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New FlexNet Manager Suite Handles Cloud and On-Premises Software License Management

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New FlexNet Manager Suite Handles Cloud and On-Premises Software License Management

September 12, 2014
By Christopher Mohr, TMCnet Contributing Writer

Flexera Software recently announced the latest release of its FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises. The solution will not only help enterprises and organizations better comply with software licensing requirements, but also optimize their licensing to dramatically reduce money wasted on unnecessary licenses.


Itasca, Ill.-based Flexera’s history goes back to 1987 when InstallShield software was first released by Stirling Technologies. It created setup programs from compressing the binaries and support files an application needed to operate. After a series of company name changes and acquisitions, InstallShield became a product of Flexera. The company’s current product line is a collection of variations of FlexNet for different environments and installation software solutions including InstallShield.

Software licensing management has grown in complexity over the years as business computing shifted away from standalone PCs to LANs to the cloud. In the beginning licensing was very straightforward. If you had 20 employees using Microsoft (News - Alert) Word, all you had to do to show compliance was have 20 original copies of the setup disks or a single license that covered the organization.

The problem in 2014 is that things aren’t so simple. The flexibility of the cloud makes it easier for managers to scale up or down the number of users in a cloud hosted IT setup. This fluctuation along with multi-processor servers and different licensing structures make nailing down the exact number of licenses difficult.

Of course, no company wants to deal with a software audit only to find that it has to retroactively pay for licenses it should have had for a period of time but didn’t. The typical response to this problem is to buy way more licenses than are needed, but this is also undesirable. It may eliminate the possibility of unlicensed software in an audit, but amounts to nothing more than a different form of burning money.

FlexNet has solutions for different platforms to ensure that companies comply with licensing, but don’t overspend in the process. There are different versions for IBM (News - Alert) Passport Advantage, Microsoft, Oracle, Symantec, Adobe and even engineering applications.

According to CIO Insight, it is not a matter of if an enterprise will be audited, but when. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) encourages whistleblowers to report unlicensed software use and the major vendors conduct audits too. Solutions like FlexNet give IT departments a better way to navigate the complexities of licensing, but by itself is not enough. Companies must have strong internal policies and procedures and remain vigilant in tacking licenses in addition to good management tools. 




Edited by Alisen Downey

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