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April 2002 Update (this page)
IBM's 30 April 2002 Announcements
On 30 April 2002, IBM announced changes to zSeries Software
Pricing and new z900 models. (Please note that on 30Apr2002, this
page was sent to people who asked to be notified when our website
or papers were updated. Click here
if you want to be notified about our website.) Highlights include:
- Price Decreases for z/OS and for Variable
WLC Middleware Products
- New Flexibility in Choosing When to Begin Workload License Charges
- Charges can be based on the Maximum Sum of LPARs at a "Point
In Time" rather than the Sum of LPAR's Defined Capacities
- Sixteen New "z900 Turbo" Models
More details are provided in the following
sections and links to other areas on our website are at the bottom
of this email.
Al Sherkow has been providing independent consulting services
since forming I/S Management Strategies, Ltd. in 1988. These services
are related to Workload License Charges, Performance Management
and Capacity Planning for MVS, OS/390 and z/OS systems. Al has never
been the employee of a software or hardware vendor.
Al has done more presentations on WLC, ILM and IRD than anyone
else outside of IBM. ComputerWorld interviewed Al for an April
8th article on WLC in "IBM
license hard to adopt: Users Workload-based model cumbersome,
they say". On 30 April 2002 ComputerWorld also quoted
an email analysis of the announcements in "IBM
to cut prices on z/OS software by up to 30%".
Click here for Al's Upcoming Speaking
schedule (updated 23July2002).
Price Decreases
- Over 875 MSUs (5000+ MIPS) the price points for z/OS are lowered
by 30%
- Over 575 MSUs (3300+ MIPS) the price points for VWLC Middleware
products are lowered by 25%
New LPAR Utilization Model Added to WLC
Before the 30Apr2002 announcements charges for a product were
based on the sum of the defined capacities of the LPARs the product
executed in. This required an installation to determine what the
defined capacities should be for their LPARs. Further, there were
many installations where the sum of the defined capacities was
larger than the size of the machine. (Of course, the charges were
then based on the size of the machine.) These installations did
not realize any "whitespace" and had difficulty achieving
a software cost savings.
Effective July 1st, the maximum 4 hour rolling average utilization
of the LPARs is used to determine the charges. Installations do
not have to set defined capacities, which makes this new option
easier to implement. Based on my experience more installations will
have "whitespace" and therefore cost savings with charges
based on utilization rather than defined capacities. LPAR's can
still have a defined capacity, which will continue to implement
a softcap if the rolling 4-hour average exceeds the defined capacity.
This will be useful for many sites that have one or more LPARs in
which they want to limit usage, and therefore software charges.
This function will require service for the z/OS Workload Manager.
The original goals of WLC will be achievable by more installations.
As I've said in presentations and seminars I believe that IBM truly
intends that installations can reduce software costs with WLC relative
to the costs of PSLC and this is one more change in WLC that helps
some installations. Whitespace is achievable and the software charges
can still be separated from the hardware charges.
Also being announced today is that installations can choose when
they want to transition from PSLC to WLC. Staying with PSLC allows
an installation to continue with Usage License Charges and with
New Application License Charges. You cannot have the "whitespace"
advantage of WLC while you are on PSLC. You will be paying for all
installed capacity. Once an installation moves to WLC they cannot
go back to PSLC (though there are some exceptions between May and
September; see the terms and conditions in the PSLC contract).
Today's changes do not decrease the need for installations to implement
software capacity planning as an extension to their hardware capacity
planning. This planning will still be necessary for preparing plans
and budgets. Some installations will implement defined capacity
for all LPARs, others may for one or two, some installations will
not use defined capacity.
There are some wrinkles in LPAR pricing that need to be carefully
examined:
- Assumptions
- a z900 with three LPARs, A, B and C
- LPAR A has z/OS, IMS/DB and CICS
- LPAR B has z/OS, CICS and DB2
- LPAR C has z/OS, CICS, DB2, COBOL, and IMS/DB
| Products |
The Charge Will be Based on the Highest
4 Hour Rolling Average of Which LPARs?? |
| z/OS and CICS |
A, B and C |
| IMS/DB |
A and C |
| DB2 |
B and C |
| COBOL |
C |
- Summary
- This example machine has 4 different "highest observed
rolling 4-hour average utilization of an LPAR or LPARs where
that product is executing"
- The number of LPAR combinations that will be used for billing
depends on how the Variable WLC products are being used
- With 3 LPARs there are 7 possible combinations, with 4 LPARs
there are 15 possible combinations
- the number of combinations is (2 ˆ n)-1, where
“n” is the number of LPARs
What should your installation do?
There is no "magic answer". You shouldn't let anyone
tell you what is best for you. Each environment is different and
requires it's own independent analysis. Leveraging these changes
to improve your TCO will require continued effort and planning.
The primary reference for IBM's Software Pricing is the zSeries
Software Pricing Website. The US announcement letter for these
changes is 202-105.
- Sixteen new models (2C1-216) are approximately 20% faster than
models 1C1-116. All have the 20 PU MCM, that is there are no 201-211
models based on a 12 PU MCM.
- General Availability is 15May2002 for the z900 Turbo
- Also G5/G6 to z900 Turbo upgrades, and
- z900 models 112-116 to z900 Turbo upgrades
- Other upgrades available 3rd Quarter
- Customer Initiated Upgrade
- Similar to the current "Capacity on Demand" facilities,
but with a Web Interface
- Improved Connectivity
- Improved Security
- Improved Virtualization with z/VM 4.3
- Accounting for Linux guests!
- TCP/IP Improvements
The US announcement letter for this hardware is 102-123.
For More Information
Please visit our web site at www.sherkow.com
or contact us via email, or via phone
at +1 414 332-3062.
Please email us with any questions, comments or requests.
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Last Updated:
Sunday, 13 October, 2002
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