The legacy licensing landscape: The “state of the union”
As your engineering teams rely on specialized tools like T-Systems MEDINA or legacy Ansys HFSS modules, managing the Licman license manager becomes a challenge of overcoming technical opacity. Licman is a stalwart of the engineering world, but its lack of modern reporting features often leaves IT managers in the dark.
The visibility gap in niche tools
Licman is primarily associated with high-value software from T-Systems (such as MEDINA, VAMOS, and COM-STEP) and legacy versions of Ansys. These tools are often mission-critical yet lack the granular usage analytics found in modern SaaS platforms. Without real-time Licman usage visibility, it is impossible to distinguish between a true license shortage and users “hoarding” expensive seats out of habit.
The “hidden cost” of legacy sessions
Budget leaks in Licman environments often stem from “zombie sessions”—high-cost engineering licenses that remain checked out while the application sits idle on a workstation. Because these niche tools carry significant maintenance fees, even a few idle licenses represent thousands of dollars in annual waste. Without automated Licman license harvesting, your organization likely over-purchases seats to avoid “license denial” complaints.
Quick summary: OpenLM for Licman
OpenLM empowers you to bring your legacy engineering portfolio into the modern era, transforming fragmented logs into actionable business strategy.
- Live usage visibility: Get by-the-second visibility into current Licman check-outs to identify who is holding a license.
- Automated license harvesting: Automatically detect and reclaim licenses from inactive sessions to increase availability.
- Denial tracking & insights: Log every failed license request to determine if you truly need more seats or better distribution.
- Historical usage analysis: Track usage patterns by user, department, or project to justify renewals with actual data.
- Centralized governance: Manage Licman alongside 140+ other license managers (like FlexNet, DSLS, and Sentinel) in a single dashboard.
Comprehensive solution framework
OpenLM provides a three-layered approach to help you manage Licman licenses efficiently and improve operational transparency.
The visibility layer
Gain a unified view of your floating and node-locked Licman licenses. OpenLM interfaces with the Licman server to provide a live “state of the union,” showing current check-outs, feature usage, and overall availability. This layer removes the “black box” of legacy licensing.
The automation layer
Move beyond manual seat audits. OpenLM’s active harvesting can detect idleness in the specialized application process (e.g., MEDINA). If an engineer is “hoarding” a license without interacting with the tool, OpenLM can automatically release the seat, ensuring your most urgent simulation tasks are never blocked.
The intelligence layer
Leverage advanced analytics to prepare for your next renewal. By analyzing Licman usage frequency and duration, you can right-size your next agreement based on actual demand rather than theoretical headcount or “just-in-case” safety margins.
Technical details: The OpenLM Licman integration
OpenLM uses a secure, Broker-based approach to capture every detail of your Licman environment, supporting both T-Systems and legacy Ansys configurations.
Seamless connectivity and monitoring
- Proprietary support: OpenLM natively supports Licman via the OpenLM Broker.
- Command-level precision: The Broker executes specialized inquiry commands (e.g., licman20_appl.exe) to pull real-time stats from the server.
- Port monitoring: OpenLM tracks communication over the Licman server port (typically 11111, though configurable) to ensure connection health.
- 1-Second Resolution: Collect and report usage data with high fidelity, ensuring your “Live” view is truly accurate for audit compliance.
Advanced reporting
- Feature-level monitoring: Track specific features or increments within your Licman entitlements to see which modules are the real cost drivers.
- Departmental chargebacks: Automatically calculate and export billing data based on specific projects or departments for internal cost allocation.
Strategic ROI and business value
Organizations leveraging OpenLM for Licman typically see a 15–25% reduction in annual software-related spend.
- Procurement support: Use “actual activity” data to negotiate your next maintenance agreement instead of relying on vendor-supplied totals.
- Improved user productivity: By reclaiming idle seats, you ensure that your engineering teams are never delayed by a “License Denied” message.
- Unified IT asset view: Manage your legacy Licman licenses in the same ecosystem as your modern CAD and cloud-based engineering tools.
