Automated Upgrade Management Enables Software Vendors and IoT Companies to Drive Recurring Revenue and Prevent Maintenance Revenue Leakage

FlexNet Operations 2016 Automates Processes for Software Upgrades, Improves IoT Security and Enables Rapid Software Delivery
   
Maidenhead, U.K. – Dec. 13, 2016 – Flexera Software, the leading provider of next-generation software licensing, compliance, security and installation solutions for application producers and enterprises, today announced the latest release of the company’s market-leading Entitlement Management solution, FlexNet Operations. The new release provides software vendors and Internet of Things (IoT) companies with an end-to-end process for automated upgrade management – guaranteeing an outstanding end-user experience, improving the security of IoT solutions and driving recurring revenue.

Many software vendors have had to rely on manual, and often disjointed, processes when delivering software upgrades which causes revenue leakage (when customers receive upgrades to which they are not entitled because they are out of maintenance or no longer on a subscription), an administrative overhead nightmare and often a poor end-user experience. FlexNet Operations 2016 puts an end to significant revenue losses from upgrades, which can reach up to 30 percent for some vendors.

“The automated upgrade management in FlexNet Operations 2016 provides users with a streamlined process for rolling out upgrades to eligible customers, while managing corresponding entitlement management processes,” said Mathieu Baissac, Vice President of Product Management at Flexera Software. “This solves a grave issue that was costing software vendors and intelligent device manufacturers a lot of time and money.”

Increasing Renewal Rates
Automating upgrades also helps grow renewal rates – a priority for companies that sell perpetual licenses with maintenance contracts, or subscription licenses which automatically include maintenance. Software vendors and manufacturers moving to the IoT need to streamline their upgrade processes or they may miss out on lucrative renewal opportunities. On the other hand, it is important for their customers to receive notification of new upgrades so they can easily locate, download and start using the latest version – providing true visibility into the value of their maintenance and/or subscription package, versus being left to fend for themselves with outdated software.

“Many intelligent device manufacturers that are now moving toward new IoT offerings do not have mature Software Monetisation processes in place yet, and it is a challenge for them to track customer entitlements and manage the software lifecycle accordingly,” said Amy Konary, Program Vice President SaaS, Cloud and Business Models at IDC. “As a result, it is easy to make costly mistakes, such as making upgrades available to customers that are not entitled to them, or miss out on revenue opportunities that result from better understanding customer usage rights and behaviours.”

Eliminating Security Risk
Customers running older versions of software could potentially be at risk if they are using a version that has vulnerabilities, causing enormous security risk. Ultimately, IoT providers need to make it easy for their customers to be on the most current version, which will help decrease support cases, and eliminate these risks. FlexNet Operations’ automated upgrade management eliminates error-prone manual processes, and prepares IoT providers for continuous delivery of upgrades – critical for IoT security.

Reliable and Fast Software Downloads
Download files are getting bigger, and software vendors are delivering updates more frequently. To help with this, Flexera Software provides all FlexNet Electronic Software Delivery downloads through the Akamai content delivery system for guaranteed reliability, speed and high-availability. Akamai’s state-of-the-art content software-delivery system utilises more than 45,000 caches around the world, allowing end users to receive downloads from a nearby server – re-routing traffic based on any dreaded Internet issues that may be occurring.