Macrovision's FlexNet Operations Removes Manual Mayhem from License Generation and Activation

For software producers, including those at hardware manufacturing companies, manual license management can prove not only daunting but damaging to their ROI. Producers   want to go to market with new and updated products quickly and efficiently, a goal that slows with manual licensing. And if a merger or acquisition is added to the mix, producers are faced with newly acquired products and disparate license technologies that manual efforts can't accurately or easily manage.

Macrovision's FlexNet Operations reduces the pain of manual licensing and brings automation to the entire entitlement and license lifecycle. Producers can discard tedious, costly manual processes and use the back-office operations capabilities to automatically create and manage their product packages, entitlements and licenses.

Today, the new version of FlexNet Operations 11.5 delivers enhanced automation capabilities that result in a faster, more seamless licensing experience that can lower support costs for both producers and their customers. Some of the new capabilities include:

Self Service Capabilities & Enhanced Support for Automated Activation:Producers set the stage for a better end-customer experience as they use FlexNet Operations 11.5 to automate day-to-day entitlement and license management tasks such as order entry, fulfillment and change requests. End-customers can directly benefit by being able to independently activate, return, transfer, upgrade, or renew licenses without assistance from customer support. And single-click activation can make their licensing activation process significantly faster and easier. Single- click activation also simplifies the product trial process for prospective customers. It contributes to a more satisfying evaluation process and can expand the number of prospects who evaluate and ultimately purchase a product.

"Our work with Macrovision is continuing to help us enhance our productivity and customer experience. The latest release of FlexNet Operations is a great example of how Macrovision is committed to our success. The new product provides us with end-to-end product activation capabilities that can increase customer satisfaction and simplify the process of product license activation for all users," said Chuck Schwerin, senior product manager, Licensing Technologies, Pitney Bowes MapInfo.

Enhanced Data Collection Capabilities: Producers can now collect and store key customer data more efficiently and use that data to increase revenues. Whereas customer data was previously gathered manually, producers now have an automated process within FlexNet Operations. They can track and segment their customers based on the information they collect during the automated activation process, enabling them to provide customized products and services that match their customers' needs. They can also use the information to determine which customers will most likely benefit from new or updated software and then pursue those customers with targeted communications.

Enhanced Troubleshooting Capabilities: Customer service personnel that work for software producers can now use the data that is automatically captured by FlexNet Operations 11.5 to effectively troubleshoot problems, potentially resulting in shorter, less costly support calls and less system down-time.

Foundational Support for Third Party Licensing Technologies: FlexNet Operations can now manage customer entitlements that use multiple licensing technologies – homegrown or commercial -- other than FLEX technologies. Producers can use FlexNet Operations to centrally manage customer entitlements as opposed to manually managing different sets of processes on multiple licensing systems.

"The win-win of FlexNet Operations 11.5 means software producers and high-tech manufacturers have a streamlined method for entitlement and license management, and their customers experience greater convenience and user satisfaction," said Mark Bishof, executive vice president and general manager, Software Business Unit, Macrovision Corporation. "We continue to enhance our software so our customers can successfully manage their entitlement and licensing efforts and continue to help their end-customers prosper."

FlexNet Operations 11.5 is a key component of Macrovision's Entitlement Relationship Management solution, an end-to-end solution of FLEX-powered technologies thatsimplify the relationship between software producers and enterprise customers. The solution provides a complete view of software entitlements, offers digital delivery of software and updates, and enables monitoring and/or enforcement of software usage. Producers using the solution can benefit by increasing revenues and lowering operating costs due to fewer costly manual and redundant processes. 

FlexNet Operations 11.5 is available today.