Lack of consistent control around user licenses can be a costly and wasteful issue faced by many businesses. Fortunately, it tends to be the case that these hurdles can be traversed using simple solutions that require little effort. This post will cover how you can better retrieve user licenses that are already currently in use on your system.
An efficient way in which this can be done is by putting in place measures to automatically reclaim licenses that are being taken up by users who have not logged on for a while. This can be done through the SimCorp Dimension Data Extractor, which can query the last login date and time of all licensed users currently active in your SimCorp Dimension environment. This list will make it clear which users no longer need access and thus can be removed, gaining you back a license without the need to purchase more. It is done by scheduling a daily batch job that calls the data extract and returns the result into a message queue via a Data Format Setup. The Data format setup in turn will import the information into the users table and set the vacant user as inactivate.
This could be implemented and made clear to your organization through a simple administrative process to make the user aware of how active they must be. A clause should be set in place as part of a user agreement that states that clients must log in once a month to keep their profile active, or conversely stating that failure to log in for 30 days will result in in-activation of their access to SimCorp Dimension. This way the user will be well informed as to how active they should be in order to keep their access.
Activating an inactive user again can be done from the user table with minimal effort, of course depending on your organization's access policies. As always in this world there are exceptions, and this is easily handled as well. Should a user be away for longer than the defined ‘inactive’ period you can flag this user via a user-free code and make sure the data extract excludes such flagged users. However, as for any exceptions, make sure to remember to remove the flag again when the exception no longer is required.
This tool can ensure that your business efficiently utilizes all available user licenses within the Dimension platform while also providing a report that gives insight into user logins and unusual activity. It allows you to reclaim any licenses that are being wasted by inactive users. We hope you find this idea inspiring, and useful. If you have any questions or concerns leave a comment and we will respond.