fms17 Please Explain the new Licensing

[GisMo]

Maybe I missed the party, or the conversation about this, but it seems like Licensing changed again. I see the pluses, but the minuses..What are the effects? What is the backward comparability?

• If there are solutions and existing desktop users (using Fm14, 15, 16) can they still connect to server 17 without a user license?
• how exactly are user licences managed in 17? How are they transferred/assigned between users?
• Existing FMGo solution with appx 20 users on 10 concurrent connections - If those connections are changed to users, then
• As a developer, can you connect to different servers to perform updates? Do you need separate user licenses from each server/team to connect to that server?

I'm confused. Please describe any other effects.

 

 

 

 

[Josh Ormond]

• If there are solutions and existing desktop users (using Fm14, 15, 16) can they still connect to server 17 without a user license?

From https://www.filemaker.com/products/filemaker-server/17-technical-specifications.html:

Quote

FileMaker Server 17 supports the following clients:

• FileMaker Pro 16 and 15
• FileMaker Pro 17, 16, and 15 Advanced
• FileMaker Go 17, 16, and 15
• Apps created using iOS App SDK 17, 16, and 15
• FileMaker WebDirect

The latest security updates must be applied to the above clients before the clients connect to FileMaker Server 17. Some features may not be fully backwards compatible. Learn more 

• how exactly are user licences managed in 17? How are they transferred/assigned between users?

You count your people, that is your license count. You keep track of your users, and make sure you have enough licenses. From what I can tell, there is no technical piece to it yet. However, the server does phone home at times. So I assume reporting usage stats is part of the EULA.

• Existing FMGo solution with appx 20 users on 10 concurrent connections - If those connections are changed to users, then

This part is unclear about how FileMaker, Inc. is converting the license. Talk to your sales rep about that one. Make sure you get a quote for a site license. You pay for a license for every user, but the pricing for a site license often is less expensive than the User License groupings you see in the web store ( by a lot ). At around 12-15 users, it's often a better price to get the site license. Then you don't have to worry about how they connect.

• As a developer, can you connect to different servers to perform updates? Do you need separate user licenses from each server/team to connect to that server?

Yes you can. However, the FDS license specifically says you can't use the FMPA install to connect to production servers. Any license you have paid for outside of that can connect to any other server.

[Claus Lavendt]

On 5/21/2018 at 4:58 PM, Josh Ormond said:

• Existing FMGo solution with appx 20 users on 10 concurrent connections - If those connections are changed to users, then

 

This type will be converted to Concurrent Connection License.

Roughly the same type as you have. 1 server, hard cut off on 10 connections (if that's what your contract says) But users can use FMPA, FMGO, WebDirect - depending on what you have developed in your solution.

Use this type of license contract, if you have unknown or occasional users. Note that each seat is roughly 3x a user seat. So if you know your users, the new User Licence type is better and cheaper.

Note that Site license is very different in that the number of clients is the headcount in the ENTIRE organisation and they start at 25 seats. User license is the number of users, that will be using your solution, no matter via which type of FileMaker Client. (FMPA, FMGO, WD)
So let's say Apple would use FileMaker in their R&D department, where 200 people will be using the solution, it would not make sense for them to purchase a Site license as they would have to do that for ALL employees in the company. In this case, User License is the perfect type, as they know who will connect to the solution.

Also note that User License is very similar to FLT, but starts at 5 clients and then you can add exactly the number you need above this. So if you need 7, you only pay for 7. And User license include 3 servers. Which you should consider using as development, staging and production servers - and use the Data Migration Tool to move between these.

[Josh Ormond]

Thank you @Claus Lavendt for adding to what I said. I'm glad to see you are more confident on how FMI converts the license than I am.

One additional thought, if you have less than 25 employees, you can still get a site license. You pay for 25 User Licenses, but it still will be less expensive than buying 20 User Licenses. Once you get around 12 users, site license should at least be a consideration even if your whole company is smaller than 25 people.