Maidenhead – February 19, 2013 - Flexera Software, the leading provider of Application Usage Management solutions for application producers and enterprises, announced a significant upgrade to App Portal, the market-leading enterprise app store. Now integrated with FlexNet Manager Suite, Flexera Software’s best-in-class Software License Optimisation solution, and AdminStudio Suite, the company’s market leading Application Readiness solution, App Portal enables consumerisation of IT via employee self-service while tying together and automating essential IT business processes around application compatibility, packaging and compliance.
Through this integration, Flexera Software solutions manage application usage across the software lifecycle, uniquely providing enterprises the ability to embrace the consumerisation of IT with greater efficiency and effectiveness.
“Software asset managers lower administration overhead and drive accountability and efficiency through automation. Enterprise app stores can also lower application adoption barriers by reducing the friction involved in finding, sourcing, installing and updating an application,” according to Gartner*. “Where a new app store is required, integrate it with internal software asset management and IT procurement systems.”
An App Store That Supports Continual License Optimisation
App Portal enables consumerisation of IT through employee self-service, allowing users to view, request, access and deploy enterprise applications to their devices from an easy-to-use, self-service application catalog. With this new release, App Portal obtains asset data from FlexNet Manager Platform, including the number of licenses owned, how many copies of the software are installed and/or in use and how many licenses are currently available. It then initiates a workflow process that automatically routes and fulfills requests based on this data once necessary approvals are obtained. App Portal can also filter app requests by enterprise groups for licenses that are allocated to specific departments, cost centers or countries – giving organisations the ability to implement and manage software access and chargeback rules.
Moreover, App Portal’s license reclamation processes are now tightly integrated with FlexNet Manager Suite to ensure licenses are not being wasted by employees who don’t use the software. The systems work together to identify unused applications, query relevant users to determine if the application is still needed, and if not, reclaim the licenses and add them back into the available software license pool.
Efficient & Reliable Employee Self Service
To ensure efficient deployment of software, organisations must ensure they’ve implemented Application Readiness best practices. AdminStudio Suite is the de facto industry standard for compatibility testing, application packaging and migration. App Portal is now integrated with AdminStudio Suite, ensuring fast, efficient and simultaneous automated handoff of the packaged application to the organisation’s deployment system and to App Portal.
“Enterprises need to be able to meet the business needs of employees while ensuring that essential business processes are integrated and automated,” said Maureen Polte, Vice President of Product Management at Flexera Software. “App Portal is the only solution that takes the entire software license lifecycle into account. By integrating license management, application preparation and packaging into the enterprise app store, it will give employees the enterprise apps they need to do their job in an efficient, automated process that reduces IT costs and risks.”
Creating a Familiar, e-Commerce Experience for Employees
App Portal now offers greater convenience in submitting and tracking orders by allowing employees to group multiple requests into a single order, similar to the shopping cart experience they are familiar with on consumer sites. App Portal can also now bundle software and/or hardware items that are typically ordered together or where dependencies exists, and present them as a single item in the online app store – such as a new-hire bundle that includes a laptop, monitor, Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office.
“Consumerisation of IT delivers tremendous value when employees are given self-service capabilities that don’t negatively impact cost, efficiency and control,” said Polte. “App Portal surpasses any other enterprise app store on the market in delivering an ‘iTunes’ like experience for employees to access their enterprise apps – while ensuring continual software license optimisation, application availability and choice.”
