1.
The Corporate Environment
Hermes was founded in 1972 by
entrepreneur Werner Otto, who offered
customers of the Otto mail order company
a better delivery service than could be
achieved using Deutsche Post. The new
parcel service was used in the coming
years not just by the various trading
companies of the Otto Group but, by
the end of the 1990s, increasingly by
companies from outside the Group.
Today more than 10,500 people in
eleven companies worldwide work under
the Hermes brand umbrella and generate
a turnover of € 1.8 billion. The services it
offers cover the entire value chain of the
trade - goods procurement, quality assurance,
transport, fulfilment, its traditional parcel
service and large item delivery (“two-man
handling”). Hermes offers its customers all
of these services on a one-stop-shop basis
and is currently the only company to do
so worldwide.
Unlike many companies who act only
in response to a pending or failed
software vendor audit, Hermes
management proactively budgeted
and staffed the Software License
Optimization project to reduce
corporate license compliance risk
and ensure optimum use of
IT resources.
Customer Profile: Hermes Europe is a multinational group of companies
headquartered in Germany providing full-service supply chain solutions. With more
than 40 years of experience, the Hermes group specializes in innovative supply chain
management of high-volume goods for leading retailers and brands. The services
offered by the Hermes companies range from global product sourcing and production
management to quality control, logistics, and shipping. They also include first-class
fulfilment, web shop and distribution services for the handling of goods throughout
Europe. Customers benefit from a complete range of integrated business services.
Hermes Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of Otto Group.
Challenges and Needs:As part of an ongoing corporate risk assessment program,
senior management identified software license compliance as an area of focus to ensure
that any risk in this area is mitigated. With no central license management procedures or
tools in place, the company lacked visibility into its software license position for critical
vendors. Hermes had no means of matching software installed and in use to purchased
licenses, putting the company at risk of software audits.
Solution:After evaluating several vendors’ offerings Hermes selected FlexNet
Manager®
Suite for Enterprises from Flexera Software as the foundation of its Software
License Optimization program. They asked Flexera Software Consulting Services
to analyze the requirements, and then help them plan and implement a Software
License Optimization program. Flexera Software also provided training for the license
management team at Hermes to enable the company to manage the ongoing asset
management process. The team identified Microsoft as the first target for establishing an
accurate license position, to be followed by IBM, Oracle and Adobe.
Benefits: In the first few months Hermes gained a complete centralized view of
its installed Microsoft software throughout the company, its license entitlements and
corresponding license position. Hermes found that they were over licensed for certain
desktop applications, while they had a shortfall for some other products. Shortfalls
were eliminated by re-harvesting unused licenses. Further, as product license positions
have become known, often new license purchases can now be avoided where there
are license surpluses. The company is now positioned to realize similar benefits with its
Oracle and IBM software estates.
Success Story:
Hermes Europe
>> Continue
“With FlexNet Manager Suite, we were able to
quickly get good insight into our corporate-wide
Microsoft license position. Previously it would
have taken us ages to get an overview of
licence usage and compliance status if we
had been audited.”
Stephan Beyer
- SAM Project Manager
Hermes Europe Corporate IT
“The successful Proof-of-Concept workshop
convinced us that Flexera Software could
really meet our needs.”
Stephan Beyer
“I expect preparation for our next Microsoft
audit to take a few hours instead of months.”
Stephan Beyer
Software License Optimization

2.
Selecting a Software License
Optimization Solution
After evaluating several contenders’
product functionality, approach, and
vendor reputation, Hermes selected
Flexera Software as the preferred supplier
for its Software License Optimization project.
FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises
was then put to the test with a Proof-of-
Concept workshop to see how the product
could be applied to meet Hermes’ specific
needs. The product aced the test.
One key feature in Hermes’ selection of
FlexNet Manager Suite was the product’s
integration with BMC’s Atrium Discovery
and Dependency Mapping (ADDM) product
and Microsoft System Center Configuration
Manager (SCCM). Hermes will use ADDM
for collecting inventory on IBM Linux and
UNIX servers and was already using
SCCM for inventory collection on
Microsoft Windows client systems.
These will be complemented by FlexNet
Manager Suite’s native inventory collection
for Microsoft Windows servers. Hermes
also plans to implement BMC Remedy
for IT Service Management, and FlexNet
Manager Suite has a successful track
record of integrating with BMC ITSM
environments in other major accounts.
Other factors that contributed to Hermes’
choice of FlexNet Manager Suite were its
extensive Product Use Rights library and
general ease-of-use.
FlexNet Manager Suite includes specific
license optimization solutions for all of
the targeted ISVs on Hermes’ list—Microsoft,
IBM and Oracle, as well as solutions for
Adobe, SAP, Symantec and VMware.
