IBM user-based metrics

You manage inventory relating to IBM software that is licensed with user-based metrics on the Software Users page. You can enter inventory as a summary user count or as full user details as appropriate. To determine the appropriate approach, refer to the IBM License Information document for the product.

For more information on adding summary user inventory or full user details inventory, see Software Users.

IBM Authorized User metric

IBM defines an Authorized User as “a unique person who is given access to the Program. The Program may be installed on any number of computers or servers and each Authorized User may have simultaneous access to any number of instances of the Program at one time.”

IBM also state that the Licensee must obtain separate, dedicated entitlements for each Authorized User given access to the Program in any manner directly or indirectly (for example via a multiplexing program, device, or application server) through any means.

Licenses may not be shared by persons, but may be transferred from one person to another if there is an exogenous reason why a person does not need a license any more (a person leaving the company, retiring, etc). The transfer of licenses may not cover non-permanent transfers, such as holiday, sick leave, etc.

The IBM Authorized User metric is a good example of where user-based inventory should be entered using full user details, although you may choose to represent the inventory with a summary user count.

IBM Concurrent User metric

IBM defines a Concurrent User as “a person who is accessing the Program at any particular point in time. Regardless of whether the person is simultaneously accessing the Program multiple times, the person counts only as a single Concurrent User. The Program may be installed on any number of computers or servers, but Licensee must obtain entitlements for the maximum number of Concurrent Users simultaneously accessing the Program. Licensee must obtain an entitlement for each simultaneous Concurrent User accessing the Program in any manner directly or indirectly (for example: via a multiplexing program, device, or application server) through any means.”

We recommend that inventory with a Concurrent User metric is entered using a summary user count.

IBM Floating User metric

IBM defines a Floating User as “a person who is accessing the Program at any particular point in time. An Install is an installed copy of the Program on a physical or virtual disk made available to be executed on a computer. The Program may be installed on any number of computers or servers, but if the Floating User simultaneously accesses more than one Install of the Program, the Floating User requires a separate entitlement for each such Install. Licensee must obtain separate entitlements for each Floating User simultaneously accessing the Program on each Install in any manner directly or indirectly (for example via a multiplexing program, device, or application server) through any means.”

In effect, an IBM Floating User license is a license for a single software product that can be shared among multiple persons. However, the total number of concurrent users cannot exceed the number of Floating User licenses purchased. For example, if one Floating User license is purchased for an IBM product, then any user in the organization may use the product at any given time; if a second user wants to access the product, that second user must wait until the first user logs off.

We recommend that inventory with a Floating User metric is entered using a summary user count.

For the Authorized User, Concurrent User and Floating User metrics, IBM state that some programs may be licensed where devices are considered users. In such cases, any computing device that requests the execution of or receives for execution a set of commands, procedures, or applications from the Program or that is otherwise managed by the Program is considered a separate User of the Program and requires an entitlement as if that device were a person.

IBM User Value Unit (UVU) metric

Products using the UVU metric are licensed based on the number, and type, of users for the associated product. The licensee must obtain sufficient entitlements for the number of UVUs required for the licensee’s environment as defined by the specific software terms, which can be found in the IBM License Information (LI) document for the associated product. The IBM LI document also contains the User Value Unit table, which is used in determining liability. An example User Value Unit table is shown below:

For 1 to 5,000 Users, 1 User Value Unit per User.
For 5,001 to 15,000 Users, 0.5 User Value Unit per User.
For 15,001 to 50,000 Users, 0.3 User Value Unit per User.
For 50,001 to 150,000 Users, 0.2 User Value Unit per User.
For 150,001 to 500,000 Users, 0.1 User Value Unit per User.
For 500,001 to 1 million Users, 0.05 User Value Unit per User.
For greater than 1 million to 3 million Users, 0.025 User Value Unit per User.
For greater than 3 million Users, 0.01 User Value Unit per User.

We recommend that inventory with a UVU metric is entered using a summary user count. You may choose to:

Calculate the liability manually
You may manually calculate the liability using the User Value Unit table (taken from the IBM LI document for the associated product). You may then enter the calculated liability as a summary user count on the Software Users page.

Configure License Optimizer to allow the liability to be calculated automatically
You may choose to add the User Value Unit table bands to the Product Metric Configuration in License Optimizer allowing the liability to be calculated automatically. You achieve this from the Configure by Product tab on the Reconciliation page. For more information, see Product Metric Configuration: Add / Edit Value Unit Bands.

UVU entitlements are specific to the product and type of user and may not be exchanged, interchanged, or aggregated with UVU entitlements of another program or type of user.