On February 5th VMware announced an important change to their licensing metric. Off course VMWare explains that this is to be able to better serve customers, but we all know the change must bring more revenue for the future. So what are the changes?
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From processor to processor
Where most of the major software vendors (like Microsoft, Oracle and IBM) changed for ‘per processor’ to ‘per core’ licensing quite some time ago, VMWare is changing the licensing metric per May 1st 2020. As of that date, for any processor with over 32 physical cores a customer needs two processor (CPU) licenses instead of one. With that, there is no change to a ‘per core’ licensing model, but a change to a ‘per 32 core in one processor’ licensing model. The graphic below clarifies the changes:
Grace period
Despite the fact that the change goes into effect on April 2nd 2020, VMWare allows customers a grace period. Customer who buy licenses before 30th April 2020 for processors with 32 core or more will be able to apply for additional licenses, free of charge, before January 29 2021. Though the licenses are ‘for free’, VMWare will make the customer buy minimal basic support for those licenses.
However, piling up licenses for future use is not allowed, the servers for which these additional ‘free of charge’ licenses are granted must be purchased before 30th April 2020 also.
Applying for the additional licenses can be done through a VMWare reseller or by raising a ticket in the My VMWare support portal.
Assistance
Might you require assistance with a smart and cost effective VMWare licensing design or want to know how to realize cost optimization for your software licensing? Please do contact one of our VMWare software licensing consultants.