The proliferation of technology— especially devices supporting people who work remotely—has made it difficult to track individual copies of software residing on desktops, laptops, and handhelds. Beyond knowing what’s actually installed, it’s almost impossible to gauge which installed packages are actually being used, especially when employees are on the front lines, away from the LAN and the oversight of the IT department. How can you tell if frontline employees really need and use the software they’ve been given? How can you tell if they have loaded unlicensed software onto your systems? These are important questions, given the cost of applications and the risk associated with license violations.

Afaria License Manager provides answers by giving you full visibility into application use in the field. It tracks software installation and usage data on PCs, laptops, and handhelds. This information is delivered to standard relational databases, allowing you to compare software usage against software purchases and license agreements, based on installed count, expiration date or both. The database layout is published, allowing you to access this information directly and produce custom reports (using standard tools like Crystal Reports) that incorporate additional information such as User Department or Billing Area.

  License Violations Leave Organizations Exposed

Increasingly, industry organizations like the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) are spearheading efforts to audit organizations and uncover those in violation of their license agreements. Often these audits are triggered by the complaints of a disgruntled employee or ex-employee. Organizations in violation face heavy fines, and in a worst case scenario, both civil and criminal prosecution.

Two common problems can lead to unauthorized use of software:

• Error: Innocent user error can breach license agreements. This can occur when new employees are added without adding to seat counts (resulting in too few licenses for the actual number of users); when users “share” applications without informing IT; and when licenses are set to “expire” and yet continue to be used.
• Theft: Unfortunately, some employees do use unlicensed and unauthorized software. Sometimes employees download these programs for “innocent fun,” especially when the device, such as a laptop, can be used on personal time. Sometimes they install unlicensed applications in the mistaken belief that they are “saving money” for the company. In either event, the company is responsible.

License Manager generates detailed data views, reports and alerts on license compliance so that managers have accurate information and can take rapid action to resolve the problem of unlicensed software use.

Track Valuable Assets

The cost of critical applications is high; these programs are valuable corporate assets. License Manager lets you integrate software license information—such as whether the license is a site license, a network license, a per-user/per seat license, etc.—with other enterprise systems that track and manage corporate assets.

See What You Are NOT Using

Just because you’ve deployed a program doesn’t mean it’s being used. The use of the “standard image” on systems issued to new employees, for example, results in software automatically distributed to all users, whether needed by a particular user or not. When users’ tasks or responsibilities change, they may stop using a set of applications; as new applications are added to the mix, users may migrate key functions to newer software options, making the “old” application unnecessary. In any event, you are unnecessarily paying for licenses not in use.

License Manager allows you to gather accurate and complete user data so that you can truly see where applications are installed but unused. It retrieves software usage data from client devices automatically and transparently and thus makes a physical audit unnecessary.

By identifying unused licenses, you open opportunities for reclaiming licenses and lowering or containing license fees. You won’t get stuck with the bill for unnecessary licenses, and you can use this data to negotiate refunds or future concessions from vendors. At the very least, you can reduce or eliminate support and upgrade costs for packages no longer in use. The payoff? Hard dollar savings.

Your frontline workers rely on software every day; you rely on them to use it appropriately. With License Manager you won’t have to guess what applications are installed, what applications are being used, and whether or not you are at risk of license violation.