John Thinnes wrote:
>A vendor for a mainframe data entry product used for the
>last 30 years (with a perpetual unlimited seat license)
>has sent us a contract addendum where they increase the
>price by 60+% and include language to change to a MSU
>based license. The use of this product is dwindling while
>our MSU foot print is growing.
Any/every vendor can decide what to charge and how to charge for its
products, within a few legal limitations. If a vendor wants to charge $2
per user hair follicle per fortnight, that's probably legal.
Any/every customer has the option not to purchase (or to stop using) a
vendor's product if they cannot reach a mutually acceptable agreement.
In my view, a MSU-based license can be perfectly fine, even better than
fine, if the product is eligible for reasonable sub-capacity licensing
terms. Then at least you can run the product in its own softcapped LPAR,
assuming it can function that way. For example, if it's a CICS-based
product, perhaps it's possible to run the product in its own, separate CICS
region(s) in a separate, softcapped LPAR (or LPARs). You might have some
reconfiguration to handle the new license terms, but it's doable.
If a MSU-based product is not eligible for reasonable sub-capacity
licensing, and if the product does not represent at least a substantial,
reasonably steady fraction of your total machine workload (now and into the
forecast future), then that discrepancy can be a significant problem. If
you're absolutely stuck with such terms then you might be able to segregate
that product on a "penalty box," meaning a separate physical machine. As
examples, the "penalty box" could be your DR machine (otherwise idle and
with limited permanent capacity), your dedicated Coupling Facility machine,
or a machine only running other operating systems, such as an otherwise
Linux only machine. Or a new machine you buy or lease expressly as a
"penalty box." It could be IBM's machine ("IBM Cloud Managed Services on z
Systems"), or it could be another hosting company's machine, assuming the
vendor offers "hosting company" (i.e. sub-capacity) licensing terms to such
parties.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy Sipples
IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM z Systems, AP/GCG/MEA
E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com
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