When licensing their software, many manufacturers distinguish between named (pay-per-license) and concurrent (pay-per-use) licenses. Both models differ in essential points. But what are the differences? What is the best model for your specific requirements? Here are answer to all important questions and clarify which licensing model is recommended in which situation.
What are named licenses?
Named licenses give an exact number of registered users the right to use a resource, e.g. a software or platform. This means that only a predefined number of selected users may access the resource. Named licenses are also known as single licenses or user licenses. Accordingly, the number of licenses is in a 1-to-1 ratio to the number of users. For example, a software that is licensed in a company with three named users can also be used by three registered users only.
Example for named licenses:
Your organisation purchased three named licenses of a resource.
Three previously registered users can use the resource.
What are concurrent licenses?
In the classic sense, concurrent licenses, also known as group licenses, give you the right to use a resource for a group of users. As a rule, concurrent licenses offer the possibility of setting a maximum for simultaneous use of applications. In this case, each user is entitled to use the resource, but only up to the specified maximum number of permitted accesses. With such a limit, it is common that more users are registered than actual concurrent licenses available.
For example, there are ten concurrent licenses of a particular resource in the company, which a maximum of ten registered users can access at the same time. Once the ten concurrent licenses are in use at any given time, no more users are allowed to use the resource and each additional user is denied access until a license becomes available. Concurrent licenses are often slightly more expensive than named licenses. However, in many cases the concurrent model can save costs compared to the named model. A good example of this is in companies where several employees work in shifts and access a software at different times. In comparison to the named model, only half as many licenses are required for two shifts with the concurrent model.
Example for concurrent licenses:
Your organisation has purchased 3 concurrent licenses of a resource.
Each user is entitled to use the resource, …
but only three of them can access it simultaneously.
Concurrent licenses: billing at “Peak”
In the concurrent licensing model, the “Peak” model has become established for billing. If a concurrent license does not have a maximum number of concurrent uses set, a number of used licenses is still required for billing. The “Peak” model uses the maximum number of simultaneous accesses to the resource during a defined period, e.g. during a month.
How are licenses offered at oneclick™?
oneclick™ offers user licenses as single licenses but allows billing according to the pay-per-license (named) as well as the pay-per-use (concurrent) model. In the case of pay-per-use billing, the “Peak” model is applied and all created users who are assigned such a license are authorised to use it.
Basically, oneclick™ distinguishes between two types of licenses for users – oneclick™ Basic and oneclick™ Professional. While the oneclick™ Basic user license allows direct access to only one app and does not include a Hybrid Drive, the oneclick™ Professional user license can be used with several apps including a Hybrid Drive.
In the pay-per-license model, all user licenses are billed at the current license price. However, in the pay-per-use billing model, oneclick™ Professional users are treated differently from oneclick™ Basic users.
With the oneclick™ Professional user license with pay-per-use billing, a small fixed price is charged for each user created in the platform for the provided storage of the included Hybrid Drive. For the number of users that were active at the same time in the peak of the month, a surcharge is usually calculated according to the model. With the oneclick™ Basic license (pay-per-use), the license price is due exclusively for all users who accessed simultaneously in the “Peak” – without base price.
The oneclick™ App (pay-per-use) licenses are provided without base price, only the apps that were opened at the “Peak” at the same time are charged. In order to control costs, limits can be set on the oneclick™ platform which can restrict the simultaneous use of apps. This makes it possible to cover the costs by means of an overall limit and thus limit the invoice amount to a set maximum. It is also possible to set an app limit per user. If, for example, an overall limit of 10 is set, a single user could block all ten licenses and another nine users would no longer be able to access them. If you now set the limit per user to 1, each of the ten users can open the app exactly once.
All license prices of oneclick™ can be found here.
Which licensing model is the best choice for me?
Which model is best for the respective situation must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. If all users have to access a resource in parallel, it is advisable to choose the pay-per-license model, since each user is assigned a right of use at all times and these licenses are usually more cost-effective than these in the pay-per-use model.
The pay-per-use model is interesting for companies if the employees work in shifts or if less than half of the created users have to use the resource at the same time.
Do you have questions about the licensing model of oneclick™? Our sales department will be happy to advise you. Please send an e-mail to sales@oneclick-cloud.com or call +44 121 512 0089 for UK sales or +1 954 568 8112 for USA sales.
