Citrix has numerous advantages that make it popular for virtualizing end-user environments, writes Express Metrix CEO Kris Barker in his latest Wikibon Professional Alert. These include on-demand availability of critical applications; simpler, less costly desktop management; and the ability to deliver functionality to mobile devices.

However, because most software is licensed using “archaic per-device licensing models that don’t translate easily in a user-centric world”  licensing software for use in Citrix environments — especially those in which users are running applications on more than one device — becomes a major IT management headache. The problem is made more difficult by the need to understand and track different licensing rules from different vendors and the proliferation of devices and device types. When mobile devices are added to traditional laptops and desktops in the environment, one user may use the same software on a laptop, smart phone, and tablet, as well as a home laptop or desktop, guaranteeing licensing compliance becomes exponentially more complex.

“In fact,” he writes, “the very ease and speed of provisioning software using Citrix can put organizations on the fast track to software audits, financial penalties, and public embarrassment…. With the explosion of mobile device usage within the enterprise, it’s increasingly likely that organizations relying on Citrix to publish applications to smart phones and tablets are rapidly drifting out of compliance as new end points are added to the asset pool.”

Meanwhile software publishers, who are certainly aware of the issue and not about to give up any licensing revenues, are watching their customers carefully for rapid corporate growth, increased virtualization, and other indicators of possible license infringements. They are increasing the number of audits and issuing fines. Users need to be able to verify license compliance for per-seat, per-user, and concurrently licensed software so they can correct any shortfalls and guarantee compliance.

The brute force approach of licensing every possible device that someone might use quickly becomes wildly impractical if not impossible, since IT cannot always track every device a user may have. IT needs a strategy that lets it be sure that it has enough licenses to cover all the users and devices from which each particular piece of software might be accessed, and that it hasn’t purchased more licenses than are actually being used. The answer, he says is a strong software asset management tool. Several, he says, are available on the market, and users should ask the following questions when evaluating them:

• Can I track the use of applications not only running on the Citrix server, but also back to the end-devices and end-users accessing them?
• Can I monitor the use of applications that are published as well as streamed?
• Can I obtain the information required to analyze license compliance for published applications that are licensed per-seat?
• Can I track individual user Citrix server logins?
• Can I control access to certain applications by specifying which users and/or devices are permitted to run them?

Like all Wikibon research, this Alert is available in full without charge on the Wikibon Web site. IT professionals are invited to register to join the Wikibon community. Membership allows them to post their own questions, tips, and research, as well as comment on published research on the site. Members also receive invitations to the periodic Peer Incite Meetings at which their peers present on how they are using advanced technologies to solve business and technical challenges.

BIO: As CEO of Express Metrix IT Asset Management Software, Kris Barker leads a strong organization of passionate software developers who plan and develop Express Metrix products. He focuses not only on product strategy, but also on the individual features that set Express Metrix products apart from other asset management solutions on the market.

About Express Metrix: Express Metrix is a 16-year veteran in the IT asset management market. With a strong emphasis on license compliance software Express Metrix leads the market in the areas of IT asset reporting, ease of use, and customer support.