Customers have asked for a method to help them manage software assets and meet contractual obligations. Exact Access was developed to provide that assis tance. With the C.1 Environment Release, changes have been made to the licensing software, authorization codes, and order fulfillment processes to help users better understand which product versions they have rights to use.

Prior to shipment of the C.1 release, customers with current support contracts that allow them access to new product releases will receive new authorization codes for those products. If a customer has purchased licenses to 20 copies of a given product with only 15 copies covered by a support contract, they will receive new authorization codes for all 20 copies. Fifteen of the codes will allow access to the C.1 versions of the products plus earlier versions. Five will only allow access to earlier versions. This change will be very useful for customers with a large number of licenses who have decided to reduce the number of copies they have under support.

Bio:
Mike Frison is the Licensing Program director for Mentor Graphics and is responsible for licensing and installation tools and contributes to the definition and implementation of licensing policies and business systems. In his five years with Mentor, Mike has also been responsible for the creation of the PC Licensing system and the current generation of installation tools.