Urschel Laboratories
Slash Licensing Costs, and Gain Transparency Over Granular Reporting
Urschel Laboratories biggest software licensing problem was license squatting. This practice is where users fail to release software licenses they are no longer using and is a result of inefficient policies and poor user habits. Worse, license squatting costs the business in many ways, including tangibles such as management and administration, downtime, the cost of additional licenses, and extra on-going maintenance fees, and intangibles such as frustration, lack of control, and employee morale. For Misty Ratzlaff, Tool Crib Supervisor, and designated administrative lead at Urschel Laboratories, she was on the front-line:
“I would start getting phone calls in the morning, “Hey, I’m trying to log into Solidworks, and I can’t get in.” Unfortunately, the way we managed this manually meant there was no way to tell who was using the licenses… I would have to phone my colleagues to see who had an open, in-use license and ask them to close it. This would easily take me half a day.”
A clearly systemic problem.
The catalyst for change
Outside of working hours, Urschel permitted engineers and users to use software for their own home/personal projects — an atypical practice, indeed. However, when they discovered that these users were themselves license squatting, this policy was clearly detrimental:
“Unavailable licenses resulted in a lot of downtime. What else are engineers going to do if they can’t get into the software to do their work?”
It was that point that we needed to change.
The reports allow us to see what level of software we actually need. This has allowed us to downscale premier packages that we rarely used and has helped and saved us a lot.
Misty Ratzlaf
Tool Crib Supervisor
Both Solution and Choice Were Simple
How did you decide what solution to purchase?
“I called my IT department and I said we need something. I told them it needs to be relatively cheap, easy to use, etc. They came to me with OpenLM.”
How was the implementation and on-boarding?
“They installed it, setup the filter, told me where I need to go to see what I needed. I then figured it, and any other additional information that I needed, out. It’s very intuitive and easy to use.”
Did you encounter any problems?
“Only with user error. When we changed our server, the IT department didn’t link the software, so we engaged with OpenLM’s support. In the end, it turned out that the error message we were getting was because of a server fault at our end.”
…we also pay about $2,000 a seat per year for maintenance. Without the extra seats we have reduced costs and run more concurrent to our needs
Misty Ratzlaff
Tool Crib Supervisor
Clawed-back Time, Granular Reporting, and Improved Productivity
In your role, Misty, what’s OpenLM’s biggest benefit?
“Apart from no longer getting any calls about unavailable licenses, the reporting feature is powerful and useful.”
What reports do you run?
“The main report is where I see how many users are actually using the software, and I also have it broken down to which aspect of the software they’re using. For example, I see that our electrical design guys have added another team member. However, though I don’t know what software they’re using I can see that one of their license seats is available. Prior to OpenLM, we had no way of knowing that, so would go out and buy another license. With OpenLM, that’s unnecessary.”
How else have the reports helped?
“The reports allow us to see what level of software we actually need. This has allowed us to downscale premier packages that we rarely used and has helped and saved us a lot.”
Do the reports provide enough granularity?
“Yes. The licenses we bought were $5,000 apiece. What’s important is that though we’ve increased the quantity of licenses, it’s more proportionate to the actual number of users; whereas five-six years ago, we had five or more seats than the number of daily users.”
A $25,000 license saving on its own, is that correct?
“Yes, plus we also pay about $2,000 a seat per year for maintenance. Without the extra seats we have reduced costs and run more concurrent to our needs.”
How has OpenLM improved productivity?
“Nobody’s waiting around on licenses or seats now. Everyone can get on with their job, there’s better planning , more flexibility, reactiveness, and improved control… The biggest thing for me is how easy it is. I can see how many available seats we have, how often they’re available and, if I want to change anything, it’s very easy to do.”
Before we close, Misty, would you like to add anything else?
“I get fewer headaches. Now, when I get phone calls about the software, it’s because they’re actually having trouble with the software and not because they’re having trouble getting in. OpenLM does exactly what I need it to do. It’s done a wonderful job and, for me, it’s all about ease of use.”
Getting Started with OpenLM
Could you or your organization benefit from fewer headaches, greater visibility, clarity, and control, as well as the real and rapid possibility of significant savings? If so, but you are not sure where to start, then feel free to contact us any time for a no-obligation chat. If you already know that OpenLM is for you and you cannot wait to get started, then we have a full 30-days risk-free trial: Click here to get started.
