IBM's all or nothing rule

10 years ago

The ' All or nothing' rule is a restriction that an IBM customer cannot have partial maintenance (Subscription & Support) per site for a specific product. The customer cannot have deployments of a higher version than as entitled during the last maintenance period. This means that if an IBM customer deploys a version (even just one single installation) higher than the version it is entitled to, it will need to reinstate the full quantity of deployments within the site for that product, even if a large majority of the deployments would be an ‘old’ version. Such a reinstatement requirement can be very costly and represents approximately 60% of the license price . Example : A customer has a Lotus Notes installation of 10 000 instances. As they were phasing Lotus Notes out to replace with Exchange the customer didn’t want to renew maintenance on the full estate. They only wanted to keep maintenance for 50 developers, who still needed these licenses. As part of a settlement, they were surprised to see a reinstatement fee for 9 950 licenses – an unexpected cost of 600 000 EUR. How Snow deals with this: Thanks to SRS release dates combined with purchase dates (and S&S renewal periods) for IBM products, Snow automatically maps the license purchases to entitled, versioned IBM products. This enables a customer to understand where risks against the ‘all or nothing’ rule may occur for proactive mitigation. The contractual language regarding the 'All or nothing rule' can be found here: The all or nothing rule is in effect since the Passport Advantage contract revision in 2011. The contractual language in 2011: http://www.nohau.se/$2/file/pa-agreement-international-english.pdf FOR THE AUTHORIZED USE OF EACH IBM PROGRAM INSTALLED AND IN SERVICE AT A CUSTOMER'S SITE, CUSTOMER HAS THE OPTION TO MAINTAIN IBM SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTION AND SUPPORT FOR EITHER (a) ALL OF THE AUTHORIZED USE OR (b) NONE OF THE AUTHORIZED USE. THERE IS NO OPTION FOR MAINTAINING IBM SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTION AND SUPPORT COVERAGE FOR ONLY A PORTION OF AUTHORIZED USE INSTALLED AND IN SERVICE FOR AN IBM PROGRAM AT A CUSTOMER SITE. In the latest version (2014) it says: http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/passportadvantage/PA_Agreements/PA_Agreement_International_English.pdf If Client elects to continue IBM Software Subscription and Support for an IBM Program at a designated Client Site, Client must maintain IBM Software Subscription and Support for all uses and installations of the IBM Program at that Site. If Client requests to renew expiring IBM Software Subscription and Support at a lesser quantity of IBM Program uses and installations than the expiring quantity, Client must provide a report that verifies current IBM Program usage and installation, and may be required to provide other compliance verification information. Client shall not use IBM Software Subscription and Support benefits for IBM Programs for which Client has not fully paid for IBM Software Subscription and Support. If Client does, Client must acquire IBM Software Subscription and Support reinstatement sufficient to cover all such unauthorized use at then current IBM prices.

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Community Manager (Flexera Software)
10 years ago
The ' All or nothing' rule is a restriction that an IBM customer cannot have partial maintenance (Subscription & Support) per site for a specific product. The customer cannot have deployments of a higher version than as entitled during the last maintenance period. This means that if an IBM customer deploys a version (even just one single installation) higher than the version it is entitled to, it will need to reinstate the full quantity of deployments within the site for that product, even if a large majority of the deployments would be an ‘old’ version. Such a reinstatement requirement can be very costly and represents approximately 60% of the license price . Example : A customer has a Lotus Notes installation of 10 000 instances. As they were phasing Lotus Notes out to replace with Exchange the customer didn’t want to renew maintenance on the full estate. They only wanted to keep maintenance for 50 developers, who still needed these licenses. As part of a settlement, they were surprised to see a reinstatement fee for 9 950 licenses – an unexpected cost of 600 000 EUR. How Snow deals with this: Thanks to SRS release dates combined with purchase dates (and S&S renewal periods) for IBM products, Snow automatically maps the license purchases to entitled, versioned IBM products. This enables a customer to understand where risks against the ‘all or nothing’ rule may occur for proactive mitigation. The contractual language regarding the 'All or nothing rule' can be found here: The all or nothing rule is in effect since the Passport Advantage contract revision in 2011. The contractual language in 2011: http://www.nohau.se/$2/file/pa-agreement-international-english.pdf FOR THE AUTHORIZED USE OF EACH IBM PROGRAM INSTALLED AND IN SERVICE AT A CUSTOMER'S SITE, CUSTOMER HAS THE OPTION TO MAINTAIN IBM SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTION AND SUPPORT FOR EITHER (a) ALL OF THE AUTHORIZED USE OR (b) NONE OF THE AUTHORIZED USE. THERE IS NO OPTION FOR MAINTAINING IBM SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTION AND SUPPORT COVERAGE FOR ONLY A PORTION OF AUTHORIZED USE INSTALLED AND IN SERVICE FOR AN IBM PROGRAM AT A CUSTOMER SITE. In the latest version (2014) it says: http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/passportadvantage/PA_Agreements/PA_Agreement_International_English.pdf If Client elects to continue IBM Software Subscription and Support for an IBM Program at a designated Client Site, Client must maintain IBM Software Subscription and Support for all uses and installations of the IBM Program at that Site. If Client requests to renew expiring IBM Software Subscription and Support at a lesser quantity of IBM Program uses and installations than the expiring quantity, Client must provide a report that verifies current IBM Program usage and installation, and may be required to provide other compliance verification information. Client shall not use IBM Software Subscription and Support benefits for IBM Programs for which Client has not fully paid for IBM Software Subscription and Support. If Client does, Client must acquire IBM Software Subscription and Support reinstatement sufficient to cover all such unauthorized use at then current IBM prices.
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- Community Manager (Flexera Software)
  10 years ago
  Just to add an additional piece of information: IBM can decide whether or not to offer the possibility of re-instating an entilement. Depending on the time since last S&S (maintenance), they might require a customer to acquire completely new licenses. Also, if an incompliant usage as stated above would be found in an audit, the customer would most likely face demands not only for completely new licenses (D parts), but also for corresponding S&S (E parts) for up to three years in the past and for at least 12 months in the future. This can lead to demands of 200% or more of the software list price.
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  - Paul W
    9 years ago
    It's probably best to state that in the original example the usage wouldnt be "non-compliant" providing the customer has purchased perpetual licenses that were supported to the installed version of the software, they would just be "not supported" Also if any customer were to receive a demand of 200% (which I know does happen) I would strongly advise them to speak to an experienced IBM licensing consultant as most of these demands are arising from audit firms that can sometimes make mistakes in their understanding of vendor (not just IBM) licensing structures.
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