OpenLM for Altiva: Eliminate license waste and optimize CAD standards compliance costs

The Altiva licensing landscape: The “state of the union”

As organizations scale their AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) operations, maintaining 100% CAD standards conformance becomes a challenge of balancing access with expenditure. Altiva Software, known for its industry-leading CADconform suite, utilizes the Altiva License Server (ALS) to manage pooled, concurrent licenses across AutoCAD and MicroStation environments.

The visibility gap

While the Altiva License Server enables concurrent licensing—allowing a pool of seats to be shared among many users—it often lacks the granular analytics required for true optimization. Administrators can see who is currently holding a license, but they cannot easily determine if that license is being actively used to conform drawings or if it is sitting idle in a background process.

The “hidden cost” narrative

Budget leaks in Altiva environments typically occur through “License Camping.” Because CADconform is an add-on to the primary CAD workspace, users often check out a license at the start of a shift and retain it all day, even when not performing standards checking. Without workstation-level precision, organizations over-purchase expensive licenses to avoid “denial” events, leading to significant annual waste.

Quick summary: OpenLM for Altiva

OpenLM empowers you to optimize your Altiva investments by transforming raw concurrent data into actionable strategy.

• Track CADconform seats: Monitor real-time usage across your entire AutoCAD and MicroStation environment. 
• Identify idle licenses: Automatically flag users who have checked out an Altiva license but are not actively using the software tools.
• Eliminate denials: Use historical usage patterns to right-size your license pool, ensuring compliant drafting is never interrupted by a lack of available seats.
• Optimize maintenance costs: Use actual activity data to determine your true peak demand before renewing your Altiva maintenance contract.
• Centralized management: View Altiva license usage alongside your primary CAD tools (Autodesk, Bentley) in a single dashboard.

Comprehensive solution framework

The visibility layer

Gain full transparency into your Altiva Software usage. See exactly who is active and which specific standards—such as the U.S. National CAD Standard™—they are checking against. This applies whether your drafting team is on-site or working remotely via VPN.

The intelligence layer

Use Altiva usage analytics and advanced reporting to determine your optimal seat count. By analyzing engagement patterns, you can measure the true ROI of your CADconform investment and determine if you should adjust your license count before your next renewal.

The automation layer

Maximize the availability of your Altiva License Server (ALS) pool. OpenLM can automatically detect idle CADconform sessions and notify the user or the administrator. In environments with high license contention, this layer ensures that “license campers” do not block critical standards-compliance tasks for the rest of the team. 

How OpenLM monitors Altiva

OpenLM uses a non-intrusive approach to capture every detail of your Altiva License Server (ALS) environment.

Seamless ALS connectivity

• Direct integration: OpenLM connects to the Altiva License Server via a lightweight broker to fetch real-time license checkout data.
• Zero footprint: Monitoring occurs at the server level, ensuring no performance impact on individual AutoCAD or MicroStation workstations.
• TCP/IP monitoring: OpenLM tracks the standard TCP/IP communication between the ALS and client machines to log session durations and idle times.

Strategic reporting and analytics

• License utilization heatmap: Visualize peak usage periods to identify when your license pool is at risk of exhaustion.
• Active vs. Idle tracking: Distinguish between a license that is simply “checked out” and one that is actively being used for drafting and conforming.

Strategic ROI and business value

Organizations using OpenLM for Altiva license optimization see significant reductions in software spend.

• Procurement support: Use “actual activity” data to justify your next purchase instead of relying on seat-count estimates.
• Reduced subscription costs: Identify and eliminate “ghost” licenses that remain active long after a project has been completed or an employee has left.
• Improved compliance: Ensure your most critical standards-checking tools are always available for those who need them most.