SCHAUMBURG, IL--(Marketwired - Jan 9, 2014) - Flexera Software, the leading provider of Application Usage Management solutions for application producers and enterprises, announced today that Weltbild has implemented FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises as part of the company's comprehensive Software License Optimization initiative.
In order to pursue a unified approach to software license management, Weltbild Publishing Group -- one of Europe's largest Internet, book, and media retailers -- aims to centralize software license management for its Augsburg headquarters staff of approximately 2,000. The project incorporates two components. First, the company is redefining administrative processes and guidelines for employees to ensure implementation of industry-wide best practices around software license management. In addition, Weltbild recognized the need to implement a software solution to automate software inventory, license management and spend optimization. After an intense selection process, Weltbild chose FlexNet Manager Suite -- the market-leading Software License Optimization solution.
"Corporations our size are no longer able to keep track of software licenses in spreadsheets or using other manual means. We chose FlexNet Manager Suite as the technology centerpiece of our Software License Optimization initiative because we were extremely impressed with its comprehensive functionality, easy integration with existing IT infrastructure and ease-of-use," said Rainer Birzele, Back Office Manager at Weltbild. "It enables us to understand how much software we use, which in turn helps us spend money only on licenses we actually need -- eliminating waste on shelfware and reducing our risk of penalties for being out of license compliance. FlexNet Manager Suite substantially reduces our software spend."
The Search for a Solution
Optimizing in-house procurement and installation processes is a priority for Weltbild. Yet for Software License Optimization to work, the company needed a centralized system to view and manage software inventory, usage and contracts. It also required the ability to reconcile this diverse data to arrive at an optimized software license position.
Weltbild developed detailed criteria for its technology selection process. The publishing group's many employees use a wide range of software products on multiple operating systems, including Windows, iOS, and UNIX. Corporate IT runs on several different platforms. Therefore Weltbild required a system capable of collecting software inventory data from multiple systems on multiple platforms. The company also needed the ability to manage and optimize software products across a variety of vendors, including Oracle and SAP.
Among other things, the company was impressed with FlexNet Manager Suite's proprietary application recognition library capable of detecting more than 120,000 applications and more than 600,000 individual product SKU's (Stock Keeping Units). Moreover, FlexNet Manager Suite's Product Use Rights library --specifically for Microsoft and Adobe -- was unique and deemed essential to help Weltbild reconcile actual usage with the terms of its license agreements. Finally, the selection team liked FlexNet Manager Suite's intuitive, easy to use interface and ability to easily integrate with other data sources such as procurement systems.
How Weltbild Optimizes Its Software Spend
FlexNet Manager Suite continuously monitors application usage and correlates usage data with existing software license agreements to provide intelligence on the company's license position. This enables transparent license administration and provides a more solid legal framework to ensure continual compliance and risk avoidance.
The system is already helping Weltbild reduce costs by ensuring it only buys software licenses it needs. A newly centralized license pool enables the publishing group to intelligently and efficiently reharvest them -- shifting unused licenses to areas where they are needed. This gives the company's procurement team a superior bargaining position when negotiating new license agreements because it knows the current inventory is already being used, and therefore exactly how many licenses it needs.
"FlexNet Manager Suite centrally monitors and analyzes software usage across the enterprise to ensure precise and optimized licensing. Weltbild is now able to charge software costs according to in-house usage and can document compliance with license requirements whenever they want," said Alois Schwarz, Director of Sales DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) at Flexera Software. "The usage intelligence FlexNet Manager Suite provides also gives Weltbild a solid footing for planning and software budgeting, and helps it avoid wasted investment in unneeded software."
Resources:
FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises includes the following components:
- FlexNet Manager Platform
- FlexNet Manager for Microsoft
- FlexNet Manager for Adobe
- FlexNet Manager for IBM
- FlexNet Manager for Oracle
- FlexNet Manager for Symantec
- FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications
- FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications
- Workflow Manager
- Read our Blog on Software License Optimization
- FlexNet Manager Suite Success Stories
- Related Flexera Software Webinars
- Enterprise License Optimization White Papers
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About Flexera Software
Flexera Software helps application producers and enterprises increase application usage and the value they derive from their software. Our Application Usage Management solutions are essential to ensure continuous licensing compliance, optimized software investments and to future-proof businesses against the risks and costs of constantly changing technology. Over 80,000 customers turn to Flexera Software as a trusted and neutral source for the knowledge and expertise we have gained as the marketplace leader in licensing, installation and compliance for over 20 years and for the automation and intelligence designed into our products. For more information, please go to: www.flexerasoftware.com.
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Contact Information:
For more information, contact:
John Lipsey
+1 (224) 465-9139