Tx Bob, I will ask at IBM, but I want to be prepared.
ITschak On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 5:47 PM, Richards, Robert B. < [email protected]> wrote: > Itschak, > > I am not a contract lawyer! :-) > > Without elaboration and strictly my opinion: > > "NO" to all your questions. IBM publishes, for all the world to see (on the > web, on contracts, etc.) its pricing metrics and Terms and Conditions (T&C) > for those metrics that usually apply to all. As a rule, there is no > differentiation made between one company or another. I believe, in the US, > it is not legal for IBM to do so. Outside the US, most of the same contract > rules are still applied. > > Having said that, I have seen variable pricing "discounts and uplifts" in > EMEA due to the presence (or lack thereof) of competitive situations. But > not wholesale "I get it free and you have to pay" scenarios and certainly > not with different T&Cs. > > I'll let others provide a more authoritative response. Better yet, why not > ask your friendly IBM rep to answer this? > > Bob > > > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Itschak Mugzach > Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2010 8:51 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: IBM MLC discount policies > > Thanks to those who replied. My question is more about the limitation IBM > took or put on IBM on pricing. For example. is this possible that one > customer will pay for a product (not a OTC product) and the other will > not? > is this legal from IBM procedures point view? What I am trying to > understand > is, does MLC pricing (Whic his based on size, usage, or workload, but there > is a clwar rule to differentiate customers, or MLC pricing methods are a > negotiation starting point...) a recommendation or must for IBM ? > > ITschak > > On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 3:35 PM, Richards, Robert B. < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > Excellent list, Timothy! > > > > One other "minor" point that may not be valid anymore (it has been 13 > years > > since I was last a s/390 Client Rep): > > > > If you happen to be negotiating with IBM in late 4th quarter, you may be > > able to get them to be a little more accommodating if they are trying to > hit > > certain revenue quotas. <smile> > > > > Bob > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On > > Behalf Of Timothy Sipples > > Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2010 8:25 AM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: IBM MLC discount policies > > > > I'll run through the list, in no particular order: > > > > 1. An IBM Enterprise License Agreement (ELA), and other IBM agreements > > which incorporate ELA terms and conditions, is/are a way to get some > > additional value from your MLC. In very simple terms, if you can > reasonably > > forecast your MLC and make a financial commitment to some particular MSU > > growth path, IBM provides some "coupons" (or credits) which can be used > to > > acquire IBM "One-Time Charge" (OTC/IPLA) software licenses. The more the > > growth commitment, the more the credits. (Note that the credits must be > > spent immediately, upon contract execution, so perhaps credits isn't the > > right word.) > > > > In my personal opinion those credits should be treated as reductions in > the > > MLC, especially if you're calculating chargebacks and such. > > > > I strongly recommend exploring this sort of licensing with your friendly > > IBM representative. It's good for you, it's good for IBM, and it's very > > easy to do considering that you almost certainly already have capacity > > forecasts. > > > > 2. If you are a qualified business partner (such as a qualified software > > developer for z/OS, z/VSE, etc.) or academic institution, you are likely > > eligible for sharp reductions in MLC through such programs as > PartnerWorld > > and the System z Academic Initiative. > > > > 3. If you would like to run a new workload that qualifies for zNALC > > licensing, you can receive a major reduction in z/OS MLC. DB2 Value Unit > > Edition licensing may also be available for that workload. > > > > 4. If you would like to run a qualifying new System z Solution Edition > > workload, you would receive a single price quotation for all hardware > > ("MIPS"), hardware maintenance, software licensing, and software > > subscription/support for up to 5 years. Obviously there is an MLC > reduction > > incorporated into that quotation. > > > > 5. Standard MLC terms and conditions already include a number of > discounts, > > and more seem to get invented. A few examples: > > > > a. MLC pricing is strongly "curved." The more you use, the lower the > price > > for each incremental MSU. (And recently IBM added more tiers to maintain > > that basic principle.) > > > > b. It's variable under VWLC, MWLC, and AWLC. If you have a "quiet" month, > > you automatically get a discount. > > > > c. Likewise, it's subcapacity. If you only run MQ in one LPAR, then you > > only pay for that LPAR (under VWLC, MWLC, AWLC, zNALC, or Solution > > Edition). > > > > d. You're always in control, through defined capacity settings > ("softcaps") > > for individual LPARs and for groups of LPARs. As long as you know how to > > twist the softcap "knobs," surprises are never possible. > > > > e. It applies only to real work (dev/test/prod). For example, there's no > > additional charge for a real disaster, or for cold or warm standby, or > for > > a proscribed number of disaster rehearsals (CBU), or for such events as > > relocating machines between data centers (CPE). > > > > f. For the past 10 years there have been "technology dividends." > Sometimes > > these dividends have been in the form of MSU reductions on new machine > > models. Other times they've been in the form of new licensing (e.g. VWLC > in > > 2000 and AWLC in 2010). > > > > g. Specialty engines (zAAPs, zIIPs, ICFs) do not incur IBM software > license > > charges. Software vendors, including IBM, continue to make more of their > > products eligible to run on specialty engines. > > > > h. Specialty accelerators, notably the new Smart Analytics Optimizer, can > > end up effectively reducing MLC, at least on an equal performance > > comparison. > > > > i. IBM is doing a very good job reducing path length in many MLC products > > with new releases, notably z/OS, DB2 10, IMS, and (especially if you > > exploit threadsafe) CICS. > > > > 6. IBM tries to be reasonable. For example, if you're migrating from one > > machine to another (such as a machine upgrade), and you need a short > period > > when you're running MLC on both machines but are still supporting the > same > > workloads (same number of users, same transaction volumes, etc.), you can > > request a short-term waiver on one of the machines (generally the smaller > > one). IBM does not promise to honor such requests but will consider them > in > > good faith. > > > > As always, I do not speak for IBM. Which means I might be more > > entertaining. > > > > - - - - - > > Timothy Sipples > > Resident Enterprise Architect > > STG Value Creation & Complex Deals Team > > IBM Growth Markets (Based in Singapore) > > E-Mail: [email protected] > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > > send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO > > Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO > Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO > Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
