I am reposting this - there were some formatting issues with the last post !

Entitlements/Existing Contracts

Q. When are the new Informix pricing and packaging changes effective and what version?

A. The new changes are effective May 25, 2010. The version is 11.50xc7.

 
Q.  How does this new Informix pricing and packaging announcements impact my existing entitlements and contracts?

A. Customers entitlements will be automatically migrated to equivalent new entitlements, see next few questions.
 

Q. Where I can find information about the new products, what they include and what they are replacing?

A. All customers should have received a “customer entitlement migration letter”. This letter is intended to show exactly how license entitlements will be migrated.
 

Q. How do the new entitlements map to what I have today?

A. Customers will be migrated to the new and equivalent license entitlements on 5/25/2010:

Workgroup -> Growth ; Enterprise -> Ultimate. For customers who are on Workgroup for Windows or Mac OS, see customer entitlement migration letter for additional details.
 

Q. Will my entitlements be automatically migrated?

A. Yes. For customers who are on Workgroup for Windows, instructions on how to move to a new edition has been provided in the letter to the customer.
 

Q. Will all existing part numbers be replaced by new part numbers?

A. Yes, except Informix Express.
 

Q. I currently have Informix Workgroup on Windows. It looks like this product is now free.  Does my Workgroup edition get automatically entitled to Ultimate-C? If not, why can’t I simply move to that? 

A. The Workgoup Edition on Windows and the Ultimate-C are not exactly the same in terms of functionality. There are differences. There is no automatic entitlement to a no-charge product. Any customer may use the free Ultimate-C Edition on Windows.  Customers will still retain their entitlement on the new Growth Edition regardless of which OS platform they are using.  License entitlements are perpetual.  Customers have the rights to retain their license entitlements.
 

Q. I currently have entitlements on Transaction Processing Gold Bundle. What happens to my entitlement?

 A. Customers who have license entitlements on the Transaction Processing Gold Bundles will have to manually unbundle.  They may elect to unbundle to the new Informix edition.   When they pay for Subscription and Support (S&S) on the new Informix edition, they will be able to receive Informix software on V11.x and later.

Q.  If I choose to remain of an earlier fixpack or release from Informix V11.50xC7, what does it mean to me?

A. Customers can remain on any version they choose.  The new license entitlement allows them to remain on older Informix releases and fixpacks.  However, in order to take advantage of the higher value functionality in the new Informix editions, customers must be on Informix V11.50xC7 or later.

Pricing

Q. Which Informix version is the new pricing and higher value functionality available on?

A. Informix version 11.50xc7 and later.
 

Q. Where can I find information on the new pricing ?

A. IBM does not publish pricing when announcing new offerings. Pricing varies by country and additionally can depend on other factors. To get specific pricing information, customers should contact their IBM representative.
 

Q. I bought feature options just before this announce came out. How will this pricing and packaging impact my purchase? Can I have my money back?

A. IBM does not offer refunds. But your IBM sales representative has some valuable options that she or he can discuss with you. Contact your IBM sales representative.

 
Q. What are the requirements for optional support when using Innovator-C or Ultimate-C for HDR or in a cluster? Can I  purchase optional support only for the primary?

A. Optional Support is on a “per Install” basis and is valid for only one install of the product. Customers cannot just buy optional support on the primary. They will be required to buy support on all the nodes/deployments that they want support on.

Q. Why are you including previous feature options into the new Ultimate Edition?

A. To simplify pricing, but more importantly, give customers more value to use the industry leading technologies from Informix without additional costs.
 

Q. If I bought the Continuous Availability Feature but I am still on V11.50xC6 (or earlier), do I still have to pay renewal on this feature?

A. No.  This feature and part number has been withdrawn.  Customers will not have to pay renewal on features that have been withdrawn from marketing, regardless of the version and fixpack they are running on.

 
Product Usage

Q. Can the free versions be deployed in production?

Yes for Innovator-C and Ultimate-C. However redistribution of the product as part of an OEM/ASL model, requires a license from IBM.

 
Q. I have Express Edition. What happens to my entitlement?

A. No change.  You can remain on it. If you  decide  to move to the new Innovator-C Edition, which has high-availability functionality and allow up to 1 socket or 4 cores, you can still get software support with the Selected Support offering for Innovator-C Edition. Contact your IBM sales representative to discuss the best option for you.

 
Q. Why do you still have the Developer Edition and time-limited Ultimate Edition with the free offerings ?

A. The Developer Edition has full functionality that is not available in the Innovator-C and Ultimate-C Editions.  It is still suitable for customers and partners who wish to use Informix full functionality.  Note that Developer Edition has limited scalability, and it is for development and test use only.  The time-limited Ultimate Edition has both full functionality and scalability, but it is available for evaluation only up to 90 days.
 