These Software License Optimization
solutions provide a Product Use Rights
Library that encapsulates vendor specific
license entitlements (upgrade, downgrade,
right of second use, virtual use, DR/failover
rights, etc.), as well as other licensing
data such as processor/core points tables.
With this built-in knowledge, the products
can automate and streamline the process
of applying license entitlements to
calculate an optimized license position.
Implementing FlexNet Manager Suite
Hermes contracted Flexera Software to
assist with both the implementation and
configuration of the software, and the
initial software license reconciliation and
optimization efforts. The Flexera Software
consultants first advised the Hermes team
on the appropriate scope of the project
and the best approach to achieving
maximum benefits in the fastest
possible time.
The initial project focused on Microsoft
software, with the objective of determining
Hermes’ actual license position for all
key products. During four days of planning
workshop sessions, the team produced
a comprehensive project plan which
included a detailed technical requirements
specification, identification of sources
of inventory and license data, design
of adapters required to import the data,
and design of the implementation structure,
data flows and system configuration.
During the implementation phase,
the FlexNet Manager Suite software
was installed in Hermes’ test and
production environments. The team
validated the inventory and license
entitlement data feeds identified during
the planning phase and imported all
available data using the SCCM
integration and other out-of-the-box
interfaces. The product identifies
installed applications by processing
the imported software inventory data
with its comprehensive Application
Recognition Library, which can detect
and identify more than 150,000
applications from 16,000 software
vendors.
Next, the Flexera Software consultants
configured adapters for Hermes’ purchasing
data, and set up the system to enable
license compliance reporting by cost centers,
locations and business units. All of the
additional data was imported, reviewed,
and then normalized by the system.
“In addition to the specific project goals,
a key objective for us was to ensure we
could use the product ourselves after the
consultants left. Flexera Software matched our
expectations in this regard, with knowledge
transfer throughout, and a four-day workshop
at the end of the project.”
Stephan Beyer
Finally, with FlexNet Manager Suite for
Enterprises fully configured and populated
with both inventory and entitlement data,
the Flexera Software consultants guided the
Hermes team through a full-blown license
reconciliation and optimization project for
the company’s Microsoft software. Using
the Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) Library and
Product Usage Rights Library built into
FlexNet Manager Suite, the team imported
license purchasing data and identified
the full scope of Microsoft software
product use rights that Hermes was
entitled to, based on the terms of their
contracts. This was reconciled with the
installed application data to produce a
detailed License Position Report for
Microsoft products.
A key focus of the implementation phase
was documentation and knowledge
transfer so that the Hermes team could
manage the ongoing software license
management and optimization efforts
on their own.
Business Value Gained
Hermes was able to achieve everything
it set out to do in the first phase of the
project. With detailed information about
Microsoft installed software and their
license position constantly available on
manager’s dashboards there is no longer
any concern about the risk of major
non-compliance. The company has all
the information it needs to pass a software
audit with flying colors. Before purchasing
new licenses the team can determine if
they are really needed, or if existing
unused software licenses can be
reharvested to cover the need.
Continue

3.
Flexera Software LLC
(Global Headquarters):
+1 800-809-5659
United Kingdom (Europe,
Middle East Headquarters):
+44 870-871-1111
+44 870-873-6300
Australia (Asia,
Pacific Headquarters):
+61 3-9895-2000
For more office locations visit:
www.flexerasoftware.com
Copyright © 2015 Flexera Software LLC. All other brand and product names mentioned herein may be the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners.
FMS_Hermes_CS_Flexera_Feb15
The Microsoft license reconciliation project
uncovered a significant over licensing
situation for some applications. Visibility
into this surplus will ensure that Hermes
avoids purchasing additional unnecessary
licenses until such time as the existing
licenses are consumed.
With FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises
fully operational, Hermes is ready to tackle
license positions for its other major software
vendors. The ability to apply product use
rights to minimize license consumption and
reduce ongoing costs for software for these
key vendors is a major benefit of the
Flexera Software solution. In addition,
they plan to track Oracle usage to have
a much more accurate chargeback process
for their Oracle licenses
About Flexera Software
Flexera Software helps application producers
and enterprises increase application
usage and the value they derive from their
software. Our next-generation software
licensing, compliance and installation
solutions are essential to ensure continuous
licensing compliance, optimized software
investments and to future-proof businesses
against the risks and costs of constantly
changing technology. Over 80,000
customers turn to Flexera Software as a
trusted and neutral source for the knowledge
and expertise we have gained as the
marketplace leader for over 25 years and
for the automation and intelligence designed
into our products. For more information,
please go to: www.flexerasoftware.com
Next Steps:
For more information, visit
www.flexerasoftware.com/SLO
or contact a Flexera Software Representative.