License management // incharge Success Story Marquardt optimizes their software license assets for CAD applications and other engineering tools with incharge
Different analysis tools were tested. It became clear very quickly that their capabilities did not meet our requirements. The customer s starting point Considering all corporations, today roughly 30 different software tools are in operation in the development plants in the fields of electronic and software development, as well as CAD. The creation of the three divisions in the beginning of 2009 and, as a result, the realization of central administration of the underlying infrastructure required a possibility to apportion the incurred costs for the engineering tools in an adequate and transparent way. Furthermore it was difficult to give a reliable conclusion about the capacity rate and utilization of the different applications. In the past, the making of decisions about the purchase or cancellation of licenses could only be based on estimates. Since the CAD applications represent a large lump sum, and, moreover, are partly based on very complex licensing models, first of all, an analysis in this field was made. A CAD service provider assisted Marquardt in this matter. The CAD service provider possesses extensive knowhow and project experience in the optimization of the usage of CAD licenses. For product development, Marquardt uses CatiaV5 and Siemens NX (formerly UniGraphics NX) in seven different locations. The CATIA licenses are technically managed by the license managing tool LUM. Siemens PLM uses the license management tool FlexNet. The worldwide distribution of the development locations requires the use of more than one license server in each case. In the past, Marquardt tried to record the license situation with in-house software solutions. However, the different license servers in use did not allow for standardized reports within a justifiable effort. CAD operation scenario at Marquardt more than 300 registered users approx. 80 Catia licenses approx. 80 NX licenses 8 locations Together with a CAD service provider, the requirements for a standard tool were defined. To achieve a significant reporting, the following objectives were to be pursued: The standard system should conceptually be able to support other license management tools apart from LUM and FlexNet. It should be possible to centrally manage the analysis system for all supported license management systems. All information and reports from all license servers should be stored in a standard format in a standard database. The reports should be customizable freely. Based on theses requirements, the standard software incharge developed and distributed by NovaTec Solutions GmbH was, among others, also evaluated within a pilot phase.
Implementation Already during this pilot phase, incharge was extensively used by Marquardt. NovaTec was able to implement the experiences obtained hereby as well as newly arisen requirements directly into the product. As a result, incharge was equipped with the entire features required by Marquardt after the pilot phase was finished. The core features were: Profound reporting regarding license utilization and license use Live-monitoring of current multi-license-use User Management including assignment of single users to their corresponding project group, department, branch, location, corporation and cost center Usage-dependent charging of license fees to singular corporation departments Possibility of including multiple server on the system. Current server environment at Marquardt: 5 Catia LUM-Server, 3 NX FlexNet-Server, 1 Medusa FlexNet-Server Lessons learned and measures taken During three months, incharge was used to collect information about the capacity utilization of licenses. This information was evaluated in reports and measures were derived. Leasons learned Catia The rate of license utilization was at 100 % between 8:30 a.m. and 03:00 p.m. There would be a requirement for 5 additional licenses (investment of about 75.000 ). Appeals to release the licenses currently not in use (meetings) were not followed. Leasons learned NX The rate of the use of the main licenses was 70%. Due to process changes, some licenses were not needed at all anymore. Measures taken The Catia process is ended automatically after an idle time of 45 min, releasing the license. At all times, a sufficient number of licenses are available. Current capacity rate at 95%. Measures taken The number of main licenses was reduced. In consultation with the specialists departments, maintenance was cancelled for unused license bundles. Despite of the reduction of the number of licenses, a sufficient number of licenses are available at all time. By live-monitoring the license capacity rates, possible bottlenecks can be acted upon in a flexible manner. Saved investment in the amount of 75.000 Considerable reduction of the maintenance fees (about -25%)
Using incharge, we are now able, for the first time, to evaluate and document the actual utilization of licenses across a number of license servers in a standardized and stable way. Fritz Bruns, CAD executive director at Marquardt, a middle-class company operating globally, comprises of three independent divisions: Using incharge, the license assets were optimized in respect to the actual needs. By this measure, the monitoring and the documentation of the actual remaining availability of licenses led to a reduction of investments. By analyzing the actual user behaviour, maintenance contracts could be cancelled for unused licenses, resulting in the considerable reduction of maintenance fees. Using incharge, the detailed billing of license fees was now possible. In addition, the general service of the support department could be billed to the different departments on the base the duration of license usage. Without the detailed view using incharge, there would not have been a solid base for the measures taken. It is being planned to expand the use of incharge to the license management in the field of software development. Marquardt Automotive supplies switches, switching systems and controls for the automotive industry. Marquardt Switches, Sensors and Controls produces switches and switching systems for the power tools industry, household utensils and the general market. Marquardt Services GmbH being part of Marquardt Corporate Shared Services, provides infrastructure and IT services for the aforementioned divisions. These are represented in seven different countries with eight development plants worldwide. Automotive Marquardt GmbH Marquardt Switches, Inc. (USA) Marquardt Automotive, Tunisie (Tunesia) Marquardt France S.A.R.L (France) Hans Koch Marquardt Schaltsysteme S.C.S (Rumania) Switches, Sensors and Controls Marquardt Mechatronics GmbH Marquardt Verwaltungs GmbH (Switzerland) Marquardt Switches Co. Ltd. (China) S.A.F.E (Tunesien) Marquardt India PVT Ltd. (Indien) Corporate Shared Services Marquardt Services GmbH Marquardt Logistics GmbH Mechanics and Software Development Using incharge, the middle-class company improved their license situation in such a way that the costs for maintenance could be considerably reduced worldwide by the optimization of usage and capacity rate for CAD applications as well as allowing for the adequate and transparent user-based apportionment of costs for CAD applications and engineering tools.
Product details incharge incharge is an innovative product to achieve a significant reduction of license costs, which enables you to centrally monitor licenses of your enterprise managed by floating license management systems. With incharge you can analyse the usage of your licenses. incharge gives you an overview of the current status and the utilization rate of your licenses. Thus you can optimize the amount of your licenses and at the same time make sure that all necessary licenses are available. In addition, your license costs can be distributed according to their usage and the continuous proof of compliance is guaranteed for your entire enterprise. incharge is a product by NovaTec Solutions GmbH NovaTec is an owner-operated, independent German IT firm founded in 1993 supporting customers across various industries in the successful implementation of IT-related projects. NovaTec is a synonym for innovation, customer orientation and project success. NovaTec Solutions GmbH Dieselstraße 18/1 70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen phone: +49 711 22040-700 mail: info@novatec-gmbh.de web: www.novatec-gmbh.de Find our experts near you: Office Berlin Potsdamer Platz 11 10785 Berlin +49 30 2888 6559-0 Office Frankfurt am Main Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 36 60325 Frankfurt am Main +49 69 2578 8288-0 Office Munich Landshuter Allee 8-10 80637 Munich +49 89 1434 0601-0 Office Jeddah Ahmad Ibn Jabir St. Al Fayha a District / 4 Jeddah 22246, Saudi Arabia All pictures, brands and texts are protected by copyright regulations. Their use may be permitted exclusively and only through permission of the author. Version 2.0 (November 2013)