Summary: “RLM offers a number of sophisticated solutions for implementing licensing strategies, and we have certainly not used all of the power of RLM. For us a key requirement was reliability and ensuring a painless experience for our end-users when having to deal with license issues. Previously, licensing was at times an obstacle to use and installation of our software. Since we made our switch to RLM things are much smoother and most importantly without pain for our end customers.”
About StreamSim:
Streamsim Technologies is a leading provider of high-end, reservoir flow simulation software based to the oil and gas industry. Companies use our products to manage and optimize oil & gas production from mature fields, specifically fields that are being produced with the aid of water and/or gas injection. Given the global nature of the industry, Streamsim supports customers all over the world.
The Switch to RLM
Streamsim’s move to RLM came in 2006, just as Reprise was launching its first version of RLM and we were facing and strong price increase from our previous supplier (SentinelLM). Two things were immediately apparent to us: a) Reprise came across as a small, nimble company that was going to support us anyway they could, and b) their pricing seemed reasonable and well tailored to a company like ours. The fact that they were the founding group were also the original architects of FlexLM was an added bonus. After some due diligence, we decided to switch.
We now have two products that are protected by RLM. The first is a numerical engine (3DSL) that has 5 modules that can be turned on & off and that run under Windows and Linux 32/64 bit environments. The second is a pure Java application based on the NetBeans platform that houses a number of options for allowing engineers to interpret results and make decisions based on results of 3DSL. RLM is our main way to turn options on and off, offering our clients an a-la-carte menu of choices.
Vital Features
Our clients have repeatedly demand three licensing features, all of which are extremely well served by RLM. The first is the ability to install network licenses that can be checked out by any engineer in the company and that are visible across the entire company network. The second is the ability to check-out/check-in roaming licenses onto laptops when engineers are off the network. And the third is the traditional standalone license. The ease of installation of the RLM server and its interface via a Web browser has resonated extremely well with our clients. In turn that reflects well on us. Recently, Reprise has added the ability to have a server that is platform independent, meaning that while we only support Windows/Linux a client can install a server on a different platform and our daemon will work there as well. That has given us flexibility and choice to our end-customers.
End User Acceptance and Support
There is always some pain involved when switching to a new licensing strategy and platform, and it did take us a bit longer than expected to get things right. However, the benefits have been dramatic. We receive next to no support calls for license issues or problems and our customers have extremely reliable access to our software on their networks. This allows us to concentrate on technical support of our own software as well focus on enhancing features important to our clients rather than having to field license support issues.
The odd times we do face an issue or are trying a new licensing strategy, Reprise has been extremely responsive and it is unusual if we don’t hear back within hours of email inquiry. Support has been prompt, reliable, and helpful.
Summary
RLM offers a number of sophisticated solutions for implementing licensing strategies, and we have certainly not used all of the power of RLM. For us a key requirement was reliability and ensuring a painless experience for our end-users when having to deal with license issues. Previously, licensing was at times an obstacle to use and installation of our software. Since we made our switch to RLM things are much smoother and most importantly without pain for our end customers.