OnBase is Hyland’s original enterprise content management platform. It is sold as on-premise Software or as a Cloud Service in the Hyland Cloud, each with its own Product Specific Terms.[11][12] Like every Hyland Product, it is licensed through a Product Subscription under the Hyland Master Agreement and “for a specific type of use, such as concurrently, on a specified workstation, by a specified individual, or by volume or usage metrics”.[13]
OnBase has two licensing models. The legacy model “consisted of individual licenses for each module in the OnBase product suite”, each activated in the database. Beginning in OnBase Foundation EP5, a simplified model “automatically bundles legacy product licenses into base packages of related functionalities”.[3] New customers from Foundation EP5 must use simplified licences. Existing customers that upgrade from an earlier version may keep legacy licences.[5] Catalog proof: OnBase simplified licensing; All products in one OnBase system must use the same licensing model.
Editions
Simplified licensing base packages
Under the simplified model, three named-user base packages build on each other:[3]
| Base package | Functionality included | Catalog row |
|---|---|---|
| Essential User | Content management; capture; reporting and analytics; search; retention and records management | OnBase Essential User |
| Standard User | All Essential User functionality; workflow process automation and integration tools; collaboration | OnBase Standard User |
| Premier User | All Essential and Standard User functionality; low-code business application capabilities; case management | OnBase Premier User |
Optional add-on packages group individual licences for further functionality. Unlike the base packages, they do not replace existing licences with new database licences.[3] An enterprise version of each base package “unlock[s] the base package’s functionalities for all members of your organization”. It comes with an Integration-Only (Simultaneous Connections) licence for integrations. Healthcare products under simplified licensing need the enterprise version by default.[4] Hyland maps legacy licences to packages in an “OnBase Pricing Simplification Product Mapping Matrix” that is not public.[5]
Legacy module licences
In the legacy model each OnBase module is licensed separately. The OnBase Client alone requires one of three licences: Concurrent Client, Workstation Client or Named User Client.[6] The Product Licenses dialog in OnBase Configuration groups module licences into Workstation, Database/Institution, Check Process, Concurrent and Citrix tabs, with usage tabs for concurrent and Citrix licences.[1]
Metrics
| Licence | Catalog row | How OnBase documentation defines it |
|---|---|---|
| Concurrent | OnBase Concurrent License | “A Concurrent License allows a single instance of the module to be used on any workstation or server.”[1] |
| Workstation | OnBase Workstation License | “a single instance of the module to be used on a designated computer or cluster”[1] |
| Named user | OnBase Named User License | Assigned to the user on login; the assignment persists after logout[2] |
| Database/Institution | OnBase Database/Institution License | Licensed at the database level, with unlimited access for any user logged into the database[1] |
| Citrix | OnBase Citrix License | One instance on “a single designated Citrix machine”[1] |
| Simplified base package | base package user | A named user licence assigned to users or User Groups[3] |
| Integration-Only | Integration-Only (Simultaneous Connections) | Concurrent connections for integrations under simplified licensing[4] |
Counting / floors
Concurrent leases. A Concurrent License may be installed on any number of computers, but “only the licensed number of Concurrent Users may use the Software Module simultaneously”. Concurrent Clients have a minimum connection (lease) time of five minutes.[1] Many short sessions therefore consume more licence time than their length suggests. Catalog proof: OnBase concurrent licences have a five-minute minimum lease.
Workstation registrations. A Workstation License covers one designated computer or cluster. It includes installation on up to two more computers or clusters “solely for the purposes of disaster recovery, integration, or testing”. Some Workstation Licenses can be registered as concurrent, workstation-user or named-user licences instead.[1] A registration on a workstation does not by itself give every user of that workstation the product; each user also needs product rights.[1] Catalog proof: OnBase Workstation Licenses include two extra installations for DR, integration or testing.
Consumption order with User Groups. Licences can be associated with User Groups and assigned dynamically at login. Licences already registered to the workstation or assigned to the user are consumed first. When several licences of one family are listed, OnBase checks “workstation, named-user, concurrent” in that order and uses the first available.[2] Workstation registrations made this way persist after logout and can only be removed manually. Hyland warns that a User Group applied too broadly “could deplete the available licenses”.[2] Catalog proof: OnBase consumes workstation, then named-user, then concurrent licences.
Simplified licences. Each base package licence “is consumed when the user begins their session”. A user can hold up to 10 simultaneous connections through multiple clients or devices. To bypass this limit, a customer can request the Emergency Access Client add-on, which “logs any overages for later auditing”.[3] Catalog proof: A simplified OnBase licence allows up to 10 simultaneous connections per user; OnBase Emergency Access Client add-on.
