IT Asset Management

I have used it at multiple companies. Primarily, we use the tool to ensure that we're compliant with all the vendors. The particular company I’m working for now is just for IBM. There are other team members who handle other manufacturers. Flexera One  is great. It helps us keep an eye on our compliance. When we're audited, Flexera One 's reports have been approved by IBM. We don't have to use ILMT, so it's been very helpful.

I like the way that Flexera connects our contracts to our purchases. It gives us the flexibility when creating the license records for each of the applications. I also appreciate the reporting features that it has. 

Flexera includes what I call canned reports, straight out of the box, but they also offer flexibility in creating custom reports. This allows us to provide management or whomever with more detailed information. 

The mainframe need improvement. Flexera One does not have an agent for it, so it can't report on mainframe usage. Several people have suggested it as an improvement. One feature I would like to see in the tool is the ability to handle everything in one place. If not, it is what it is.

I have used the solution for 12 to 13 years.

I would give stability a good nine out of ten. The stability of the cloud version, which is what I'm currently using, is almost always reliable. Occasionally, there will be a problem when they push out an upgrade, and we aren't able to reconcile the databases every day. However, it usually resolves within a day once they identify and fix the problem.

I have used customer service in the past; not in my current role. I would rate it a nine out of ten. This was back when I used the on-premise product, and they were prompt in getting back to us. Most of the correspondence was via email, which was okay. 

Occasionally, a call would have to be set up if they weren't understanding what was going on. Most of the support I dealt with at the time was in England, so we had to have calls in the morning. That was the only inconvenience.

Positive

I have used other solutions. HP Service Desk had a product, and there was another one that I used minimally. The other one is pretty big right now, or it used to be Snow, but then Flexera took over.

How easy or hard the implementation depends on the setup. If you have it set up on-premise, it's complex and takes weeks to get everything ready. Flexera One, which is the cloud version, has a minimal setup.

You need to have some IT infrastructure at the server levels because we have to work with Flexera for all the connections. This includes integrating with SMS or SCCM, or whatever you call it, and any other reporting pieces you want the Flexera One tool to include.

The setup cost has changed a lot over the years, and I have not been involved with the pricing for six years. In the beginning, when I first became involved with it, I thought some of the pricing was a bit high. They've restructured how it's licensed, making it more fair.

I recommend it highly. It's the best thing I've seen, so I give it a ten out of ten.

There are no valuable features that the product can provide, owing to which my company plans to move to ServiceNow or SAM Pro.

The hardware and connectors in the product have certain shortcomings where improvements are required. FlexNet Manager's connectors are not that good, especially when compared to what Flexera provides its users in general. ServiceNow and SAM Pro's dashboards are very good compared to what FlexNet Manager offers.

With FlexNet Manager, it would have been good if its hardware and connectors were as good as ServiceNow and SAM Pro. ServiceNow and SAM Pro also serve as a CMDB. FlexNet Manager fails to serve as a CMDB, making it an area where improvements are required.

I have been using FlexNet Manager for a year and a half.

It is a stable solution.

From my experience with large vendors like IBM or Oracle, I can say that ServiceNow and SAM Pro offer good data collectors compared to what FlexNet Manager offers. FlexNet Manager doesn't provide accurate data to its users, owing to which you may have to deal with a lot of false positives. The aforementioned issues don't occur in FlexNet Manager.

Around 100 to 200 people in my company use the product.

People from Flexera should be involved in the installation process of FlexNet Manager. The updates in the product should be managed by someone from Flexera's team. SAM Pro offers features that allow for auto updates, making it a very easy process compared to FlexNet Manager.

The solution is deployed on the cloud.

Based on the enterprise-level packages that my company purchases, I can say that from a price perspective, you can go for FlexNet Manager if you have a very small environment. ServiceNow is better if you have a large environment with a huge number of users.

I only deal with the user side of the product and guide the people in my company on how to work with the tool.

Instead of FlexNet Manager, I would suggest others use SAM Pro, especially those who have ServiceNow deployed in their environment. After a year or two, if you gain good knowledge about SAM Pro. With FlexNet Manager, you may worry about whether the data that you have will get corrupted or not. With SAM Pro, the chances of the data getting corrupted are very low.

Since the tool does work, I rate the overall tool a six or seven out of ten.

During my tenure from 2018 to 2022 with Intel, my primary client was a global network with a significant presence in Europe, particularly Germany. I provided services using Flexera's FlexNet Manager, focusing on software asset management for them. From 2021 to 2023, while working with Process Inc., I continued to offer SAM services, utilizing Flexera's solutions, this time for VMware CRX.

