A Primer for IBM’s New CMP/CMLC Sub-Capacity Pricing Metrics

Whitepaper

Most IT organizations running System z mainframe operations pay for a significant portion of their software products monthly in the form of an IBM Monthly License Charge (MLC) using sub-capacity pricing. The monthly bill is derived from the monthly Sub-Capacity Report (SCRT) for each software product, and it is based on the peak rolling 4-hour average (R4HA) of machine capacity usage (measured in MSUs) for every LPAR in which the applicable software products are in use. The monthly bill is an aggregate of all machine capacity used on all CPCs.

If your IT organization’s peak aggregate monthly R4HA is higher than 2500 MSUs, and you are experiencing constant growth in R4HA usage—and the monthly bill you pay to IBM is also constantly growing—there is some good news for you. You are going to be able to pay less for the machine capacity needed for either the growth of existing workloads, and for new workloads, by signing up for a new sub-capacity offering called Country Multiplex Pricing (CMP).