One model per system. “All products in a customer’s OnBase system must be licensed through the same licensing model.” A customer that needs any functionality available only under legacy licensing must keep the whole system on legacy licences.[5] Catalog proof: All products in one OnBase system must use the same licensing model.
Direct database access. Under the on-premise terms the customer may not use any software other than the Product client licences or a Product API to access OnBase or its database, except to report on system utilisation, without Hyland’s written consent and the applicable fees.[11] Catalog proof: Only client licences or a Product API may access the Product or its database.
Licence certificates
OnBase entitlements are activated by a certificate, “a tamper-proof, human-readable XML file that contains a list of all licensed modules for a specific OnBase installation”. When a customer licenses new modules or reduces licences, Hyland supplies a new certificate with the new levels. “A certificate can only be installed once”, and each one contains the entire set of licence information for the customer.[7] Certificates can only be created and issued by Hyland Software, Inc., and Hyland requires purchasing documentation before issuing one.[8] The installed certificate is therefore the most direct record of what a given OnBase database is entitled to. Catalog proof: OnBase licence certificates carry the full entitlement and install once.
Usage reporting
Administrators can log licence usage and produce a License Usage Report. It shows each licence used, the workstation and the date and time, for every OnBase Application Server.[10] Systems on Usage-Based Billing are initialised with a challenge and response code. The OnBase Application Server then communicates usage to Hyland. Upgrading an older Application Server out of sequence “could cause billing irregularities”.[9]
Virtualization & partitioning
OnBase licences are not tied to processors or cores, and the retrieved documents have no partitioning rule. Remote access is handled by licence type. “Workstation User Licenses do not support remote sessions”, and a separate Citrix licence covers a module on one designated Citrix machine.[1] Concurrent licences can be used “on any workstation or server”, which makes them the usual fit for shared and virtual desktops.[1]
Environments. An on-premise customer may run one production copy and one remote disaster-recovery copy that is not used in production at the same time. A reasonable number of further non-production environments, for testing, integration development and training, need additional fees.[11] Catalog proof: One production copy and one disaster-recovery copy are included on premise; Non-production environments require additional fees and are limited to test, integration and training.
Cloud / BYOL
On-premise OnBase may be hosted on third-party servers, with the hosting provider treated as the customer’s contractor.[13] In the Hyland Cloud, the Cloud Service terms add separately purchased non-production instances:[12]
| Environment | Concurrent users | Data | Catalog row |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development Sandbox Environment | Up to 25 | Up to 100 GB | OnBase Cloud Development Sandbox Environment |
| Pre-Production Environment | Up to 100 | Up to 500 GB | OnBase Cloud Pre-Production Environment |
In the Hyland Cloud a Citrix user account licence is needed to reach the Client and Configuration modules. A Configuration licence is needed for the Configuration module.[15] Cloud customers must also run a Cloud Compatible Version under Hyland’s Cloud Software Version Policy.[12] Premier Care Advanced and Signature include two or four OnBase Refreshes per Billing Period for cloud systems.[14] Catalog proof: Hyland Cloud Development Sandbox and Pre-Production environments carry user and storage caps; Hyland Cloud customers must run a Cloud Compatible Version.
Programs
Healthcare Community Connect
Health systems can let affiliated organisations that use their EMR system use OnBase to manage their own medical records. These Community Connect Users are hospitals with fewer than 250 licensed beds, provider practices and ambulatory surgery centres.[11] Each type has its own fee basis:
| Community Connect User | Recurring fee basis |
|---|---|
| Community Connect Hospital | Licensed beds x then-current hospital fee |
| Community Connect Provider Practice | Providers in the practice x then-current practice fee |
| Ambulatory Surgery Center | Operating/procedure rooms x then-current centre fee |
The customer must report beds, providers and rooms “no less than annually”. Increases are charged at the then-current fee, and the customer indemnifies Hyland for breaches by Community Connect Users.[11] Catalog proof: Community Connect; Community Connect fees scale with beds, providers and procedure rooms and are reported annually.
Other programs
- Premier Care. Maintenance and support for OnBase, including Upgrades and Enhancements for Supported Releases.[14]
- Non-Production Environments. Test, development and training copies, licensed for a fee.[11]
- Usage-Based Billing. For systems licensed on usage; consumption is invoiced monthly in arrears unless the Order Form says otherwise.[13]
Out of scope
- The list of legacy module licences and their mapping to simplified packages, which Hyland provides through account managers and the non-public Product Mapping Matrix.[5]
- Module-specific licences such as Workflow, WorkView, check processors and EMR integration clients, documented in each module’s own guide.
- Epic marketplace audit rights and the Hyland Software Germany GmbH amendments in the Product Specific Terms.[11]