Autodesk Licence Compliance

Autodesk Licence Compliance

Ensuring your organisation stays within its purchased allocation & within the Terms of Use as detailed in your Autodesk end-user license agreement is really important.

Failing to do so can result in your organisation incurring substantial costs.

Invalid software can increase the risk of software failure & exposure to malware, leading to hours of lost productivity.

Only genuine Autodesk products are warranted & supported by Autodesk. Purchase through an authorised reseller to get the performance & reliability you expect with access to the latest features, security updates, previous versions & more.

Help prevent piracy & non-compliance:

It’s easy to unknowingly buy or use invalid software. Unauthorised sellers may sell invalid software at deep discounts, on auction sites, or bundle them with computer hardware.

Protect yourself & others by learning more about this important issue & by reporting non-compliance or websites you suspect may be selling or distributing unlicensed Autodesk products.

Even when you have procured your licensing from an Authorised Autodesk Partner there are some additional common issues that organisations must be aware of. Failing to understand these details could result in exposure to a License Compliance issue.

For more on each of the relevant Autodesk products such as AutoCad, and AutoCad LT, and to purchase a license, visit our Autodesk Shop.

Examples, of where you may fall foul of the license agreement & thus may end up having to procure additional licensing at further cost are:

Overuse/over deployment of your licenses.
Trial licenses installed after 30 days.
Student & educational licenses on a commercial domain.
Usage of licenses across different legal entities &/or in different territories*.
Continued use of a license that may have been used as a trade-in to a new Subscription.
Incorrect use of home usage of licenses.
Previous usage rights (how many releases you can go back & have installed).
Continued use of maintenance benefits for maintenance that hasn’t been renewed.
This is not an exhaustive list & there may be other instances that could result in a license compliance breach.

* Only the legal entity should be purchasing licenses for use by that entity (unless Premium Plan is in place which allows licenses to be purchased centrally). Autodesk classify non-compliance as occurring when the licenses are used by a company, or companies, other than the legal entity to which they belong.

The licenses purchased by that legal entity can only be used by users based in the applicable territory where those licenses have been purchased, unless they have Premium Plan which allows users to be based anywhere.

Our priority is our customers & to ensure that they understand what is best practice for license compliance.

Get in touch with us if you have any questions - autodesk@diatec.ie - be proactive & don’t wait for Autodesk license compliance to get in touch.

4-Steps to Effective Software License Compliance & Management

1. Understand your risk

Do you have a record of the licences for all the software installed on your computers?
Do you have an up to date, accurate inventory of all software deployed & in use in your organisation?
Have you recently conducted a software audit & reconciled the findings with the number of licences held to ensure compliance with the licence terms?
Are there policies & processes in place for controlling the purchase & use of software?
Do users sign to confirm that they have been made aware of, acknowledge & understand such policies & processes?

If you answer no to any of the above you may be at risk & need to perform a software audit to determine the size of the problem & take appropriate steps to ensure that you are compliant.

2. Achieve Licence compliance

You first need to collect & record all evidence of licenses & entitlements to use software in a secure place, so you can be confident that you have the right to use.
Perform an inventory of your computers, software & users.
Match the number of licenses to the installed software & ensure that the software is being used in accordance with the terms & conditions of the licence, on occasions, licences limit the number of users accessing software.
If there is a mismatch take appropriate steps to achieve licence compliance by procuring additional licenses; redeploying unused licences (if permitted) or reducing the number of users.

3. Maintain Licence Compliance

Now you have a baseline, start to implement processes & policies that make it easy to control & manage your software assets in the future.

Make your directors, IT staff & users aware of the importance of software licence compliance, & remind them periodically.
Review your IT policies to ensure they promote good software management practices & ensure that everyone signs up to them.
Review & improve your requisition, procurement, use & asset retirement practices.

- Make sure that everyone is aware of your procedures that back up your policies, that they are supported by your company directors & that they are used when appropriate.

4. Optimise your Software Licences

Now you are in control, plan for the future.

Implement processes to collect & reuse software instead of buying additional licences, as long as this is in accordance with the terms of the licence.
Review your license procurement & maintenance contracts on a regular basis in line with changed patterns of software use & different computer hardware set ups.
Ensure any internal software developers for the business & the licence options & costs when developing new business applications. This will help you make better decisions about the costs & benefits of potential options.

SAM - Software Asset Management

Large companies can also take advantage of a SAM program.

Implementing a software asset management (SAM) program can help you effectively manage & optimise your Autodesk software.

SAM helps you track your software & ensures that you stay compliant with Autodesk licence agreements. Not only does SAM reduce your risk of non-compliance & help you meet legal obligations, it delivers compelling business benefits.

Cut Costs

Industry analysts estimate that SAM can result in savings of 30% the first year you implement SAM best practices, & 5-10% annually thereafter. It does this by helping you:

Eliminate or reallocate underused software
Reduce costs associated with software management & support
Avoid fees associated with non-compliance
Negotiate bulk discounts with providers
Reduce unexpected licensing costs.
Improve Productivity
Effective SAM can help ensure that all employees have the licensed software they need to complete their jobs & when they have software problems, they can get support - which is available only to licensed users.

