Switching Users

[GTVic]

If you run out of seats is there any reason why you can't remove someone who doesn't need the software for a particular day or week and add another user and continue to do this type of swapping on a daily or weekly basis?

Obviously this is some administrative work the more you do this. Most subscription software states that it is one seat per user so it seems the ability to do this is not intended to be used on a frequent basis but more intended to be done as employees join/leave the company.

So what is the exact policy that states whether this can or cannot be done as a method of sharing a seat and how is that enforced?

[rkmcswain]

You mean what the network license manager (LMTOOLS) used to do automatically, without human intervention, for over a quarter of a century?

Yeah, as far as I know (this is not legal advice), you can hire someone to sit there and shuffle users around all day and night.

[GTVic]

Thanks for the opinion. I have a feeling there is some limit to this though.

This is what Trimble says about their subscription. Not sure what happens if the user leaves the company and you hire someone else.

[rkmcswain · Accepted solution]

If I have 110 users and 100 licenses, I'm going to move those around as needed. I don't see what difference it makes to anyone, as you can never use more than 100 licenses at any one time.

As you mentioned, offboarding and onboarding occur. Of course you are going to reallocate those assets. What if Susie is on medical leave for 6 months, you would assign that license to your summer intern Joe, not rent another one.

What if you have 2 shifts, 6a to 3p, and 3p to midnight. Can you reassign all your licenses once every 24 hour period? I don't see why not.  Why should your assets sit there unused for 16 hours a day?

Now what you CANNOT do is let "Joe" log in with "Susie's" credentials. Each user must have their own account and use it only.

[GTVic]

I found another post that agrees with what you are saying. So maybe the question is why shouldn't it be made easier to support a large number of occasional users with a smaller pool of seats. Forcing the admin to activate and deactivate using a slow web interface is inefficient. They provide a method to authenticate using a corporation's own domain authentication server but that enhancement has a significant cost.

[Simon_Weel]

Forcing the admin to activate and deactivate using a slow web interface is inefficient.

Yup, so you're more likely to buy additional licences - that's obviously Autodesk intention....

[rkmcswain]

As @Simon_Weel says, everything can be traced to that, ultimately.

BTW: SSO no longer requires the additional "Premium" fees. See this: Single Sign-On for Autodesk Standard Plan

[AllenJessup]

I agree. Assign and unassign as you wish. Even the Trimble doc says they cannot be Shared. You have to take the license from user1 before assigning it to user2.