Q. What are the charges for different HA standby modes?

A. The HA warm standby mode charge has changed for HDR, RSS, and CLR.  Informix no longer charges for warm/idle standby mode.  However, the hot standby mode charge remains unchanged.  Customers have to pay full Informix license, based on Informix usage, for each hot standby secondary.  We no longer require the same charge metric on the secondary as the primary.  Customers pay the appropriate charge metric based on usage for each hot standby node.  Cold standby remains at no charge.
 

Q. Will there be any limitations to the numbers of free downloads?  Ie: Can I download one free copy, then just copy it to 10,000 different machines?

A. No limitations will be put on number of downloads.  However, you require a license from IBM if you plan to re-distribute as part of your solution.
 

Q. What keeps me from buying just one support license agreement for one server instance and make support calls on the other 3000 downloads they did?

A. Customers should not purposely abuse their support, just like they cannot do that today on 1 license for 3000 instances.  This will be picked up in IBM compliance audits.
 

Q. What is the difference between IDS and Informix? Why is everything called Informix now?

A. In terms of marketing, messaging and awareness, the name “Informix” has a much better branding recognition, connotation, association and appeal. For instance, “IDS” as a product name is not at all search engine friendly and does not return any top hits relating to Informix. Secondly, existing customers have always referred to and continue to refer to the product as Informix.
 

Q. How do I use the new limits for Growth Edition? How will sub-capacity work?

A. The resource limits for Growth Edition are 4 sockets or 16 cores and 16 GB of memory for the Informix instance (Shared Memory Total). This is across all charge metrics. IBM sub-capacity rules apply as they were for the IDS Workgroup Edition.  In terms of sub-capacity, for LU Socket metric, the machine cannot have physically more than 4 sockets. On LU Socket, customers can utilize sub-capacity on 1-3 sockets. For all other charge metrics, customers can utilize sub-capacity up to 16 virtual CPUs and 16 GB on a machine of any size.
 

Q. What does it mean in terms of upgrading? If I am on an earlier version and upgrade to 11.50xc7, what happens, does it change what I can use?

A. Usage of product depends on the entitlement a customer has. Check the customer entitlement migration letter to find your new entitlement. As an example if you currently have Enterprise Edition and have not purchased feature options, you are now entitled to the Ultimate Edition and entitled to use features that are part of the Ultimate Edition such as CAF. Similarly if you are entitled to the Growth Edition, you will be entitled to use a 3 node cluster with a primary and 2 of any type of secondary servers.

 
Support

Q. How does the Selected Support or Elite Software support work?  What do I really get out of it?

A. It is optional software support, renewable annually.  Customers will get unlimited technical contacts, support for software fixes on the most recent 2 fixpacks. See Informix Support portal for more details at www.ibm.com/informix/support . Note there is no subscription with Selected Support offering, since customers are free to download new Informix software.

 
Q. What do I get with Selected Support at Elite level compared to regular S&S?

A. Under IBM Elite Support for IBM Informix Innovator-C and Ultimate-C Editions, customers will be entitled to:

·         Cross-platform software technical support—around the clock and around the world

·         Online technical support including enhanced self-help and search capabilities

·         Voice support for new deployments, migration, and code-related questions

·         Fast problem resolution by phone for all “Severity 1” situations—24 hours a day, seven days a week—you decide which issues to classify as 'Severity 1'

·         Special Builds will be delivered on the latest release and one release lower only.

Q. Will there be different level of support packages offered?

A. No.  Selected Support on Elite Level only.
 

Q. Can I run multiple instances on my free edition ? Does each instance have the limit of 4 cores and 2 GB memory ?

A. Yes customers can have multiple instances within the same install. However, the resource limits are per install and therefore will be shared across the instances.

 
Licensing/Metrics

Q. Will these new editions be eligible for sub-capacity? 

A. Yes.  All for purchase Informix software is eligible for sub-capacity.
 

Q. What is an Install, versus server or computer?

A. An Install is a copy of the Informix software that is installed on a server/computer or on a virtual server or logical partition.

 
Q. Does memory limit apply to the physical memory or Informix Install memory?

A. Memory limit applies to an Informix Install.  For example, if a computer machine has 32GB memory, and customer is only using up to 16GB of total shared memory (SHMTOTAL) across all instances for this Install, then customer is eligible for the Growth Edition, subject to socket and functionality limits.
 

Q. What is the new metric Authorized User Single Install ?

A. Fundamentally, each specific individual must be licensed for each Install he/she is using.
 

Q. Do I still need to use the same charge metric on the hot standby secondary as I do on the primary server?   What about the SDS/CAF cluster?

A. For HDR and RSS secondary nodes, it is no longer required to be on the same charge metric as the primary.  Customers may purchase full use Informix licenses on each secondary based on available charge metrics for the edition.  For the Shared Disk Secondary (SDS, aka CAF) cluster, it is highly recommended that all nodes in the cluster are the same charge metric, as the work can be more dynamic and load balanced across nodes.  The cluster is treated as a virtual server view.  It will be extremely difficult to track usage on different charge metrics over time on each node.

 
General Questions

Q. Is there an e-mail alias where I can send my general questions to?

A. askIFMX@us.ibm.com