Cloud Concurrent Licensing FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Cloud concurrent licensing will be available from 1st June 2021. This licensing method is only supported on version 16, therefore new and existing customers will need version 16 to benefit.
If you are an existing customer looking to move your concurrent licences from Asta Licence Manager to Cloud, please contact support who will be able to schedule your migration.
Cloud concurrent licensing works in a similar way to single user cloud licensing introduced in version 15.0.02, released in the second half of 2020.
Powerproject is licensed using a serial number and product key. These serial numbers and product keys are distributed by us (Elecosoft) to you, the purchaser/ end user.
Once the end user inputs the serial number and product key at start-up our licensing system then links up the machine with your customer licence pool via the cloud. End users will require an internet connection to open Powerproject.
The licence from the pool is allocated to that end user until they fully close Powerproject on that machine, even if their internet connection drops out in the meantime. It will only be released back into the pool if the user closes Powerproject when they have an internet connection present, otherwise the licence will be retained until a connection is re-established.
Yes, you will need an internet connection to open Powerproject. This is so Powerproject can connect to the cloud and manage licence availability within your organisation.
You will also need an internet connection to successfully return the licence to the shared pool when closing Powerproject.
A customer licence pool contains the number of concurrent licences an organisation can utilise at any one time. The number of licences available within your customer pool will depend on the number of licences you have purchased.
Yes, simply contact our sales team at sales@elecosoft.com who will be able to add additional licences to your customer licence pool.
We (Elecosoft) will distribute to the purchaser the serial number and product key (the purchaser could be the end user, IT department etc.).
The end user will be prompted on start-up to input the serial number and key into Powerproject.
You can also distribute cloud concurrent licensing through registry keys via group policy, which would mean your end users Powerproject will be licensed without them needing to input anything on start-up.
This creates the connection with our licensing system. Licensing the machine is then controlled by our licensing system.
If the activation process fails, please add the following exception to your firewall to allow for communication with the licensing system: elecosoft.prod.sentinelcloud.com
If you believe your organisation’s licensing has been compromised, please contact Elecosoft Support who can action the following:
- Provide you, the customer, with a view of who is using a licence.
- Revoke and reissue new serial numbers and product keys which can then be distributed by the customer to their end users wholesale (Group Policy) or individually (e.g. email).
Our recommendation would always be to issue Powerproject perpetual licences to employees on company hardware. This would ensure that Powerproject licences and company property is returned prior to an employee leaving.
Similarly, if working with temporary staff we would also recommend not issuing them a permanent licence but instead consider issuing a subscription licence.
However, we appreciate employee schemes like Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) mean this is not always practical. Consequently, if you believe your company licence has been compromised, please contact Elecosoft Support who can revoke and reissue a new licence to you which in turn can be distributed to end users, without any downtime, through group policy or alternative channels to licence an end user.
If a user forgets to close Powerproject before going on leave, and thus doesn’t release their licence and this is preventing others from being able to use it, please contact Elecosoft Support who will be able to free the licence up.
Yes, the end user will be told when they are unable to consume a licence if the maximum user limit has been reached – this is made clear on start-up. In addition, if a user does not have an internet connection at start-up they will also be informed.
Yes, Elecosoft Support will be able to close the current licence and a replacement licence will be issued.
IT departments can distribute new licence information via group policy so existing users can continue to use an open session of Powerproject, but on restart the new licence will be picked up. This allows seamless movement from the compromised key to the newly created key. Alternatively, a new key could be sent by email to authorise users.
Not yet but self-service licence management is on our roadmap as an enhancement to release in the future.
Our licence system checks whether an end user has a valid licence when starting the application and thus an internet connection is required at that point.
The user releases back the licence when they close the application (if you close all projects and not the application this will not release the licence). To ‘hand back’ the licence, they will also need an internet connection.
If no connection is available when the application is closed, Powerproject caches the information and does the housekeeping on next start-up – i.e. cleans up existing licence sessions that were not able to be resolved.
If you need to licence Powerproject for have many end users your IT department can automate this process through group policy registry settings. This will mean the user does not need to enter any details on start-up.
User sessions are identified by machine name and username. An organisation can get a view of current licence usage by calling Elecosoft Support.
Yes – licences are per user, per machine, so can be used in a Citrix or equivalent setting. This means a licence will be consumed per Citrix session.
- ‘Anytime, anywhere’ licence access to any Powerproject user, providing you with a seamless, connected licensing experience.
- No setup required on the IT side to configure a licence server, reducing overheads and change management considerations.
- No need for end users to have a LAN or VPN connection to company servers in order to obtain Powerproject licences.
- No further need for registry settings making it easy to divide up licences giving users what they need.
- No need to loan or move licences from users moving between offices and home.
- No manual process to “book out” a licence when going offline or working on an unstable internet connect.
Questions | Asta Licence Manager (ALM) Concurrent Licensing | Cloud Concurrent Licensing |
Do we need to install any software to manage concurrent licences? | Yes. ALM needs to be installed on a server hosted by the customer as well as the Powerproject clients. | No local server installation is required. Just the Powerproject clients. |
Do end users need to maintain an active connection to a company server | Yes. To obtain a Powerproject licence, the end user must be able to see the server hosting the ALM, ideally via a LAN connection. | No – a licence can be obtained using a simple internet connection. |
How are the licence pool set up? | A licence code is sent to the customer to be added to the ALM. | A Serial Number and Product Key is provided to the customer for use by all end users connecting to their licence pool. |
When do licences get consumed? | A licence is consumed when the user opens a project. | A licence is consumed when the user opens Powerproject. |
When is a licence freed up? | The licence is released when a user closes the Powerproject client. | The licence is released when a user closes the Powerproject client, assuming there is an active internet connection. Otherwise, it is held by that user indefinitely until they start-up/shutdown with a connection. |
Can this licensing method be used on Virtual Machines? | Yes | Yes |
Can a customer see who is actively consuming their licences? | Yes, the ALM shows which machines are currently connected and consuming a licence. | No. Please contact Elecosoft Support for this detail. |
Can users work offline? | No. Regular access to the licence server is required throughout the use of the product. | Yes. However, an internet connection is required initially at start-up. |
Can people move/loan licences from the pool to specific users to work offline | Yes | No – but a licence will be kept on a machine if it has an internet connection when Powerproject is opened and subsequently goes offline without closing the application first. |
Can customers prevent a specific user from using a licence when they leave the company? | Not through the ALM, but the user/machine could be excluded from accessing the domain that hosts the ALM. | Please contact Elecosoft Support to revoke access. |
Is licensing sensitive to hardware changes? | Yes – certain hardware changes on the machine hosting the ALM may require licences to be recreated/reset. | No. |
Can customers manage their own licences? | The ALM provides functionality to see who is currently consuming a licence and how often “insufficient licence” messages are generated. | No. This is on the roadmap. |