Mainframe, MVS and zOS Discussion

Hello All ,

I am curious and confused in understanding z Systems Software Licensing and Pricing .
So far after reading many sites and IBM Links ,my understanding is Licensing and Pricing are 2 different stages where money is involved .

My question and understanding is , I will explain with example :

Phase 1 :
I have Mainframe CPC rating 1500 msu . I plan to deploy DB2 on this CPC . So from IBM I will have to ask for License of Using DB2 which is allowed to run on 1500 msu box . So will I have to pay up-front fees for obtaining this license ?
Is this what we call it a base software price ?


Phase 2 :
Now I have installed and DB2 is running on my system . This will come under software pricing category whether I go for full capacity pricing or sub-capacity pricing . This will be my MLC charges what I need to pay to IBM for using DB2 on monthly basis .

Is my understanding correct in both cases ?


Regards,
Manoj Jadwani

You are in a very complicated area when talking about system z software costs. For some sites, what you have said is true -- there will be a base charge (upfront fee) and monthly costs. For other sites, there may only be monthly costs. There typically is a good bit of negotiation over software and the fees when working out a contract. One of the IBM websites, http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/resources/swprice/ , defines 9 different MLC pricing metrics as an example of the complexity.