Named User Licensing

[MKH-VB]

with the new licensing coming on next year, I'm wondering if there is any way to share a login. We are relatively small.  I have a surveyor that may come in the office and need autocad for an hour or so to create points or stakeouts.  I have summer help that comes in, not working full days, maybe does an an hour or 2 of sketching.  It seems a bit Rich to have to purchase licenses for anyone who touches an autodesk product now.  Shared licensing was perfect for us with these scenario. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

[pendean]

Licenses are tied to individuals.

You get to define the meaning of "individual" and create an account for that definition you create.

That's it in a nutshell, and all we have to work with now. No ifs, ands or buts as they way.

[AllenJessup]

Each user needs an account to log in to. You can move a license between accounts. More work.

[MKH-VB]

so if I have a user needing a seat, they email me and I have to check the accounts status to make sure there is one open, then assign one if its open.  Nothing automatic anymore?  

[AllenJessup]

Not as far as I know. I think they're trying to make it easier to move a license between accounts. But I don't think they're going to budge on the one license - one user issue.

You'd have to open up the accounts management page, remove a license from one user's account and assign it to another users account.

[rkmcswain]

Technically, you could have multiple users share one user's account. For example Bob Smith and John Public both log in using Bob Smith's account. But this is in violation of your EULA, so don't do it.

Let's say you have one license and two users. Bob and John each need a user account, and you have to log into your master Autodesk account and switch around who has access to that one license.

I can't figure out why Autodesk doesn't understand how this is more work for "us", their users. With network licensing, an unlimited number of users are able to share a finite number of licenses with no human interaction needed.

Multiple your Bob and John times 500 and now you need a full time person to sit and allocate licenses all day. 😞

[Anonymous]

Actually, for smaller offices it is easier to simply allocate one license and one computer to "John Smith" and leave it logged in as a hotdesk station - multiple people could then use it throughout the day, all assuming the identity of John Smith as required.

I am not saying this is legal. But until Autodesk products require a facial recognition check (which doubtless is coming next), they would have no way of knowing John Smith has multiple personalities.

[rkmcswain]

@Anonymous wrote:

But until Autodesk products require a facial recognition check (which doubtless is coming next), they would have no way of knowing John Smith has multiple personalities.

Except that you just told them. In their own public forum.

I'm sure some sort of biometric authentication is not far down the line.

[AllenJessup]

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@rkmcswain wrote

I'm sure some sort of biometric authentication is not far down the line.

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RFID chip implantation.

[pendean]

Jon Smith and Joe Publik are very popular new hires across the world these days huh 🙂

[Anonymous]

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@rkmcswain wrote:

@Anonymouswrote:

But until Autodesk products require a facial recognition check (which doubtless is coming next), they would have no way of knowing John Smith has multiple personalities.

Except that you just told them. In their own public forum.

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Your point being? I am not even an Autodesk user, but even  if I was, do you think Autodesk is going to send out a rep to every company in the world to check that their John Smith/Rkmswainasdfgh is not several people?

[gordow · Accepted solution]

Autodesk has stuck it to us so many times, it wouldn't surprise me if they did. 

[AllenJessup]

There are going to be some changes. I can't say what or when at the moment. Right now the best solution is to deal with the overhead of having one license that you assign to your Surveyor or summer help as needed.

I've made a suggestion on how to simplify the process. No idea if it will be accepted.

[MKH-VB]

With this scenario, could we have the software installed at home, or a different location, and still use it as long as we have a login?

[AllenJessup]

Yes. As long as you have a license assigned to you and can log in. You can install and use the software on 3 computers and use it wherever you are.

[gordow]

So here is my problem with the named-user license.  I work on many different projects.  I work remotely most of the time these days, but occasionally go in to the office and work.  We currently have a multi-user network license hosted on a server.  When in the office I may check something out and work on it.  At the end of the day I close Inventor, the license goes back to the pool, but I may not release the files I was working on assuming I will be in the next day.  For whatever reason, the next day I may not be back in the office, and may not be for a few weeks.  I start working remotely on my laptop, on pulling a licence to do so.  I may work on other projects, but I some point I need to work on the project that is checked out on my office computer.  With a multi-user network license I can RDT to my machine at work, pull a network license to open Inventor and check in the files I need, all while my session on my laptop is running.  With the name-user license, I will have to close down my session on my laptop so I can open a session on my office computer to check in the files, close that session, then restart the session on my laptop, and open all the files I had open before.  With the multi-user network license, I can run Inventor on any machine that can pull a license up to the limit of the number of licenses we have.  With named-user, we may be able to install the software on 3 machines, but we can only run one at a time.  That doesn't do me any good in this scenerio.  Autodesk is really trying to put lipstick on a pig here with this named-user license, but, for me and our group, it is still a pig.