Adobe License Manager

Electronic Licensing in Adobe Products — Important Changes

In November 2006, Adobe introduced the Adobe License Manager (ALM) solution to automate the complex, labor-intensive and confusing process of managing volume software licenses. Unlike traditional Software Asset Management solutions, which track files on computer hard drives, ALM was designed to manage the licensing entitlement through an e-license. A key element of this solution was a choice of where to host pools of e-licenses (either at Adobe or In-House), and customers have had the option to disable ALM altogether.

ALM was rolled out in Acrobat 8 for Windows to our volume license customers worldwide. However, during the subsequent three months, we have learned that ALM requires a greater level of administrator resources than many of our customers have available to them. In some instances there have also been difficulties in managing certain customer workflows and requirements.

As a result, we have decided to disable the ALM technology in Acrobat 8 for all new volume license copies sold after March 9, 2007. Effective immediately, all Acrobat 8 for Windows installation media will be provided with ALM disabled. The final date for availability of ALM-related processes on the Adobe Licensing Website is April 9, 2007.

We plan to make significant policy, program and technology improvements and re-introduce an electronic license management solution when it is robust and flexible enough to meet a broader set of our customers’ expectations. This re-introduction would occur in future versions of Adobe’s key desktop applications to be released after calendar year 2007.

If you are an Adobe customer and have purchased volume licenses of Acrobat 8 for Windows prior to March 2007, you may be using ALM (Acrobat 8 Professional for Mac OS does not include ALM).

Next Steps

To determine if this change impacts you, identify your specific situation on the left column and determine any impact and plan of action by following the instructions on the right column.

If you have...	Then
Not yet purchased Acrobat 8 volume licenses	No Impact
Already purchased or plan to purchase Acrobat 8 volume licenses on the Mac OS platform only	No Impact
Purchased Acrobat 8 volume licenses for Windows prior to March 9, 2007 and deployed with ALM-disabled	No Impact
Purchased Acrobat 8 volume licenses for Windows prior to March 9, 2007 and have not deployed yet	Ensure you are using ALM-disabled media. Read this important information and support on transitioning to ALM-disabled media.
Purchased Acrobat 8 volume licenses for Windows prior to March 9, 2007 and are hosting your pool of e-licenses at Adobe (using either ‘Serial Number-Only’ or ‘Adobe-Hosted’)	No need to re-deploy the product. However, there is important information you may need to know. Click here for important information for Adobe-hosted e-licenses.
Purchased Acrobat 8 volume licenses for Windows prior to March 9, 2007 and are hosting your pool of e-licenses in-house	No need to re-deploy the product. However, there is important information you may need to know. Click here for important information for in-house hosted e-licenses.

If you cannot identify your situation on the left column or are not certain, please contact customer service.