The Licensing Impacts of IBM Cloud Paks
What are IBM Cloud Paks? | 01:06 – 02:55
Per IBM, Cloud Paks are “lightweight, enterprise-grade, modular cloud solutions, integrating a container platform, containerized IBM middleware and open source components, and common software services for development and management.”
The main purpose of IBM Cloud Paks is for software to be more easily deployed into the Cloud. An IBM Cloud Pak consists of the following:
– Existing IBM Software Product Bundles
– Additional Red Hat Product Licenses (RHEL & OpenShift)
– Product Ratios with Swap Options
– Consolidated Purchasing Part Number
– Virtual Processor Core (VPC) or Managed Virtual Server (MVS) Metrics
– Containerized Software Deployment Packages
The Most Common IBM Cloud Pak Bundles | 02:56 – 04:43
In this section, we give a little detail about the most common Cloud Paks.
Cloud Pak for Applications
Includes: WebSphere Application Server ND, WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Application Server Liberty Core, Mobile Foundation
Cloud Pak for Integration
Includes: MQ & MQ Advanced, App Connect Enterprise, API Connect, DataPower Virtual, Aspera, Event Streams (Kafka)
Cloud Pak for Automation
Includes: Operational Decision Maker, Business Automation Workflow, FileNet Content Manager, Datacap, Datacap Insight Edition Add-On, Content Collector, Enterprise Records
Cloud Pak for Multicloud Management
Includes: Cloud Pak for Multicloud Management Core, Event Management, Infrastructure Management, Base Monitoring, Advanced Monitoring
Cloud Pak for Security
Includes: RSO, A&R Platform; RSO, A&R Platform Privacy; RSO, A&R Platform MSSP; RSO, A&R Platform Team Management; QRadar Software; QRadar Event Capacity; QRadar Data Store; and more
Licensing IBM Cloud Paks – Considerations, Cost Implications, Benefits | 04:45 – 10:20
Considerations:
Perpetual vs Subscription-based?
Typical breakeven is targeted at 3 years, meaning for projects lasting longer than that you may want to consider perpetual. It may make more sense to go subscription-based for shorter-term projects.
On-prem vs. Cloud?
The licenses can be utilized both on-premise and cloud infrastructure. Cloud Paks are versatile and flexible when transitioning from on-premise to the cloud.
Existing Licensing
IBM has stated that they are moving toward Cloud Paks, though traditional licensing is still available. However, IBM has announced that it will be removing many of the discounts on traditional licensing and focusing on the hybrid cloud.
Cost Impacts:
S&S Commitments
Some additional Red Hat licenses are only available if you keep the license on S&S.
Adopting Cloud
As mentioned, IBM will be removing most of the incentives to continue with traditional licensing. Most of the software product releases going forward will be deployed in a way to be easily adopted and configured to be added directly into cloud environments.
Monitoring
There will be an additional effort required to monitor and properly assign deployments to appropriate Cloud Pak licenses.
Fixed Ratios
There are fixed ratios inherent to Cloud Paks. Because of this, you can lose some granularity, and if you don’t use the full amount of the ratio you may still have to pay for the full amount.
Benefit:
Flexibility
It is easy to switch between products or metrics within the bundle. This also applies to switching from non-production to production or vice-versa in certain Cloud Paks.
Monitoring IBM Cloud Paks | 10:21 – 21:10
Two different tools exist to monitor Cloud Paks, depending on your deployment strategy. ILMT is available for non-containerized environments, License Services is available for containerized environments. Additionally, there is an aggregation tool that consolidates the outputs from ILMT and License Services included in the IBM Cloud Pak for Multicloud Manager.
For step-by-step Cloud Pak licensing instructions in ILMT and License Services watch the webinar from 11:27-13:15.
To better understand IBM Cloud Pak ratios and the associated licensing considerations, watch from 11:15-21:10.
Q&A | 21:11 – 31:12
Learn more about Anglepoint’s work with IBM Licensing in our IBM and IT Environment Case Study
