Posted at: 12:03 PM on 22 January 2010 by Muhimbi
Any organisation that deals with computer software, free or otherwise, must be aware of the License Agreement that comes with a software product. How many computers can the software be used on, by how many users and how long is the license valid are only some of the questions that need to be answered.
We have invested quite some time in making our Software License Agreement readable for people without a legal background. However, it is difficult to cover all grounds using plain English.
This post attempts to explain the key elements of our Software Agreement in plain English. Note that this is only a summary and does not replace the actual License Agreement.
The following topics are discussed in this post:
- Summary of available licenses
- Renewing Licenses / Support licenses
- What servers / environments do you need a license for
- Licensing requirements for non SharePoint based deployments
We use a graded licensing system to match your budget and exact needs. The following license types are available:
- Free evaluation version: If you install the software without a license then you are using the evaluation version. The software is fully functional without any time limits, but an evaluation message will be displayed on most screens and in any generated document. You are not permitted to use any evaluation software in your production environment. Support is provided using any of the means in the Support area on our site.
- Web Application License: This license is sold at a considerable discount to allow small organisations with just a single SharePoint server and Web Application to get started with our software. If you have a single SharePoint server then you can use this license on a single Web Application on as many Site Collections as you like.
- Web Farm License: If you have more than one server in your SharePoint farm or want to use our software on multiple Web Applications then you may want to consider this license. If you want to use our software on multiple farms or if your farm is spread over multiple geographical locations then you need either a Site or OEM license as described below.
- Site License: If you have multiple separate SharePoint Farms, for example when you are a hosting company, then this license may be the best option as it allows the software to be used on an unlimited number of separate SharePoint farms at a single location.
- OEM License: If your SharePoint Farm or Farms spreads multiple physical locations, e.g. across a data centre, Disaster recovery site and or local branch offices OR if you want to bundle our Software as part of your own solution then the OEM Subscription is most likely the best option. Please read the details in the Software License Agreement if you want to bundle our software with your own solution. Note that you are not allowed to use our Products to develop derived works that offer similar functionality as the Product or expose the features of the Product for use by an unlicensed third party unless agreed with Muhimbi.
- OEM License + Source Code: If you need all the benefits of the OEM License and / or you need access to the source code to make modifications specific to your organisation, then this license type is the best option. Note that we do not provide support for our software once changes have been made to the source code. Please read the details in the Software License Agreement if you want to bundle our software with your own solution. Note that you are not allowed to use our Products to develop derived works that offer similar functionality as the Product or expose the features of the Product for use by an unlicensed third party unless agreed with Muhimbi.
Renewing Licenses / Support licenses
Independent of the type of license purchased, you automatically receive a 1 year support license, which entitles you to free updates and access to our support desk using any of the means listed on the Contact Us page.
After the support license has expired your software will continue to work, but you can no longer download new versions released after the expiry of the license. You can renew your support license for 30% of the current retail price, which is not necessarily the price you originally bought the product for, although they may be the same.
What servers / environments do you need a license for
Some vendors charge extra license fees for Development or Test environments, which - quite frankly - we find a questionable practice. Having said that, some organisations run the same software in multiple environments. The most common environments are summarised below with an explanation about any extra licenses needed.
- Development: This environment is commonly used by Software or SharePoint developers to create or update solutions using tools such as Visual Studio and SharePoint Designer. Providing our software is used for development purposes only and not used for any production use then you don’t need a separate license for this environment. Examples of Production use in a Development environment is running our PDF Converter on the Development Team’s SharePoint Server if this server is located in the Development subnet and used for production use, e.g. storing documents for the development projects.
- Systems Test: Once development on a software project has finished, the solution is commonly installed and tested in a clean test environment that resembles the Production environment. Providing this environment is not used for Production use, it rarely is, you do not need an extra license.
- User Acceptance Test: Once the development team has finished development, the end-users usually test the solution as well to see if it matches the requirements and functions as expected. Some organisations use the Systems Test environment for this, but other organisations have a separate UAT environment. Providing this environment is not used for Production use, it rarely is, you do not need an extra license.
- Support: Some organisations run an identical copy of their Production environment in a so called Support environment. Quite often this environment runs very recent data based on backups taken the day before. Support staff can assist users and troubleshoot problems on a relatively up to date copy of the system without impacting the data in the Production system. From a licensing perspective this is a grey area as this environment is sometimes used for Production use. For example, if a Production user requests assistance with the conversion of a PDF file and this conversion is then carried out by a member of the support team in the Support environment and the resulting file is transferred to the user then this is considered Production use and you need a license for this environment.
- Staging: Depending on the kind of solutions in place, an organisation or team may need a staging environment. Staging environments are commonly used, but not limited to, content management based solutions to prepare content for an Intranet or public web site. Providing this environment runs on a farm separate from the Production farm you need a license for this environment:
- Production: Production environments always need a license.
- Disaster Recovery: Many of the larger organisation mirror their production environment in an off-site Disaster Recovery Centre. From a licensing perspective we consider Disaster Recovery Centres to be Production environments, even if disaster never strikes and the environment is never used.
- In summary, if you need a license for more than one environment, get a Site License if all servers are based in one physical location. Purchase an OEM License if your servers are spread over multiple locations.
Licensing requirements for non SharePoint based deployments
Our products mainly focus on use from a SharePoint environment. However, some products can also be used from non SharePoint environments as well. For example, our PDF Conversion Service can run as a standalone service and be accessed from any application that supports Web Services.
The licenses are largely the same, with the exception of the Web Application License, which is only available for SharePoint based environments.
- Web Farm License: Get this license if you want to access our software from a single solution on an unlimited number of servers located at a single location, using an unlimited number of developers and end-users.
- Site License: If you intend to access our software from multiple solutions located on servers at the same site, then get this license.
- OEM License: If you want to access our software from servers spread across more than one physical location then get this license.
- OEM License + Source Code: If you need all the benefits of the OEM License and / or you need access to the source code to make modifications specific to your organisation, then this license type is the best option. Note that we do not provide support for our software once changes have been made to the source code. Please read the details in the Software License Agreement if you want to bundle our software with your own solution. Note that you are not allowed to use our Products to develop derived works that offer similar functionality as the Product or expose the features of the Product for use by an unlicensed third party unless agreed with Muhimbi.
I realise this post is almost longer than the License Agreement is is trying to explain, but I hope it clarifies our licensing position. If you have any further questions then please check out the following sources or contact us at licensing@muhimbi.com.
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Labels: Audit, MuSH, Partnering, PDF Converter, Products, WPP
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