Thanks Bob, yes I'm fairly comfortable with the sub-capacity reporting for IBM. >From time to time, I get these questions in my head such as, what would happen >if IBM were to try and implement a per-second billing sort of thing that cloud >providers do. Real-time enforcement/monitoring will also allow shops to know their usage (of s/w by diff vendors) and pay for just that instead of something as broad as charged-for-CPU-limit-eventhough-it-may-not-be-used, and wait for a really long time before the ability to renegotiate.
This may mean extra $$ for most, and there's no dearth of complexity in pricing, but... these things are fun to learn sometimes with examples. - Vignesh Mainframe Infrastructure -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Richards, Robert B. Sent: 18 October 2017 15:44 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Potential stupid question - MSUs Vignesh, Whether or not enforcement is even necessary depends on your software contract with IBM. If you do not mind paying for full capacity (let's use the 30 MSUs that Tim liked as the max capacity), then you can choose to just pay IBM 6,000 rupees every month (30 times 200 rupees) and not worry about sending IBM any usage information. Most companies do not want to just give money away, especially if you know you can't always get to the peak of 30 MSUs. Enter the sub-capacity software contract with its terms and conditions. Once in force, you are required to send IBM a report every month. That report is created by culling certain SMF records from every lpar and having them read by a tool that IBM provides called the Sub-Capacity Reporting Tool (commonly known as SCRT). Assuming that you only peak at 20 MSUs in a given month, then your software bill would only be 4,000 rupees. Put the 2,000 rupees that you effectively saved that month (assuming you budgeted for full capacity) to good use. Maybe for a tool that audits the SCRT report called LCS <grin>. The SCRT report is the enforcement tool *after the fact*, but only if the sub-capacity contract is in play. Good faith or not....IBM software contracts are legally binding. Bob -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Timothy Sipples Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2017 12:40 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Potential stupid question - MSUs Vignesh Sankaranarayanan wrote: >....but for some reason, I just can't fathom a vendor leaving the >enforcement of a rule up to a customer, and letting the contract >(something completely detached from the machine) be the only binding >factor. Is that so hard to imagine, though? Let's suppose you rent an apartment, and you sign a lease. The lease contains certain terms and conditions. Those terms include, as possible examples: 1. You cannot sublet (rent out) the apartment to someone else without the landlord's permission. 2. You cannot make major modifications to the apartment, such as paint the walls with alternating pink and black stripes. 3. You cannot start an open fire inside your apartment and roast marshmallows (or anything else). 4. You cannot keep a tiger, lion, elephant, or alligator in the apartment. If you violate the terms of the lease, you face certain penalties, enforced through the courts (hopefully). Does the landlord have video cameras installed the apartment, with round-the-clock surveillance, to make sure you are living up to your contractual obligations? No, usually not. In fact, in most jurisdictions, the landlord has only very limited rights to enter the apartment, under specific conditions that seldom apply. Contracts routinely depend on the parties having "good faith," with voluntary compliance as the default behavior. This approach works especially well when the parties have an ongoing, mutually beneficial relationship of some kind. For example, software vendors and licensees typically have some sort of support and subscription agreement. There are also what are known as "due diligence" checks, before you do business with someone. A landlord might run a credit check before renting an apartment. A software vendor might check with Dun & Bradstreet or some other firm to verify creditworthiness. And vice versa. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM z Systems, AP/GCG/MEA E-Mail: [email protected] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN MARKSANDSPENCER.COM ________________________________ Unless otherwise stated above: Marks and Spencer plc Registered Office: Waterside House 35 North Wharf Road London W2 1NW Registered No. 214436 in England and Wales. 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