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In addition to Workload License Charges (WLC), Entry Workload License Charges (EWLC), Midrange Workload License Charges (MWLC), System z New Application License Charges (zNALC), zSeries Entry License Charges (zELC), and Parallel Sysplex License Charges (PSLC), IBM offers a number of other special-purpose monthly license charge pricing metrics and offerings for the mainframe platform. This page is dedicated to providing additional information on these offerings.
IBM S/390 Usage Pricing, also known as Usage License Charges (ULC), offers an attractive pricing alternative on machines with either PSLC or GOLC. ULC provides a mechanism to deploy low-utilization software products across an enterprise, with excellent price/performance. For a product with ULC, software charges are based upon the utilization of that product. ULC price points are available for DB2, CICS, IMS and MQSeries.
For more information on ULC, please read the announcement letter.
Select Application License Charges (SALC) is available solely for MQSeries and only on machines with either Workload License Charges or Entry Workload License Charges. SALC is an excellent price/performance option on very-low utilization installations of MQSeries. SALC is available for either Sub-Capacity or Full Capacity WLC/EWLC machines. For an MQSeries installation with the SALC pricing metric, software charges are based upon the utilization of MQSeries.
ULC and SALC each require the submission of a yearly "Software Usage Report". IBM provides a reporting tool called IFAURP (which ships with OS/390 V2 and z/OS) that analyzes 12 months of Systems Measurement Facility (SMF) data, record type SMF89, and generates the "Software Usage Report". This annual report summarizes the use over the past 12 months and establishes the ULC or SALC MSU level for the next 12 months.
To determine the billable ULC or SALC MSUs for a given product, the following algorithm is applied to each product set. A product set encompasses all the active versions of a given product.
- Daily value: In a given day, MSUs from highest hour of utilization each day
- Monthly value: In a given month, MSUs from the fourth highest daily value
- Yearly (billable) value: In a given year, MSUs from the highest monthly value
For more information on how to generate and interpret a Software Usage Report, please read the MVS Product Management (SA22-7603) publication.
The System z Lifecycle Extension Charge (zLEC) metric is used for pricing of the IBM Lifecycle Extension for z/OS V1.7. While zLEC is not actually a Monthly License Charge (MLC) metric which is used for product pricing, it is a support charge for z/OS which is an MLC product.
IBM Lifecycle Extension for z/OS V1.7 is a fee-based corrective service offering for users who have not completed their migration from z/OS V1.7 to either z/OS V1.8 or V1.9. For more information about IBM Lifecycle Extension for z/OS V1.7 see the announcement.
IBM Lifecycle Extension for z/OS 1.7 is priced based on the total permanent MSU capacity of each server running z/OS V1.7 using the following zLEC tier structure:
| zLEC Structure |
| Tier |
Machine Capacity |
Tier A
 |
4 – 11 MSUs
|
Tier B
|
12 – 21 MSUs
|
Tier C
|
22 – 43 MSUs
|
Tier D
|
44 – 71 MSUs
|
Tier E
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72 – 128 MSUs
|
Tier F
|
129 – 214 MSUs
|
Tier G
|
215 – 357 MSUs
|
Tier H
|
358 – 714 MSUs
|
Tier I
|
715+ MSUs
|
For example, a server with a capacity of 33 MSUs will be charged based on zLEC Tier C, which is in the MSU range of 22-43. A second server with a capacity of 175 MSUs will be charged based on zLEC Tier F, which is in the MSU range of 129-214. Note that each server running z/OS V1.7 will be charged separately from any others, the zLEC tiers are not used cumulatively.
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