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.

Asta 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 Asta Powerproject.

The licence from the pool is allocated to that end user until they fully close Asta 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 Asta 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 Asta Powerproject. This is so Asta 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 Asta 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 Asta Powerproject.

You can also distribute cloud concurrent licensing through registry keys via group policy, which would mean your end users Asta 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 Asta Powerproject perpetual licences to employees on company hardware. This would ensure that Asta 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 Asta 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 Asta 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, Asta 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 Asta 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 Asta 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 Asta 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.