Summary
This Knowledgebase article discusses how to present Continuity Engine licensing options to end users. The goal of this article is to present partners with the skills to present the subscription licencing model and how it is different from perpetual to their customers.
There are now two types of subscriptions:
TERM: Customers purchase a "right to use" with annual maintenance renewal. The goal is to get both Neverfail and its partners to a predictable revenue model. Term licenses do require renewal every year or replication will shutdown. Customers will have 90 days ahead of the expiration date to pay for their renewal.
How will customers know when their renewal is due?
Partners will get a report from Neverfail on the quarterly renewals that are pending. In addition, the customer will see the countdown in the Engine Management Service UI that will ensure they know renewal is due. The user can see it on the dashboard, list of servers and on the cluster status. If email notification is enabled, they will also get a notification.
RENTAL: Rental is an OPEX model that provides cost effective means of using Continuity Engine. Rental does require at least a 12 month commitment. Neverfail does not invoice end users for use but the partner only.
TERM - CAPX | RENTAL - OPEX |
- Buy a Right to Use License, then a Lower Yearly
Maintenance Fee
- Renewal Rates are Based on Region
- Requires Connection to Engine Licensing Server
- Supports Offline Activation
- Renewal is billed on a Yearly Basis with a 90-day
warning built into the software
- Maintenance Renewal is Required, or Replication Services
WILL Stop
- 30 Day Grace Period from Renewal Date
|
- Licenses are Automatically Regenerated Monthly
- Requires Connection to Engine Licensing Server
- Does not Support Offline Activation
- Renewal is billed on a Monthly Basis but Requires
12-month Commitment Then Pay-as-You-Go
- Only Sold in Packs for 5 and 25 through Select and
Distribution Partners
- Higher Volume, Lower Pricing
- Maintenance is included in Price
|
FOR APAC REGION ONLY
PERPETUAL LIMITED: Neverfail has another Term license option that are more expensive than its annual term. Its called Perpetual Limited (PL). The goal of perpetual limited is to provide APAC partners with another set of licensing options for customers who don't want to pay annual maintenance. Perpetual limited is offered to 4 year and 10 year options. Its called "limited" because it is limited in use as a tradeoff for longer duration.
Limitations
- PL is a long term license but it does have a end point (4 Year and 10 Year).
- At the end of the Term (4 Year and 10 Year) a new license will need to be purchased.
- PL licenses come with 2 years of maintenance and support upfront.
- Remaining years of maintenance and support are on an OPT-IN model. Customers will not be billed. Customers can choose to add up to 2 more years (4 year PL) and up to 8 years (10 Year PL) of maintenance and support optionally.
- Licenses can not be transferred to new hardware.
- Licenses can not be regenerated if for some reason the identity of the server is changed.
If a customer wants long term licenses with none of the limited listed above, they can still buy an annual Term license with extended support for multiple years. This is a more cost effective option than perpetual limited. However for the customer who really doesn't want the requirement of renewal, PL is the only option. It is only available to APAC partners.
Understanding Part Numbers
Continuity Engines part numbers are represented typically by a six abbreviation method to identify its configuration. Although the descriptions in the pricelist tell what the product is, its also helpful to understand how to read the part numbers. It will make finding the right products and quoting them much easier. The following diagram shows how the part numbers are constructed.
This configuration is a Continuity Engine pair with WANSmart with a TERM license. Its a virtual server for distribution partners in Asia Pacific region with enterprise support. This makes it much simpler to quote as you will have at a minimum (1) product part number and perhaps (1) line item for professional services for installation. There is no need for a product configurator with Continuity Engine.