FlexNet Manager Suite Leverages Microsoft System...

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FlexNet Manager Suite Leverages Microsoft System Center to Deliver Next Generat ion Software Asset ManagementExecutive SummaryFlexera Software boasts a long history of partnering with Microsoft to deliver solut ions that add value to Microsoft products such as Microsoft System Center Configurat ion Manager (SCCM), Windows 7, App-V, MDOP, Visual Studio, etc. Flexera Software’s flagship InstallShield and AdminStudio product lines are essent ial tools in the tool belts of Systems Center administrators. Flexera Software’s

FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises provides next generat ion Software Asset Management (SAM) and license optimization capabilit ies that also complement Microsoft solut ions. This paper provides an introduct ion to best pract ice software asset management using FlexNet Manager Suite and illustrates the value-add for Microsoft and its customers.

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Enterprise LicenseOptimization

ApplicationReadiness

Software LicenseManagement and

License Compliance

A Single Solut ion for MSI Packaging, App-V,

and Windows 7 Migrat ions

Software LicenseManagement and

License Compliance

Rat ionalize Value ofEnterprise Agreement

A Single Solut ion for MSI Packaging, App-V,

and Windows 7 Migrat ions

Speed Adopt ion of Windows 7/8, App-V, IE 8/9

Identify

Rationalize

Assess Compatibility

Plan

Fix & Package

Deploy

Discovery, Inventory &Usage Tracking

Purchased vs. InstalledReconciliation

Chargeback, License Reharvesting

Optimize License Consumption via Entitlements

Forecast Future Needs

Monetize BusinessRelevance of SCCM

Wor

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Leverage Flexera Software and SCCM to Manage the Full Lifecycle of the Enterprise Software Estate

FlexNet Manager Suite Leverages Microsoft System Center to Deliver Next Generat ion Software Asset Management

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Effect ive Software Asset Management (SAM) provides organizations with many tangible benefits including reduced risk of unbudgeted expenses for software license non-compliance, contract opt imization, and “right sizing” IT software spend. An effect ive SAM pract ice within customer environments also great ly benefits their software providers such as Microsoft. With the knowledge that customers are accurately managing their software port folio and continuously maintaining license compliance, Microsoft can trust the true-up process, avoid unlicensed software installat ions, avoid use rights violat ions, ensure the proper contractual agreement level, and ult imately drive more revenue.

Given that software applicat ions comprise over 30% of the typical IT budget, organizations are anxious to track these expenses, reduce their software costs, and eliminate risk in their software port folio. Microsoft customers want to be in compliance, but in today’s world of complex license models and product use rights, organizations encounter significant challenges in understanding their license posit ion and achieving cont inuous compliance. Flexera Software’s FlexNet Manager Suite provides a comprehensive and robust solut ion to automatically reconcile licenses across the organization.

Flexera Software’s next generat ion software asset management and license optimization solut ion leverages Microsoft SCCM as a foundational component for enterprise

device inventory, applicat ion usage data, and configurat ion management. Building on Microsoft SCCM’s discovery and inventory capabilit ies, Flexera Software’s products provide reconciliat ion of information from mult iple data sources—Microsoft SCCM, Contracts, HR, Purchasing—to provide an optimized license posit ion in accordance with the vendor product use rights that apply to a given software t it le. FlexNet Manager Suite produces act ionable data for (i) vendor negotiat ions—avoid over-buying and under-buying licenses; (2) annual Enterprise Agreement true-ups; and (3) ongoing license compliance.

Enabling Applicat ion Lifecycles with SCCMUnlike the fairly simple lifecycle of hardware assets, software asset management involves a complex lifecycle in the organization. Applicat ions:

• Must be packaged and deployed• Can become shelfware• Can be upgraded or migrated to new platforms • Come with product use rights that govern installat ion

and usage • Have ongoing costs associated with maintenance and

support

Applicat ions follow two dist inct lifecycles within the organization: the operat ional lifecycle and the contractual/governance lifecycle. Microsoft SCCM is central to both the operat ional and contractual applicat ion lifecycles and forms the foundation for successful applicat ion management.