The best thing about FlexNet Manager for my clients is its strong grip on managing licenses and ensuring they stick to their contracts. It helps me keep an eye on what licenses they own versus what they are using. This feature is like a compliance superhero, letting us know if everything's on track or if there are any issues. Knowing this helps us keep the software game in check, making sure they use what they have without overspending. FlexNet makes it easy to stay compliant and cost-effective.

One area that could use improvement is the deployment of Flexera agents. While I haven't personally handled the technical aspects of implementation, coordinating with service providers revealed instances where agents were either missing or corrupt on certain systems. This led to gaps in inventory, making it challenging to monitor compliance and inventory status accurately. Having a smoother and more foolproof agent deployment process would be a valuable enhancement for a seamless experience in managing software assets with FlexNet. Additionally, a key improvement I would like to see in the next release is more timely updates to the application recognition library. The process of creating or updating ARLs ourselves was a bit cumbersome, and having a more proactive approach from Flexera in this regard would be beneficial. Additionally, I believe Flexera could enhance its offering by introducing features related to IT service management. While they excel in IT asset management, integrating more ITSM functionalities directly into FlexNet could provide a more comprehensive solution, similar to platforms like ServiceNow. This could open up new opportunities and make FlexNet an even more valuable tool for organizations.

I have been working with FlexNet Manager for over five years.

I would rate the stability as a nine out of ten.

It is highly scalable. I would rate the scalability as a nine out of ten. Most of the clients using FlexNet Manager are large enterprises, and the solution is more prevalent in markets like Europe and the US due to its higher cost.

I would rate the technical support as a seven out of ten.

Neutral

I would rate the easiness of the initial setup as a nine out of ten. Deploying FlexNet Manager on-premises can take varying times based on factors like the number of systems. Setting up servers and deploying agents to each system determines the project duration. In contrast, Flexera's hosted solution is quicker as everything is managed by Flexera, requiring only remote agent deployment. However, based on customer feedback, the hosted option is still considered maturing compared to the on-premises alternative.

In the Indian market, only a few companies have adopted Flexera, mainly because of its expense. Cost is a significant consideration, but in terms of software asset management effectiveness, Flexera stands out as a top choice, surpassing other tools in my experience. I would give it a nine out of ten in terms of costliness.

For anyone seeking a top-notch software asset management tool with a focus on license and contract management, I would recommend FlexNet Manager. It is particularly suitable for those with dedicated budgets and an interest in exploring advanced functionalities. While it excels in comparison to tools like Snow Licence Manager, SmartTrack, or ServiceNow, the key consideration is pricing. If budget constraints aren't a major hurdle, FlexNet Manager stands out as a go-to solution. Overall, I would rate it as an eight out of ten.

I have a love-hate relationship with this solution. There are things I absolutely love about it and things that I would change if it were in my control. But, it's reliable for our needs and It's best in class. We did a POC on another product and that’s when I realized how good I had it with FlexNet when we compared it to Eracent.

Using the backend SQL DB, I've been able to provide BI and reporting that no other system can offer to the environment.

The most valuable feature is the ARL (Application Recognition Library) and the depth of thought that was put into how the licenses and contracts all come together. So it has a really great licensing module, and they're constantly keeping up with the newest trends.

There is room for improvement in the purchasing module. There are things I would change in that. Also, the automation components, like having the contracts, scheduling, and notifications embedded into the application, which they've been promising to do since 2014.

There are some key things in there that make it clunkier than it should be. But overall, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

Moreover, in additional features, I would like to see the reporting change. Eliminate Cognos  and create a dynamic front end that allows for straight SQL queries, to get a more flexible and richer reporting module - especially for the Cloud version, FlexNet One; without having access to the SQL database for reporting, it makes it prohibitive. 

I’ve been using FlexNet Manager Suite  since 2014 and have watched it improve and mature. We currently use version 2020 R2.

I would rate stability a ten out of ten.

I would rate scalability an eight out of ten.

The support depends on who you get.

Positive

It's a very complex program to deploy. There's no agent install method, other than adoption to upgrade the agent once it is already installed. 

If I went back to Eracent, it had an amazing discovery and inventory capabilities but it is not a string SAM  tool. It reminds me of Altiris that way - very strong on inventory but weak on SAM .

My ideal solution would have the inventory and reporting of Altiris and the SAM structure of FlexNet. 

There is a good ROI.

We got a deal long ago, only in maintenance mode. It's pricey for maintenance, but it's worth it. You get what you pay for.

I have extensive experience with FlexNet and Alteryx . And some ServiceNow  too.

Don't think of this as an out-of-the-box solution because no ITAM  tool is an out-of-the-box solution. You have to make it work for your environment.

Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. There is still room for improvement.