In 2012 Adobe moved from a serialized license model to a subscription-based Named User Licensing model, in which every user of Adobe desktop software would be identified by unique identifier. These identifiers, or names, are managed by the Adobe Identity Management Services platform which allows endusers to authenticate and license their deployed desktop software and use Adobe cloud services.
For Adobe’s enterprise customers, these users and licenses are governed by the Adobe Admin Console, which is essentially an interface on top of the licensing server.
When an end-user attempts to activate or launch their software, or use one of the Adobe services, that endpoint reaches out to Adobe. It talks to the Adobe Identity Service which confirms whther or not the user is logged in. If not, it either allows the end-user to log in directly, or it passes control to the customer’s Identity Provider (IdP), which performs a Federated Single Sign On authentication. The Identity Service then contacts the Adobe Admin Console for authorization and verifies the end-user’s entitlements. A long term device token is stored on the end-user’s desktop which is used to prevent the end-user from having to sign in every time they access their desktop software. This token contains no PII and is an asymmetric hash of system information available at install time. A notable difference between Adobe Named User and Adobe Feature Restricted Licensing is that online services are not available for Feature Restricted Licensing users.
Should you need any further information, feel free to contact our pre-sales engineers. They will be able to assist you both technically and commercially.