By: Patrick Gunn, Flexera Software
This year almost two-thirds of UK companies intend to extend their current use of server virtualisation and about one-third of UK CIOs will start implementing some form of desktop virtualisation. This is according to the Citrix Virtualisation Index. While these numbers show a healthy rate of adoption of these technologies, there are areas of concern. Software licensing is the second biggest concern, behind security, for both server and desktop virtualisation, as revealed in the same Citrix survey. Software license management is complicated enough in the physical world due to complex license models, use rights and restrictions. With virtualisation, software license management becomes even more challenging—the virtual environment is more dynamic, and there are new rights and restrictions. What’s more, desktop virtualisation is inherently user-centric, while traditional software license models are device-based. This desktop virtualisation licensing issue has yet to be addressed by software publishers.
For those of you who are looking at rolling out desktop virtualisation, there are at least three potential license metrics that you could use for virtual desktop applications: pay-per-device (desktop, laptop, or thin client), pay-per-user authorised to access the application, or pay-per-user who actually uses the application. Under the standard Microsoft license model, enterprises still have to pay per computer that is used to access an application—meaning that every device that could be used for access must be licensed. However, it is in your interest to be able to pay per user that actually uses the application. After all, not everyone who has access may use a given application, and one of the benefits of desktop virtualisation is giving users the flexibility to access applications from any PC, not just their own. Software licensing should not be a hindrance, and organisations should demand alternative licensing approaches from software vendors.
A further complication with device-based virtual application licensing involves the situation where one version of the software is installed on endpoint devices and another version is installed on the application server. For example, if a desktop computer has a lower version than the one installed on the server, then a license for the server version is required for that desktop device when it is used to access the virtual application. Therefore, you need to carefully manage the reconciliation between local installations and software that can be accessed using the virtual desktop technology.
Using an enterprise license optimisation solution is perhaps the only reliable way to ensure compliance and minimise software costs in virtual environments. Also, the use of such a tool will provide you with leverage to negotiate the most economical licensing model with softwa

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 2:27 pm and is filed under Software Asset Management.