Autodesk will also keep you informed about software developments that can help you work faster & more efficiently. Finally, SAM reduces the strain on IT staff by automating many routine software management tasks.

Support Effective Management

SAM streamlines software management, telling you immediately what software is in use & where. Rather than conducting a year-end inventory, you maintain a running record that lets you easily identify & update obsolete software.

With SAM, you can plan effectively, purchasing software when you need it - not just when a new version comes out. You can target upgrades & reduce hassle.

SAM also helps you maintain network & computer uptime by reducing the virus risks associated with downloading or purchasing software from unauthorised sites.

Our priority is our customers & to ensure that they understand what is best practice for license compliance.

Get in touch with us if you have any questions - autodesk@diatec.ie - be proactive & don’t wait for Autodesk license compliance to get in touch.

Licenses with Invalid Serial Numbers - (Counterfeit or Pirated licenses):

Licenses with invalid serial numbers are products that Autodesk has never created for sale. These serial numbers were never issued by Autodesk & are not considered legitimate, genuine instances of the software.

Some of the common ways these licenses enter organizations are through improper download from the internet, inadvertent purchases from counterfeiters, or use of “cracks” of “key generators” on legitimate Autodesk media. In most cases, because these installations are not valid licenses, a replacement purchase of legitimate software is required.

Over Installed Licenses - i.e. single seat license installed on 5 machines:

Over installation exists when the specific license is installed on different computers beyond the number of instances allowed by the applicable Autodesk Software License Agreement. Over installed conditions can occur simply by installing a license multiple times on different computers or, in the case of network licenses, by having the network license file served out concurrently on multiple servers thus increasing the allowed license count. Since the number of software licenses available is improperly increased by over installation, an acceptable compliance resolution is the purchase of additional licenses to compensate for the over installation.

Use of Previously Upgraded or Cross Graded Licenses:

Autodesk allows customers to upgrade certain software licenses to current versions as well as cross grade their software to more highly functional versions. In these cases, the old license is “traded in” for a newer or more functional version. Usage of the old license must cease & the old license must be uninstalled per the guidelines in the applicable Autodesk Software License Agreement. Installation beyond the timelines set forth in the applicable Software License Agreement is not permitted. License compliance problems can arise after an upgrade & cross-grade transactions if software assets are not managed to the terms of the Software License Agreement. In this scenario, computers with previously upgraded or cross-graded licenses continue to exist in customer environments & allow for more than the permitted amount of licenses to be available for use. Since more than the entitled amounts of software licenses are available for use, compliance resolution for this condition is a purchase of like licenses to alleviate the over installation.

Use of Licenses Registered to Another Company or Organisation:

Autodesk’s software licenses are not transferable without the consent of Autodesk. That means that Autodesk software licenses may not be used in a company or organisation that were purchased by & registered to another company. However, there are certain exceptions in the event of corporate activities, such as a merger, acquisition or divestiture, among others. Autodesk’s consent to a transfer of the license under these circumstances is required, & other conditions may apply. In the event that licenses are found in the audit that was purchased by & registered to another entity, further information must be provided to Autodesk to determine if a transfer of the license is applicable. If a transfer of license does not apply, the license must be replaced with the purchase of a similar license. Only the legal entity should be purchasing licenses for use by that entity (unless Premium Plan is in place which allows licenses to be purchased centrally). Autodesk classify non-compliance as occurring when the licenses are used by a company, or companies, other than the legal entity to which they belong.

Use of Licenses Outside of Territory of Purchase:

Autodesk licenses are granted for use in the country in which they were acquired. Licenses used outside of the country of purchase are noncompliant. This compliance condition exists when licenses are transferred to different out–of-country sites or served via network to other countries. The compliance condition can potentially be cured through the purchase of additional licenses in the required country, following the proper country-to-country transfer policy as set forth by Autodesk or entering into a Global Network Usage License agreement with Autodesk

Use of Evaluation Software Beyond Software License Agreement Terms:

Under certain circumstances, Autodesk provides evaluation copies of its software for customers in the form of “not for sale” (NFS) or “not for resale” (NFR). The terms of these licenses prohibit commercial, for profit, or professional use & the software may not be installed beyond 30 days unless otherwise specified by Autodesk in writing. Installation or use of these licenses as previously described is considered noncompliant. Purchase of like licenses to replace the NFR / NFS licenses is the acceptable resolution to the issue

Autodesk License Compliance:

Maintaining software license compliance is the sole responsibility of our customers regardless of whether we have been asked or contracted to deploy Autodesk Licenses. This is an express term of doing business with the Diatec Group.

Client Responsibilities:

▪ Please note, clients are responsible for the management side of all Autodesk software. This includes the un-installation of Autodesk software from computers that are upgraded/ decommissioned or moved to another user or department.

▪ Clients are also responsible for removing software that they are no longer entitled to use. See https://diatec.ie/terms-conditions/autodesk-licence-compliance & https://www.autodesk.eu/genuine/frequently-asked-questions

Our priority is our customers & to ensure that they understand what is best practice for license compliance.

Get in touch with us if you have any questions - autodesk@diatec.ie - be proactive & don’t wait for Autodesk license compliance to get in touch.

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