Software licensing is one of those things that always amazes me – how could something so simple turn into something only a team of experts can understand? Every software vendor seemingly has large teams of people dedicated to helping customers understand how to buy their stuff. It does not matter whether it is Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, or Symantec – licensing is always so complex that “small economies” of skilled workers exist just to figure this out. The vendors have experts, distributors have experts, and resellers have their own experts.
Cisco’s Unified Communications (UC) software licensing has always been regarded as particularly difficult to figure out. In order to properly license a Cisco voice solution, an expert has typically had to assemble a bill of materials that includes server licenses, device licenses, upgrade certificates, media licenses, etc. Depending on the deployment scenarios and the number of servers and hardware devices being used, licensing could vary tremendously one way or the other.
What is User Connect Licencing?
I am happy to report that with User Connect Licensing (UCL), Cisco has greatly simplified the licensing process for its UC applications. In very basic terms, with UCL one only needs to know how many phones and similar devices are needed on the system. Multiply those numbers by the corresponding part SKU and, voila, you’re done! For other applications such as voice mail, an equally simple calculation is made and the licensing falls into place.
Think about it – with Cisco UCL, licensing experts no longer need to quote server software, device license units (DLUs), ports, options, and more. Only the number of user phones and “public space” phone devices need to be counted and licensed. All Right to Use (RTU) fees, DLU fees, port licenses, and similar expenses are automatically converted to a single User Connect License.
For greater flexibility, Cisco UCL can be mixed within the same cluster with Cisco Unified Workspace Licensing (CUWL), and customers no longer need a separate cluster when mixing licensing types. Starting with Cisco Unified Communications Manager version 7.1.5, UCL is the only way to go. All subsequent releases like Cisco Unified Communications System Release 8.x products will only offer Cisco UCL. Cisco Unified Communications Manager version 7.1.4 is the last “old-style licensing version.
With Cisco User Connect Licensing, knowing what kinds of licenses are needed for new deployments is indeed easy. Knowing what you currently have and what applications your organization is entitled to is just as simple.
Upgrading to User Connect Licencing
Last week I gave a presentation for a customer about one of my favorite topics, Cisco Unified Contact Center. It was exciting for me because of the topic, and the fact the presentation was done over TelePresence with an international audience. Suffice it to say we covered lots of cool things about Contact Center, but in the end the main topic of discussion was dictated by one question, “what do we need to do to upgrade our Cisco voice licenses?”
Yes, once again, yet another customer asked for an analysis of their current Cisco Unified Communications (UC) licensing situation and where do they go from here. This is the inevitable question that comes up at the key take-away from every customer meeting about Cisco voice. Thankfully, with Cisco User Connect Licensing now in place we will not have this problem in the future.
As I wrote in Part 1 of this blog, Cisco User Connect Licensing (UCL) makes knowing what kinds of licenses are needed for deployments easy. Knowing what you currently have and what applications your organization is entitled to will be just as simple. A word of caution – we are still in the “migratory” phases of UCL. When ordering, one generally no longer needs to worry about DLUs, server software SKUs, ports, options, etc. However, actual UC products are generally still DLU, port, option, etc aware in the background and understanding what you have is still important. I hear that with UC revs 8.6 some products will be fully “UCL aware” and ultimately I believe this will happen with rev 9.x products.
So how does one move into UCL and take advantage of this simplified licensing? Let’s take a look at some simple configuration scenarios. For simplicity, I will focus on Call Control – UCM and Voicemail – Unity Connection.
There really are two main distinctions to look at: is this a new installation or will this be a migration or upgrade from existing Cisco UC?
New Installations:
For new installations one should determine the following and apply the correct number of licenses for each. For Unified Communications Manager (UCM) Call Control:
- Numbers and types of IP Phone Users (Basic, Enhanced, Adjunct IP User License)
- Numbers of Add-on Licenses like Analog and Public Space phones
- Video Licenses such as Desktop, Single Screen, Multi-Screen TelePresence devices.
- Sever Class Licenses such as UCS, MCS, etc.
For Cisco Unity Connection Voicemail:
- Server Type
- Number of Users (Mailboxes)
- HA Server Type (if applicable)
- Guest Users for Speech Connect (if applicable)
Migrations/Upgrades:
All of the information and quantities described above for New Installations should be identified. When migrating to a new version of UCM and Unity Connection, one should plan on which UC product versions to migrate from/to, and which server(s) be migrated in the process. There are several ways to accomplish the licensing upgrades to UCL and the desired versions of UC applications:
- Upgrade via Unified Communications Software Subscription (UCSS)
- If you have current UCSS contracts, you can request software upgrades from Cisco and the new versions will be licensed as UCL (make sure you specify the correct number of devices for conversion!!!!)
- Upgrade using migration SKUs with or without UCSS.
- If you do not have current UCSS contracts, you may convert to UCL via “UCL Software Migration SKU with UCSS.” This is what is often referred to as the 3X3 upgrade promotion where one can upgrade IP Phone users and mailboxes to the latest version of UCM and Unity Connection for $3 each, provided a 3 year UCSS contract is purchased for each.
- If you do not have UCSS and are averse to getting any UCSS moving forward, you can convert to UCL by purchasing UCL Software Upgrade SKUs. For example, use SKU LIC-CUCM-USR-UPG to convert to a UCL Enhanced User license. Again, make sure you specify the correct number of devices for conversion! A mistake with the quantity or license types (Enhanced, Basic, Essential) will result in a huge mess with Cisco Licensing!
This post discusses the other way of Cisco Unified Communications Licensing – Cisco CUWL Licensing.
Author: Alex Obeso
Posted at Adcap Tech Tips
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Last Updated: January 16th, 2012 |
