Co Term licensing

[jdbutt]

Hello all,

We are on co term licensing at the moment with our current licensing model to expire in Jan 2023 

We also have many devices that we no longer use (have upgraded) or will no longer use by then. All of which are currently licensed. But in the cse of some MR units are sitting in closets disconected.

We obviously don't wnat to relicense the older stuff that is unused.

If we unclaim the devices does that extend our licensing out a bit? Since we would have less devices but more licenses.

Is my understanding correct that if we convert to per device and we buy say 20 cameras, with 5 year licensing, their expirt would be 5 years after procurement (plus 90 days if we delay the claim process).

Also if We convert to per device the current expiry would be the exact same day as it is now for ALL devices in my org?

I'm trying to reduce the size of our fleet due to upgrades and changes and not pay for licensing of devices that we don't need/use.

[Aaron_Wilson]

With coterm if you remove licenses then your date moves forward, not back. New licenses move your date back.

When renewal comes you can then renew less devices, but just remember that you'll get less time. For example, if you renewed for 3 years but dropped 10 devices, you might realize just 34 months instead of 36 months of coverage. The only way to avoid this would be to remove those licenses now. In the end it's the same overall time.

With per device everything has its own expiration, but it them becomes harder to manage. It's great if you are dealing with customers or charge backs, not so great for internal.

[jdbutt]

Thanks for replying Aaron

Thats kind of what I was thinking. We don't have to move stuff between orgs.

So I should get rid of the stuff over the next year or so to prep for renewal in Jan 2023 Once I get the funding based on Fiscal years I can take stuff out and renew then.  Doesn't matter to us if its Jan 2023 or Nov 2022 once money is assigned its assigned for a year.

Right now I just want to get the devices out of our Org. I wont remove licenses until Jan 2023.  

Our network is pretty stable in size now I don't see much expansion, in fact we bought some stuff or some projects that were never realized so maybe a bit of contraction. Or maybe some upgrades of older gear. (So if I do that do I have to buy licenses or can I transfer say MS120 licenses to MS 220 and pay the difference?)

But cutting devices and licenses, even though I have paid for them, would that reduce the time between now and the renewal? 

[Aaron_Wilson]

Yes, cutting licenses now would shorten the time until you have to renew, because when you added them it extended your time.

If you are going to swap licenses at renewal time from say a 120 to a 220 that won't change much for the dates. Might actually help you in that case.

I can't stress it enough though. If you renew for say just a year, but the delta is less licenses (or cheaper gear) you won't get 12 months, you'll get something less. The exception is if you added more expensive licenses. For example, if you dropped 5 Z3s but added 3 MS250, that would give you more time....bit that's because those licenses are more expensive.

My recommendation is renew for 3 years. Essentially it's the cost of 2 standalone years and the 3rd year is free.

[ww]

You can use this to simulate  

https://documentation.meraki.com/General_Administration/Licensing/Using_the_License_Calculator

[Aaron_Wilson]

I wish their licensing calculator would let you import your current licenses. When I contacted Meraki support about a license question, they even hesitated with suggesting the calculator given the number of licenses in our org...lol

[cmr]

@Aaron_Wilson a reseller should work it out for you, I know ours would.

[Aaron_Wilson]

Yes, they would. But if you are wanting to play with numbers, slice and dice stuff, etc, too time consuming to have a middleman 🙂

[BlakeRichardson]

@Aaron_Wilson  You may wish to look and see if co-term licensing is the best option for you. You might find per device licensing fits your environment better.