[OPEN] How many devices do you use? How many at the same time?

[StanGoodell]

I am rewriting and reposting this question to focus our conversation a bit. I want to capture your real-world needs for one person using the same product on two or more different devices at exactly the same time.

As we make improvements to our licensing experience, I want to make sure we're actually improving it. Certainly, Autodesk desires to ensure our customers are getting the access they paid for and those that didn't pay are only getting what is intended to be free. 

If you’re familiar with Adobe, Microsoft Office, Netflix, Evernote, Spotify, Onshape, Apple Family Share and iCloud, or Google Drive then you may be familiar the device overuse features these companies present to their users. What do you like about them? What don’t you like? As Autodesk improves our own overuse features, what should we consider that these other companies may or may not be considering?

[StanGoodell]

As we make improvements to our licensing experience, I want to make sure we're actually improving it. Certainly, Autodesk desires to ensure our customers are getting the access they paid for and those that didn't pay are only getting what is intended to be free. 

If you’re familiar with Adobe, Microsoft Office, Netflix, Evernote, Spotify, Onshape, Apple Family Share and iCloud, or Google Drive then you may be familiar the device overuse features these companies present to their users. What do you like about them? What don’t you like? As Autodesk improves our own overuse features, what should we consider that these other companies may or may not be considering?

[AllenJessup]

I rarely use more than one device at a time. When I do. I don't have Autodesk software open on both.

[stephen.spikings]

In the past (when we had a network license) I have used 2 separate devices simultaneously - 1 for live work and 1 for batch processing. Whilst both could be in different sessions on the same PC, the batch processing typically jumps to the front now and then, interupting the other work so isn't practical. We have raised a case regarding this which confirmed that this is viewed as concurrent usage so no longer allowable under named user licensing i.e. less efficient staff usage and a set backward.

Other work involves test installs on one PC whilst working on another. Installation doesn't count as usage and so long as I switch from device to device when actually testing, this doesn't count as concurrent usage (another case). Again, this wasn't a concern under network licensing but now I need to make sure I don't accidently nudge the second mouse.

Our big concern is how many devices we use. We have an ongoing case regarding this and no one seems to be able to answer how devices are removed from the pool of 3. Device rebuilds, failures and reallocations don't seem to have been considered. There is also the question of shared devices in meeting rooms which, may not be an issue at the moment, will eventually need to be addressed. I already have 2 desktop PCs and 1 home PC so am already using my allowance.

Implementing network licensing on the cloud seems to be the obvious solution with dynamic allocation of licenses to suit workload rather than the manual, limited, assignment of to named users. Failing this, being able to allocate multiple licenses to a single user so they could have 3, 6 etc. devices would help or preferably a solution similar to Adobe's where devices can be added and removed.

[StanGoodell]

Thank you @stephen.spikings for your comments. I certainly appreciate these use cases and they are consistent with what I've seen the need being over the years.

I did not fully understand your comments regarding your concern related to how many devices you use. Is your concern based on a technical limitation you're experiencing or with the installation policy?

[stephen.spikings]

Hi Stan,

Our concern comes from the Subscription Types terms which state 'Your Authorized User may install Software on up to three (3) Electronic Devices'. Once you include an office and home desktop PC/laptop, devices in various meeting rooms, phones and tablets this allowance has been used up. If you also include that devices may be reallocated etc. and that there is no documented way that a device can be unassigned from a user it seems inevitable that the limit  will be exceeded eventually.

[AllenJessup]

@StanGoodell 

I think one thing that is a repeating question is after user 1 installs on 3 devices and then one device, say the work laptop, needs to be replaced. How do you modify your account to free up an install for user 1's new laptop?

[StanGoodell]

@stephen.spikings and @AllenJessup - thank you for this clarity. I understand the concern and your comments are helpful in the conversations I'm having regarding our current installation policy. For the time being, I would suggest that if the policy is followed, an obsoleted device is unlikely to reflect activity which is at the heart of the policy and one this topic is aimed at understanding better.

@stephen.spikings can you share a little more about how Autodesk software might be used on  "devices in various meeting rooms"? This one sounds interesting to me.

[stephen.spikings]

@StanGoodell

Meeting rooms and potentially pool laptops are not an issue at present but are likely to be in the future. Autodesk requires users to sign into devices with their own ID so if there are multiple meeting rooms, each with their own device, this could quickly consume the user's 3 device limit.

With regard to whether a device reflects activity or not, this is not something that is mentioned in Autodesk's terms, only that it has been signed into by a user and then becomes part of their 3 device pool. I don't think this is a sound basis for trying to maintain license compliance but reallocation, to us, is the key problem that needs solving.

Our other concern is that, outside our practice, users can download and install software on as many devices as they wish. This again adds to the pool and is outside our control, especially since Autodesk removed the control that company administrators had over whether downloads were allowable.