Applicat ion Operat ional

Lifecycle

Applicat ion Contractual

Lifecycle

ContractPackage

Test

Deploy

Manage

Upgrade/Migrate

Procure

Upgrade

Reconcile

Maintenance

True-Up


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On the operat ional side, applicat ions must be packaged, tested, distributed to the proper users, inventoried, and managed for high availability. As applicat ions move through their lifecycle, the computing environment is constant ly changing. Legacy applicat ions need to be migrated to ensure compatibility with new operat ing systems and technologies such as Windows 7, 64-bit, Internet Explorer 8/9, Office upgrades, etc. Newer technologies such as App-V emerge requiring applicat ions to be re-packaged and re-deployed under different formats. Flexera Software delivers solut ions to automate packaging for deployment through Microsoft SCCM and automates the adoption of Windows 7 and App-V with our Applicat ion Readiness product line. Using AdminStudio, organizations are able to adopt Windows 7 and App-V faster and more cost effect ively. AdminStudio also enables organizations to realize the full value of Microsoft SCCM by providing a fast and flexible packaging solut ion for all applicat ions in the organization.

At the same t ime that applicat ions are progressing through their operat ional lifespan, the procurement arm of the organization is managing the contractual or financial lifecycle of the software estate. The contractual lifecycle includes price negotiat ions, select ion of the most efficient procurement channel, agreement on terms of Master License Agreements and other contracts, procurement, organizational chargeback, true-ups and renewals, license reconciliat ion, vendor management, and ongoing maintenance payments.

Most important ly, both the operat ional and financial roles within an organization have an obligat ion to ensure

contractual compliance, eliminate under-buying, and avoid over-buying.

Flexera Software’s FlexNet Manager Suite automates the software asset management funct ion and optimizes ongoing software spend throughout the contractual lifecycle of the software estate. FlexNet Manager Suite leverages Microsoft SCCM as the basis of the SAM process and provides detailed license consumption reports based on the actual license model or license metric.

Flexera Software is the only organization that provides solut ions for both the operat ional and financial asset management lifecycles of applicat ions and seamlessly integrates with Microsoft SCCM. Microsoft SCCM is the intersect ion of Flexera Software’s enabling solut ions including AdminStudio and FlexNet Manager Suite. Flexera Software works with Microsoft SCCM customers to drive cost savings, eliminate risk, and effect ively manage the software port folio. With AdminStudio and FlexNet Manager Suite, Flexera Software moves organizations from a state of SAM chaos to a state of control.

Expanding the Community of SCCM StakeholdersEffect ive SAM encompasses several areas of the enterprise including Purchasing, Finance, Operat ions, Legal, and Governance. Information pert inent to software licenses in most organizations is silo-ed from both a technology and process perspect ive. The Purchasing, Contracts/legal, internal Governance, and Operat ional IT groups typically do not have the technologies or processes in place to share crit ical information about software purchases, installat ions and license ent it lements.

Best Pract ice SAM

Purchasing IT Operat ions Legal Internal Audit

Software Asset Management

The purchasing department is responsible for purchasing the business applicat ions the company needs to achieve maximum product ivity. The IT department is responsible for delivery and ongoing support of business applicat ions. The legal or contract management department is responsible for protect ing the company’s best interest when negotiat ing contracts with software providers. The internal audit department or corporate governance

committee is responsible for ensuring the company is fiscally responsible and safe from lit igat ion and fines related to non-compliance issues.

These groups all play key roles in the software asset management lifecycle. Each department is accountable for maintaining license compliance, but has no method to collaborate. FlexNet Manager Suite provides the


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collaborat ion technology for these groups to share crit ical information, align licensing intelligence, and implement effect ive SAM.

Although some SAM solut ions provide “add-on packs” to Microsoft System Center for the purposes of asset management, business users who negotiate software contracts are not typical users of Microsoft SCCM. Therefore, the visibility and accountability into the success of Microsoft SCCM within the environment is limited to

IT Operat ions. FlexNet Manager Suite provides the best of both worlds – deep, out-of-the-box Microsoft SCCM integrat ion with a business portal tailored to the needs of the financial and procurement community. By delivering business information to business users in a financially-oriented web-interface, Flexera Software is able to expand the community of stakeholders with a vested interest in ensuring the successful rollout and expansion of Microsoft SCCM within the organization.

