What is the Computers and Structures (CSI) License Manager? #
Computers and Structures, Inc. (CSI) makes structural analysis software and structural engineering software, including ETABS and SAP2000. You’ll also see the name written as Computers & Structures. The company was founded in 1975 and is based in Walnut Creek, California. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill used ETABS to model the gravity, wind and seismic response of the Burj Khalifa.
CSI’s license manager is Cloud Sign-In licensing. Open iT’s documentation calls it CSI Cloud. CSI describes it as “a CSI cloud-hosted licensing system that allows you to use a secure sign-in credential to access your CSI software.”
Engineers install ETABS software or SAP2000 on their own machines and sign in with an email address and password. The application takes a license from CSI’s cloud when it starts. It hands the license back when it closes.
For IT, two things matter. The software still runs locally, and CSI says model data stays under the user’s control. Cloud Sign-In “simply authorizes the software to run.” Each workstation also needs outbound HTTPS on port 443 to CSI domains, including lms.csiamerica.com and identity.csiamerica.com. Put them on your allowlist before rollout.
Administrators manage users, roles and sessions in the CSI Customer Center. Sign-in can federate with Microsoft Active Directory (Azure AD, AD and ADFS), Google Workspace, Okta, PingFederate, OpenID Connect and SAML.
Which license types does CSI Cloud support? #
One. Since July 1, 2025, every new major release of SAP2000, ETABS, SAFE, CSiBridge, Perform3D and CSiPlant has shipped with Cloud Sign-In licensing only. CSI puts it plainly: “No other form of licensing (standalone, network or cloud key) will be available.”
Within Cloud Sign-In, you’ll find the controls you know from floating licenses:
- A shared pool. CSI calls it an “easily shared floating license.” A seat is taken when the software starts and returned when it closes.
- Offline checkout for a set period. While a license is out, nobody else can use it. Machines with no internet access can use CSI’s Remote License Checkout Utility.
- License groups, which tie specific licenses to a named list of users. Customer account administrators and users with the License Group Manager permission build them. A user can belong to several groups and draws licenses in the order the groups are listed.
- CSI’s License Monitor, with gauges for licenses in use, a table of active users and the option to end sessions remotely.
Watch the offline checkout. Every seat an engineer takes out for a site visit is a seat the office can’t use until it comes back.
What happened to the older license types? #
| Legacy license type | Status, according to CSI |
|---|---|
| USB hardware keys | Phased out October 1, 2024. No new keys and no support. |
| Standalone licenses | Can’t be activated, deactivated or renewed. CSI calls them non-functional. |
| Network licenses (SafeNet Sentinel) | Same status. CSI says the licensing vendor retired its infrastructure. |
| Cloud key | Not offered on new major releases since July 1, 2025. |
CSI converts licenses for the latest versions to Cloud Sign-In at no cost through the CSI Customer Center, and says the upgrade keeps a perpetual license perpetual. Older versions need an upgrade quote from CSI sales.
Which applications use the CSI License Manager? #
Only CSI’s own. Cloud Sign-In isn’t a general-purpose license manager that other software vendors build on. Here’s where it applies, with the first version that supports it:
| Candidatura | O que faz | Cloud Sign-In from |
|---|---|---|
| ETABS | Building analysis and design | v21.2.0 |
| SAP2000 | Structural analysis and design | v25.1.0 |
| SAFE | Analysis and design of floor systems | v21.2.0 |
| CSiBridge | Bridge analysis, design and rating | v25.1.0 |
| Perform3D | Performance-based design of 3D structures | v10.0.0 |
| CSiPlant | Pipe stress analysis and design | v9 |
| CSiXRevit | Bi-directional data transfer plugin for Revit | v2025 |
CSiCol and CSiXCAD are CSI products too, but they aren’t on CSI’s Cloud Sign-In version list. Check their licensing with CSI.
For a SAM team, that makes CSI an island. Your ETABS and SAP2000 usage sits in CSI’s portal, apart from the license servers behind the rest of your engineering software. That’s a gap in any software license management program that reports by vendor.
How Open iT supports your work with Computers and Structures (CSI) cloud #
Most license management software reads a license server. CSI Cloud doesn’t have one you can reach, so Open iT reads CSI’s portal instead.
Here’s why that matters. You already know two numbers: how many ETABS and SAP2000 seats you pay for, and how many engineers say they need one. The number you’re missing is peak concurrent use, measured over months. Check it before anyone signs off on another ETABS license cost or a SAP2000 license price at renewal.
Open iT’s reports answer the questions a renewal meeting asks:
- Do we own too many seats, or too few? Max Available vs Max in Use compares the two for every CSI feature.
- Who holds licenses longest? Feature Elapsed Time per User shows time per user, per feature.
- What’s in use right now? A real-time view drills down from each feature to the licenses in use and still available.
- Which team uses what? User-group data splits CSI license usage reporting by department.
Perguntas frequentes #
What is CSI Cloud Sign-In licensing?
Cloud Sign-In is the license manager from Computers and Structures, Inc. (CSI). CSI hosts it in its own cloud. Users sign in with an email address and password, and the software takes a floating license when it starts and returns it when it closes.
Does CSI still support standalone or network licenses?
No. Since July 1, 2025, new major releases of CSI software use Cloud Sign-In only. CSI’s SafeNet Sentinel-based standalone and network licenses can’t be activated, deactivated or renewed, and CSI phased out USB keys on October 1, 2024.
How do I sign in to CSI Cloud?
Install the CSI application with Cloud Sign-In selected as the license option. If the software is set to another mode, switch it in CSI License Assistant. Then start the application and enter your CSI email address and password.
Can Open iT report on CSI Cloud license usage?
Yes. Open iT LicenseAnalyzer polls the CSI portal every hour, using either a non-SSO CSI administrator account or CSI API access links, and stores the history on your Open iT Core Server. Reports include Max Available vs Max in Use per feature and Feature Elapsed Time per User.
See your CSI seats against real peak use #
Book a demo with Open iT. Tell us how many CSI licenses you own, and we’ll show you how LicenseAnalyzer reports peak use against that number for ETABS, SAP2000 and your other CSI applications.