[AllenJessup]

@StanGoodell 

The question isn't how many devices a user is "Active" on. That limit is one, period. I've read that in some cases having a user try a fourth install doesn't seem to affect anything. In other cases the fourth install resulted in an out of compliance letter from Autodesk. The difference may be in what kind of installation was done. Directly from an account or from a deployment

I don't see any reason to limit the amount of installations. With our network license it was unlimited. If a user can't use more than one installation simultaneously. How can it matter how many times they install the program?

This issue hasn't come up yet. But we don't assign a laptop to every user. We have pool laptops that are taken out on an as needed basis. How would that be handled?

[leowarren34]

I currently only have one device but this is rarely an issue. What I have found to be an issue previously is keeping track of where I have logged in since the EULA stipulates that we can 3 installs, is there any reason for a limit of 3, if the usage limit at the moment is 1.

On the I&L forum, I came across a user who needed to have installs on 9 devices due to working from home and various offices, yet they wanted to remain compliant but didn't know how.

The main use case I'd envision has already been said which is a batch processor to run alongside as you work normally.

[sam]

I do occasionally use two devices at the same time. I do a lot of 3D scanning, but often have multiple interupts from other employees needing prints or some kind of quick information. So rather than closing Inventor on my Workstation, because the Addon software for the 3D scanning needs to be disabled and Inventor restarted to do the regular Inventor tasks, I will use my laptop to quickly do the work the other employee is needing then go back to my desktop. I will also leave Inventor open on my desktop while I take my laptop out into the plant for some filed work and return to my desktop where I prefer to work since I have a hard time seeing and working on that tiny laptop, to complete the tasks. Things move fast around here and I do a lot of bouncing around multiple jobs and it takes a while to open and close Inventor all the time. But it looks like I may be forced to slow things down a bit.

[stephen.spikings]

@sam @StanGoodell 

We recently raised the question of software being open on multiple devices simultaneously during a complicance review and subsequent support cases - I think this has also been raised on some forums. We have been told that it is acceptable to have software sessions open on up to 3 devices so long as only 1 is being used actively at a time i.e. a task has been completed by the software on one device before starting another task on the next device. Batch processing on one device whilst you do something useful on another is not.

[Anonymous]

Active sessions are usually 1, but can be 2 if a user goes to a meeting room

Like many others, the issue around PC's in meeting rooms, loaner laptops and batch machines are something that Autodesk should take into consideration

Microsoft Office has a switch during installation that allows "shared device activation" - this has worked flawlessly with the above situations - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/overview-shared-computer-activation

Adobe's 3 machine limit, is a pain

[DMFACER]

Just to reiterate what everyone else is saying about meeting rooms, we have 9 meeting rooms that currently have software from the AEC Collection installed.  Once we transition to named-user in April, there is a good chance that some users will be logged in on their desktop PC, and on a conference room PC during meetings. 

The other issue we are concerned about is that even if there is a way to deny users download rights from our organization, what is to stop them from installing a trial version on a personal device and then logging in using their work account?

[StanGoodell]

This sounds like a great example and one we are not looking to "slow down". Thank you for sharing this.

[ThierryMonteyneSWECO]

For debugging and support issues with our users, we often need to startup multiple virtual machines, for various projects at the same time, even various version if needed. Think also of installations, you let the end users do this? A deployment still needs to be tested afterwards before the user can rely on it, and do you know the passwords of your users? You sign in with yours, which has an AEC collection for example. If you have a huge screen estate and 400+ users to maintain, the numbers of active machines can be over overwhelming.

[vladimir_michl]

I think that most users use 2 - one work machine, one home machine (or a mobile device). Which brings me to two related questions:

1) how is a mobile device regarded in terms of license concurrency - do I violate my AutoCAD license if I have my desktop version running and start AutoCAD web app or mobile app at the same time? are there any exceptions for that?

2) you should warn users inadverently starting a second session of the same license (of e.g. AutoCAD or Revit) - something like Fusion 360 does

Vladimir Michl, www.cadforum.cz

[Simon_Weel]

Most users only use a single machine. Some users do use a Home License. AS for multiple devices used at the same time - this is mostly when in conference. I.e. a user logs in to his / her desktop machine and into the machine in the conference room when the need is there. Although logged in on two machines and maybe running the same (Autodesk) programs at the same time, such a user would only actively use one machine.

[SoporteEspecializado]

Hello, my name is Danieel and I would like to know if there is a tool or registry that indicates where the user logs in to their account.

[Simon_Weel]

I would like to add something about license over-use. I have some colleagues who hardly use any Autodesk software. If they do, it's only to have a look at a drawing or model. Or make the occasional modification. At this time, that's taken care of by Network licenses. We know what happened to them. So, for those users, over-use would be a nice feature to mimic a network license.