Osbit makes significant cost saving on software licences; enhancing understanding of who’s using what, when, and why – with CQFlexMon
Meet Osbit
Headquartered in Northumberland, Osbit designs and builds systems for the offshore renewable energy sector. Its technology focus and expertise range across subsea burial equipment, testing rigs, foundation and cable installation, lifting and handling, and offshore access systems.
In addition to its Head Office and Assembly Facility in North East England, Osbit has offices in Lowestoft, Edinburgh, and Rotterdam.
Virtually every project the company undertakes is tailored to the specific operations and locations of its customers. Since each project in the offshore world brings fresh challenges, continuous innovation pervades the engineering and design departments, meaning that they are regularly evaluating new and relatively untested technology.
The wide variation in project requirements comes along with a degree of risk, which the teams deal with through a modular approach to how they design their systems; combining new and creative concepts with already proven, field-tested aspects from Osbit’s established technology portfolio -- incorporating the best of innovation within a strong and reliable framework. Consequently, Osbit has a robust track record in the development and deployment of first-time-right solutions.
In 2022, Osbit received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category, in recognition of its capability in engineering game-changing solutions to improve offshore safety and efficiency.
Challenges
- With rapid team growth of over 50% in just three years, Osbit faced mounting pressure to scale its software licensing, fast. Managing this manually became increasingly complex and time-consuming.
- The shift from multi-user to named user licences in August 2022 meant each new team member required an individual licence. As a result, full licences were being assigned to users who only needed occasional access, creating unnecessary and rising costs.
- There was growing concern about compliance. Without full visibility into license usage, Osbit risked breaching vendor terms or over-purchasing to stay “safe”, neither of which was sustainable.
Solutions
- Symetri introduced CQFlexMon, a flexible and powerful tool that gave Osbit full visibility into software usage across all users and departments, not just heavy Inventor users.
- The platform enabled the team to see in real-time who was using what, how often, and for what purpose, ensuring licences were assigned accurately based on actual need, not assumption.
- CQFlexMon’s insight allowed Osbit to reallocate full licences where required and use Flex Tokens for light or occasional users like directors and sales staff, eliminating guesswork and reducing waste.
Benefits
- Within days of implementation, Osbit was able to free up 12 unused licences, unlocking instant cost savings with zero disruption to productivity.
- Licence allocation is now based on verified usage patterns rather than default assumptions, giving the company complete control and confidence in their compliance.
- Ongoing weekly usage reports provide clear, colour-coded visibility, enabling proactive management and allowing teams to focus on their core work, delivering high-performance offshore engineering solutions.
