out what products, versions and features your customers value in your offering; handling support calls related to outdated versions of your products; making frequent or critical updates; and supporting customers that are not current on maintenance.

FlexNet Connect is offered in the cloud with software-as-a-service (SaaS (News - Alert)) or as an on-premises solution, and has a distribution of over 100 million end-points. Some of the additional benefits of this platform include:

• Cut costs with automated software updates
• Ability to target marketing campaigns based on installed product and version, machine characteristics and more
• Collect anonymous usage data—log files and crash reports—to identify, prioritize and correct end-user problems
• Deliver targeted marketing messages based on installed product and version, language, machine characteristics and more
• Retrieve remote diagnostics and deep install base intelligence from embedded software on devices, or desktop and server based applications to reduce support costs and increase customer satisfaction

"Software vendors and device manufacturers are constantly upgrading their software to improve their products and fix bugs and patch vulnerabilities - but unless those updates get pushed out to the device or software product - they're worthless. FlexNet Connect 2014 provides additional functionality to ensure producers have more control over implementation of critical software updates," said Mathieu Baissac, Flexera Software's vice president of product management.

In today's regulatory and compliance-ridden world organizations have to ensure the software they use to interact with their customer is the latest available version. If it is not, it can result in fines from regulators and lawsuits from customers if not updating the software has resulted in a security breach.