Case AFRY: CAD license management at a global engineering company

We had the pleasure to talk with Martin Quist, CAD manager Corporate IT at AFRY (ÅF & Pöyry). In the video he shared the kind of challenges they have overcome and how they are managing the software that 8500-9000 frequent users globally need access to.

“For me it’s about giving our engineers the best possible conditions with the software we have. Of course, with ‘the best value for money’. That’s what it comes down to, best value, best efficiency, the ability to improve and develop,” tells Martin Quist, CAD manager Corporate IT at AFRY

He continues the importance from his point of view is for the users at AFRY to have software, installation and packaging that works in everyday life; it’s easy to install and update, in an efficient way. Making sure everyone has the right templates, the right customizations. Also, access to training when needed.

In this interview, Martin Quist shares his insight and experience at AFRY with Symetri's Johan Ljunqvist and gives also some tips for other companies on how to handle a mix of CAD product portfolio efficiently and securely.

Video: The interview is in Swedish with English subtitles

AFRY’s engineering software portfolio includes up to 800 products

The CAD products are extremely business-critical at AFRY; with a number of billable hours and approximately 8500-9000 frequent CAD users globally working with the software. Autodesk represents a large part, but AFRY also has Bentley, MagiCAD, PTC and Aveva in the portfolio, in total the engineering software portfolio counts up to around 800 products.

In 2016 ÅF (now part of AFRY) did a pilot project together with Symetri, looking into Symetri’s CQi solution for software installations and deployment and if that can bring value to the company. With ÅF back then having approx 8000-9000 employees, the results of the feasibility study showed that we could save about 15,000 hours a year by using CQi installations or a similar solution. This time saving is in installation time and configuration alone. Then there are other, more soft values that also play a factor.

AFRY has seen many benefits with its approach, including:

• Less installation support for their internal Service desk
• 60-65% average time saving on installation and configuration
• No need for users to have admin rights with Super admins and IT handling the admin part

“By using  Symetri’s CQi concept we are saving roughly 15 000 hours yearly,” concludes Martin Quist