FlexNet Manager Suite customers typically realize 8-27% savings on their overall software spend after implementing FlexNet Manager Suite. It reduces risk and enables organizations to optimize their ent ire software port folio. With these tangible benefits, business users become champions and drive execut ive sponsorship for the success of Microsoft SCCM. FlexNet Manager Suite protects an organization’s investment in Microsoft SCCM by making it an integral integrat ion point for the strategic business funct ion of SAM.

Managing Complex License ModelsThe major challenge for organizations in implementing a SAM solut ion is the pure complexity of licensing. Most organizations own thousands of applicat ions provided by hundreds of software publishers. Each software publisher typically has five or more different license metrics to calculate the license consumption for their products. Without a solut ion to automatically calculate license posit ion, it becomes impossible for organizations to manage their ent ire software port folio.


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Each of the categories presents unique license management challenges. In the desktop environment, organizations have limited visibility and control over installat ions, increasing the amount of risk. The datacenter environment is highly virtualized, heterogeneous, and is comprised of expensive applicat ions adding to the pre-exist ing challenges of accurate consumption calculat ions for complex license models. Expensive concurrent licenses are typically assigned to the organization’s valued knowledge workers, so finding the optimal license count and applicat ion mix is crit ical to prevent ing product ivity loss while avoiding overspend. Enterprise Applicat ions are crit ical and strategic to the organization, but licenses are frequent ly over-bought and under-deployed. In today’s world of M&A, outsourcing, and divest itures, licenses based on company attributes such as number of employees need to be negotiated and managed carefully as well.

An enterprise-caliber SAM solut ion must meet the sophist icated license management needs and challenges across all licensing categories. However, most SAM solut ions in the market only support the simpler desktop licensing scenarios. Desktop-only license solut ions are less strategic and do not reconcile licenses for the most expensive applicat ions within the organization thereby limit ing their ability to meet an organization’s true SAM business needs.

FlexNet Manager Suite provides customers with the ability to ensure compliance with all of their software vendors, including Microsoft. For Microsoft, whose products span mult iple categories of license metrics, implementing FlexNet Manager Suite enables Microsoft’s customers to deliver the business outcomes of transparency and accuracy in licensing. Customers will be able to see the full breadth of their Microsoft relat ionship and stay in cont inuous compliance. With FlexNet Manager Suite, organizations are immediately and continuously aware of necessary Microsoft software purchases and can true-up based on accurate numbers. Ult imately, FlexNet Manager Suite drives more software revenue for Microsoft products within enterprise environments.

Licensing generally falls into five broad categories of license models – Desktop, Datacenter, Concurrent, Enterprise Applicat ions, and Company Metrics licensing. Each

licensing category has mult iple license metrics, varied levels of risk, cost, and remediat ion techniques.

Service Provider License Agreements (SPLA)

In addit ion to helping enterprises stay in compliance, Flexera Software also provides solut ions to large service providers to accurately calculate SPLA fees for hosted software and services. FlexNet Manager Suite provides a SPLA license model and calculates monthly SPLA usage based on user access to hosted server farms. The SPLA licensing capability within FlexNet Manager Suite enables Microsoft to easily capture revenue from service providers.

Desktop Licensing

Example LicenseMetrics

Example Applicat ions

Risk of Non-Compliance

Potent ial CostSavings

License MgmtTechniques

Datacenter Licensing Concurrent Licensing Enterprise Applicat ionsLicensing

Company MetricsLicensing

Per-DevicePer-User

Named UserOEM

Microsoft VisioMicrosoft Office

Adobe Professional

High

Medium

Recycle, ReharvestApply Ent it lements

Per-ProcessorPer-CoreTiered

Processor Value Units

Microsoft SQL ServerWindows Server

Symantec Veritas Line

High

High

Apply Ent it lements,Rearchitect, Outsource

NetworkConcurrent Use

AutodeskCadenceBent ley

Low

High

Track Usage, Optimize License

Counts, Remix, Lease

ProfessionalDeveloperEmployee

ERPCRMSFA

Medium

High

License parking,Accurate UserAssignment

Company RevenueProduct Revenue

Number of Employees

Microsoft ExchangeCAL

Flexera Software InstallShield

Low

Low

Renegotiate

Amount of Software Spend

FlexNet Manager Suite


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Product Use RightsIn addit ion to verifying purchased versus consumed, companies must also ensure they are in compliance with license ent it lements, such as Product Use Rights (PUR). Most software vendors believe they lose more revenue

from violat ion of Product Use Rights than by software piracy itself.

