Re: Staying current on releases?

Many software product licenses are not simply tied to the serial #, but also to the processor group, or worse, to the exact model or feature code, or both.

A related problem stems from the fact that many vendors figured out that they could get away with charging more money for each feature code or model change (in effect, charging more for higher CPW systems). IBM's original idea of tiers (processor groups) e.g. P05, P10, P20, P30, P40 and P50, was a reasonable approach to group processors of similar power, etc., and some vendors charge(d) license fees based on the processor group. As long as your company stayed in the same tier (or lower), your software license and maintenance fees would not go up. The problem is, over time, there has been "price erosion" because a 520 P10 today is way more powerful than many P30s or P40s of just a few years ago. This may have lead some vendors to start charging based on the feature code, etc.

Some vendors have moved towards a "per seat" pricing scheme, based on the number of actual users who are using the application. In many situations, this can be a better or more fair way of doing things. Now we see even IBM offering pricing on a "user" basis, with the model 515 and 525.

> franz400@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Why can't IBM sell a new box and carry forward the old serial numbers? Is
there ANY reason technology-wise? This software pricing issue has got to be
hurting Rochester's sales numbers.

There is a legal issue about carrying forward serial numbers to different box. If you want that to work, then industry needs to not tie license to serial#. jim