Tracking Usage of Licenses

[puresaintt]

We have a forty user license of Adobe Creative Cloud spread over three sites.

We have many freelancers coming and going. My question is that: is there a way to tell when an account license was last used?

[Abambo]

You are correct, Adobe is motivated by the pursuit of profit - not customer service.  

By @stevenp81396465

This is what I would call nonsense. Adobe has customer service, they just do not collect data, that they shouldn't. Buy an external program that collects your data and you are fine. 

As pointed out in the past - simply reporting to me the last (most recent) date someone logged into a given service (irrespective of use or how many instances are active) would be a good start at making a dent in this need.  

By @stevenp81396465

This proves that you do know nothing, John Snow. Indeed, as soon as I log in to my machine, my creative cloud services start and synchronize some data. I do not need to use a single Adobe program during a whole periode. You would see, that person signed in on 7:49. A useless data point. My HR would know that I entered the building on 7:33. Or that I work in home office.

[stevenp81396465]

I beg to differ.    I manage services from several other suppliers which DO report this data (last login date) and it is pretty effective in  identifying underutilized assets.    To your point, while it does not guarantee that an asset is utilized - where a given asset has not been touched in months - it's a pretty good bet that the customer is not efffectively utilizing a given service.    Having used this approach to deallocate and repurpose hundreds of entitlements I can attest to it being an effective approach - where the supplier provides the requisite information.

[kglad]

@stevenp81396465 

To request a feature in the Admin Console: Go to Overview > Share feedback about this page.

[ProDesignTools]

This may help to some extent. As a System administrator for Teams/Enterprise, you can download detailed reports on how end users are working with corporate assets, such as folders, files, and libraries. These reports are called content logs. 

See here also:

https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/using/users.html#Exportuserdata

[freves]

Any with expenrience with using "Software Tagging in Adobe Products" to obatin product usage per user?

https://blogs.adobe.com/deployment/2009/11/software_tagging_in_adobe_prod_1.html

[stevenp81396465]

No experience w/the tagging process described but from the read I conclude it is little more than a confirmation of the entitlement written to the user device.    The file is not updated or changed based on usage so . . . . . you could know where there are installed instances but installed doesnt equal used.   

[mikeh32876248]

Read the entire thread and agree with a few points...disagree with others.

Yep.. you need a Team or Enterprise account.  You can manage all your users and license allocations in one place but...

As far as usage reports go... there are none.

Totally agree with the point about 'privileged users' wanting the software and never using it.  We have the same issue.

Could Adobe add the extra info to the user profile.  Absolutely they could.  No different to managing the license and they have to check the license is applied every 90 days anyway.

Data protection - non issue.  It's my account, my users, my data.

We use a software agent called ThreatLocker.  As a byproduct it creates an audit log of everything that happens on a users machine... including when they run (or don't run) Adobe software but...  it can only monitor the devices we install it on.  If someone adds the Adobe license to a personal device as well, we have no visibility.

Come on Adobe...  I get why you don't want us to know when expensive licenses aren't being used because we#ll cancel them and you'll lose money...  but really!  In this day and age I thought transparency was the way to a customer's heart 😉

[stevenp81396465]

Last Login Date - - - would be a very good start.   Adobe "can't" do that (?!)     One approach that we accidentally stumbled into  which was very effective was simply to disable all accounts and then re-enable upon request.   If the provisioning process is responsive - it's not the end of the world.   We were forced to do so - when Adobe terminated some of our serial keys.   It was actually a productive outcome as our deployed license count(s) fell by almost 25%.   If ours is any evidence of what's going on - it speaks volumes as to why Adobe is unwilling to provide the same kinds of usage-related data that so many other providers do.

[john26026972cd67]

A thought that may help, a full tracking solution is available here:

https://www.softwaremetering.com/Adobe-Creative-Cloud-Usage-Reports.html

[sajid87747437]

Oh Adobe can you share with me the information that I'm already sharing with you? This might be the usage stats that I'm looking for.

[Abambo]

Oh Adobe can you share with me the information that I'm already sharing with you? This might be the usage stats that I'm looking for.

By @sajid87747437

I doubt that this is a two-way solution.

[John T Smith]

>Oh Adobe can you share

This is a public forum, not Adobe support

Sorry, nobody here can help with an account or payment problem
This is a public forum, you need the link to Adobe support, not other users
Be sure to remain signed in with your Adobe ID before accessing the link
Do be aware that Adobe's staffing is impacted by the virus, so wait times are long
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This link will go directly to the chat option
Type "Agent" in the chat box to bypass the chatbot and be connected to a person
-Meaning type in the word Agent without the quote " " marks
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- or https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html
.
Adobe does NOT do support by email, so beware of answering anyone who sends you a private message
-click for more information about scammers https://tinyurl.com/10791730

[kglad]

<moved from download&install>

[defaultv1d4qtwcydl9]

Not sure why Adobe not fixing this or enhancing their product.

we need to know who needs adobe pro and if they have not used it in a while remove the license so it can be assigned to someone else who will use it. Most users need adobe reader which is free but some need a pro license. 

so if I have 2000 employees and only 50 out of which need pro the remainder can just use reader or edge /Chrome PDF viewer.

I am just saying it would have been nice if we can see when someone last used adobe pro in case if its not being used we can allocate to someone else.