Product Use Rights are extremely complex across all licensing categories:

Desktop Licensing

Example LicenseMetrics

ExampleProduct

Use Rights

Datacenter Licensing Concurrent Licensing Enterprise Applicat ionsLicensing

Company MetricsLicensing

Per-DevicePer-User

Named UserOEM

Downgrade, Upgrade,Mult iple Installat ion,

Secondary Use,“90 Day” Rules,Transferability

Per-ProcessorPer-CoreTiered

Processor Value Units

License Mobility,Virtualizat ion Rules,

Clustering Rights,Hot/Cold Backup Use,

Disaster Recovery,Installat ions,

Product ion vs.Non-Product ion Rules,Plat form Restrict ions

NetworkConcurrent Use

Geography or Site Usage,

Overdraft Rights, Feature/Product

Bundle Use, Virtualizat ion Rights,

Named UserRecycling Rules

ProfessionalDeveloperEmployee

Transact ion TypeRestrict ions,

Upgrade Categories,License LevelRemix Rights,

Role Restrict ions,License Parking Rights

Company RevenueProduct Revenue

Number of Employees

Merger, Divest iture,and Subsidiary

Language, Average vs.Watermark,Calculat ions,Employee vs.

Contractor Usage

Product Use Rights may also differ across agreement levels, for example, customers on Microsoft’s Software Assurance program often enjoy expanded Product Use Rights. Product Use Rights in the datacenter licensing category are especially daunting. These include: number of virtual servers allowed per edit ion, license consumption rules for cold backup or disaster recovery (DR) servers, license rules for non-product ion servers, provisions for mult iple-node act ive/passive cluster servers under single licenses, etc. The intricacies of datacenter Product Use Rights compound the complexity of capacity-based license models (e.g. processor, core license metrics).

As a simple example, to accurately calculate a license posit ion for Microsoft SQL Server, below are just a few of the quest ions that need to be answered:

– How many SQL Server ent it lements do we own?

– Edit ion of each ent it lement?

– How many ent it lements are CAL-based and number of CALs?

– How many ent it lements are processor-based and number of processors for each?

– Where is SQL Server installed?

– Edit ion of each installat ion?

– Is there a corresponding ent it lement match for each installat ion?

– Is the installat ion/entit lement covered by downgrade/upgrade rights?

– Number of processors on the host ing machine of each installat ion?

– Number of CALs required by the host ing machine of each installat ion?

– Is the installat ion on a virtual machine?

– Number of processors dedicated to the virtual machine?

– Virtual machine rules per the edit ion and agreement?

– Role of the machine where installed?

– Are the ent it lements covered under Software Assurance (SA)?

– If under SA, does “cold backup” use right apply?

FlexNet Manager Suite provides the needed automation to arrive at the accurate license posit ion for Microsoft SQL Server and thousands of other products. The probability that Microsoft customers can arrive at an accurate license posit ion without an automated solut ion that incorporates Product Use Rights is low. FlexNet Manager Suite is the only SAM solut ion that calculates license compliance according to actual Product Use Rights and agreement levels.

License Mobility Product Use Right

In July 2011, Microsoft will launch a License Mobility Product Use Right enabling enterprises on current Software Assurance to move licenses for specific products to off-premise cloud or service providers. Only FlexNet Manager Suite incorporates this product use right into compliance calculat ions and tracks the off-premise consumption of licenses. FlexNet Manager Suite provides the transparency Microsoft requires to enforce the License Mobility product use right.


