On Friday, 09/10/2004 at 08:26 EST, James Melin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > What SAS really needs to do is a measured usage approach to licensing. > Just because we added an processor doesn't mean that the SAS usage of those > resources went up by that much. IBM has seen that measured usage sells > software to organizations that might otherwise not purchase, or existing > customers, who would otherwise abandon said software. So if SAS wants to > own an eventual market share that equals all of nothing, continue on the > course they are on. If they instead and part of something, and continued > revenue, change the pricing model. This demonstrates that the per engine > model is fatally flawed.
There is no perfect (or even "really good") software charging model any more in a world with soft-capped CPUs, partitioning. Everyone wants to be charged only according to consumption, rather than capacity. Imagine for yourself how "consumption" would be [reliably and securely] measured and reported. With per-engine pricing you get to increase the capacity of those engines with no additional charge. Capacity-based pricing means more software charge for bigger/faster engines, even with sub-capacity charging. Consumption-based charging leaves the vendor with uncertain income - not a good business model. Or, the consumption unit price would have to be high enough to ensure meaningful income, penalizing the most loyal (i.e. highest consumption) users. Gaaack! The trick is to get your vendors to bring the price, whatever the measure, to a level you both can live with. That is, are you paying a fair price for the value you receive? These days negotiation is the name of the game. If you can't reach an accommodation, throw the software out and move on. That, of course, has a price tag attached as well and must included in "value you receive". TANSTAAFL. Alan Altmark - speaking for himself. The statements above reflect the personal views of Mr. Altmark's primary resident personality, and are not necessarily those of his alternate personalities (if any) or his employer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390