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FlexNet Manager Suite OverviewFlexNet Manager Suite is a next generat ion Software Asset Management (SAM) and license optimization solut ion that allows organizations to effect ively manage software assets throughout their lifecycle. FlexNet Manager Suite provides out-of-the-box integrat ion to Microsoft SCCM to import software and hardware inventory details. FlexNet Manager Suite also gives license administrators the ability to turn applicat ion usage collect ion on and off based on licensing events and dates. FlexNet Manager Plat form, the core software asset management foundation of the Suite, is built on Microsoft technologies including Microsoft Server, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft IIS.

FlexNet Manager Suite delivers unprecedented levels of automation for management of software assets within the organization, producing the highest possible return on investment (ROI). With FlexNet Manager Suite, organizations optimize applicat ion spend and eliminate under-spending scenarios. The FlexNet Manager Suite solut ion manages software recycling, re-harvest ing, software allocat ion analysis, cost center chargeback, license compliance remediat ion, optimized software procurement, and optimized maintenance renewals.

With FlexNet Manager Suite, organizations achieve:

1. Accurate, Automated License Reconciliat ion FlexNet Manager Suite automatically compares purchased versus consumed licenses (i.e. the software balance sheet). License consumption is calculated according to the appropriate license metric or license model (per processor, per user, etc). Understanding the number of available licenses is a crucial decision point in the procurement process and enables organizations to reduce risk of non-compliance.

2. Audit and True-up Preparedness Without an automated solut ion, software audits and true-up processes become large projects for the enterprise result ing in stat ic data that cannot be leveraged for ongoing decision making. FlexNet Manager Suite enables organizations to be cont inuously compliant, ready for software audits, and builds confidence in the accuracy of the true-up process. For Microsoft, the benefits of customer compliancy results in increased revenue and cost savings from audit prevent ion.

3. An Optimized License Posit ion FlexNet Manager Suite provides a Product Use

Rights library to apply the use rights and accurately count licenses consumed by applying upgrade/downgrade rights, secondary use rights, mult iple use rights, machine roles, virtualizat ion rights, etc. FlexNet Manager Suite also provides a SKU library to accurately ident ify ent it lements based on the purchase agreement and other factors. Flexera Software understands that license management is much more complex than simply count ing the number of installat ions in the environment.

4. Software Identificat ion and Rationalizat ion in preparation for Windows 7 and App-V migrat ions As organizations rapidly adopt Windows 7 and App-V, they rat ionalize the software port folio and eliminate duplicate applicat ions. FlexNet Manager Suite provides valuable reports that ident ify the applicat ions which should be migrated to Windows 7 or App-V based on licensing rights and actual usage in the environment. This enables organizations to move to Windows 7 faster and more efficient ly. Combined with the Flexera Software Applicat ion Readiness solut ions, no company does more to propel Microsoft Windows 7 and App-V adoptions than Flexera Software.


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Key funct ionality provided by the FlexNet Manager Suite Enterprise License Optimization solut ion includes:

• Reconciles ent it lements to installat ions based on complex license models

• Supports desktop, datacenter, concurrent, enterprise applicat ion, and business metrics licensing models

• Provides an Applicat ion Recognit ion Library to translate raw inventory data into commercially-off-the-shelf software t it les, versions and edit ions

• Leverages Microsoft SCCM inventory

• Ability to integrate into purchasing system to import software purchasing data

• Provides a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) library to normalize software purchase data and automatically map it to installat ions

• Correct ly applies Product Use Rights and Ent it lement information to calculate an accurate license posit ion

• Robust contract management funct ionality including the ability to track and alert based on terms and condit ions

• Provides Microsoft agreement wizards for Enterprise, Select/Select Plus, Open, and Software Assurance agreements. Integrates contractual, ent it lement, and inventory data based on agreement terms

• Tracks software maintenance payments

• Provides License Breach and under-buying reports to reduce unbudgeted true-up risk

FlexNet Manager Suite seamlessly integrates with Microsoft SCCM, purchasing systems, HR data, Act ive Directory, and service desks to provide hardware and software asset management for the enterprise.

Reports & Alerts • Asset Reports • License Compliance • Entit lement Management • Savings

Agent & Agent-less Discovery for Windows, UNIX, Linux, MAC, VMs, etc.

POs & Contracts

Helpdesk/Service Catalog

Org/User Data

Data Feeds

ApplicationRecognition Library

SKU Library

Product UseRights Library

Optimization Engine

b

U

Workflow

Purchasing

HR

Active Directory

SoftwareCatalog

SCCMConfigurationManagement

Directory

Inventory

Usage

Flexera SoftwareFlexNet Manager

Suite

AsssetStatePO

Purchased

Reallocat ion/Ret ire Assets

Optimizat ion

• Vendors• Contracts• Maintenance• Installat ions• License Optimizat ion• Usage Tracking• True-ups• Audit Prep• Compliance State• Except ions

DeploySoftware

CoreCMBD

FederatedCMBD

Reports

LicenseAvailable?

ServiceManager


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FlexNet Manager Suite also provides reports that detail the “cost of compliance” for Microsoft True-ups and license breaches. With FlexNet Manager Suite, customers take the guess-work out of Microsoft licensing events and are cont inuously aware of Microsoft license liabilit ies due to under-buying or use rights violat ions.

ConclusionFlexNet Manager Suite provides complete and full integrat ion with Microsoft SCCM and other Microsoft technologies to deliver optimized license management for enterprises. FlexNet Manager Suite is a complementary solut ion that customers can use to manage their ent ire software port folio – from desktop to datacenter and concurrent licensing to ERP/CRM systems. Most SAM providers have a very limited desktop licensing focus and therefore do not meet the SAM business needs of enterprise organizations.

FlexNet Manager Suite provides these advantages to Microsoft and its customers:

• Protects client’s investment in Microsoft SCCM. Fully integrates with Microsoft SCCM to provide full contractual lifecycle management of software assets.

• FlexNet Manager Suite uses Microsoft SCCM as a foundational component of the SAM solut ion and extends the Microsoft SCCM value proposit ion.

• Introduces new execut ive sponsorship for Microsoft SCCM and creates business champions within the procurement, legal, and compliance groups. Increases the value of Microsoft SCCM to line of business execut ives.

• Calculates license consumption based on license models. For example, accurately report ing SQL Server license requirements.

• Leverages Microsoft Product Use Rights so both clients and Microsoft can feel comfortable that clients are using Microsoft applicat ions in compliance with terms and condit ions.

• Enables clients to accurately plan for new and future investments with Microsoft

• Shortens or eliminates Microsoft license reviews with clients

• Increases customers’ confidence in the negotiat ion process. Drives new sales and revenue.

• Transforms the Microsoft relat ionship to a strategic partnership with ult imate transparency and accuracy

• Helps clients validate and just ify investments in Enterprise Agreements and Software Assurance

About Flexera SoftwareFlexera Software is the leading provider of strategic solut ions for Applicat ion Usage Management; solut ions delivering cont inuous compliance, optimized usage and maximized value to applicat ion producers and their customers. Flexera Software is trusted by more than 80,000 customers that depend on our comprehensive solut ions- from installat ion and licensing, ent it lement and compliance management to applicat ion readiness and enterprise license optimization - to strategically manage applicat ion usage and achieve breakthrough results realized only through the systems-level approach we provide. Flexera Software is a privately-held company and an investment of private equity firm Thoma Bravo, LLC. For more information, please go to: www.flexerasoftware.com

http://www.flexerasoftware.com/products/installation.htm

http://www.flexerasoftware.com/products/software-licensing-entitlement-compliance.htm

http://www.flexerasoftware.com/products/software-licensing-entitlement-compliance.htm

http://www.flexerasoftware.com/products/application-readiness.htm

http://www.flexerasoftware.com/products/enterprise-license-optimization.htm

http://www.flexerasoftware.com/products/enterprise-license-optimization.htm


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Flexera Software, Inc.1000 East Woodfield Road, Suite 400Schaumburg, IL 60173 USA

Schaumburg (Global Headquarters)+1 800-809-5659

United Kingdom (Europe, Middle East Headquarters):+44 870-871-1111+44 870-873-6300

Japan (Asia, Pacific Headquarters):+81 3-4360-8291

For more office locations visit:www.flexerasoftware.com

© 2011 Flexera Software, Inc. and/or InstallShield Co. Inc. All other brand and product names ment ioned herein may be the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respect ive owners. FPS_WP_TenSteps_Jun11

http://www.flexerasoftware.com

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