License portability is the set of rules under which a customer may take software licences it already owns and run the software on infrastructure it does not own, such as a public cloud or a hosting provider’s shared servers. Software licences are normally granted for the customer’s own devices, and running them on someone else’s servers is a separate right. Microsoft’s Product Terms state the default plainly: except where expressly permitted, “Customer is not permitted to use or access software on devices that are under the management or control of a third party”.[1] Portability programs are the exceptions to that default.
Vendors give these exceptions different names: License Mobility and the Flexible Virtualization Benefit at Microsoft, Authorized Cloud Environments at Oracle, Eligible Public Cloud BYOSL at IBM, Cloud Access at Red Hat, and License Portability for VMware Cloud Foundation at Broadcom. This article compares the conditions they set. How each vendor converts its metric into virtual CPUs once the software is in the cloud is covered in Cloud BYOL and authorized cloud environments.
Scope and definitions
Portability rules answer four questions:
- Which licences qualify. Often only licences with active maintenance or subscription, or only some products.
- Where they may go. Usually a named list of providers, sometimes with named exclusions.
- How often they may move. A minimum period between reassignments.
- What the customer must do. Forms, reporting tools or representations to the provider.
Microsoft defines two terms that recur in its rules. Listed Providers are entities identified by Microsoft at a published address; an Authorized Outsourcer is “any third party service provider that is not a Listed Provider and is not using Listed Provider as a Data Center Provider”.[2] Microsoft’s License Mobility page gives Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Alibaba as examples of Listed Providers.[4]
How it works
Qualifying licences
Most programs require a current support or subscription relationship, not just a licence. Microsoft’s Flexible Virtualization Benefit applies to “Customers with subscription licenses or Licenses with active Software Assurance”.[1] License Mobility through Software Assurance applies to licences “designated as having License Mobility for which it has SA”.[3] The Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server covers Windows Server core or processor licences “with an active subscription or Software Assurance”.[5]
Other vendors exclude particular products or channels. IBM’s BYOSL policy covers IBM software licensed directly or through an authorised IBM reseller, but “does not apply to IBM z/OS software or to any IBM software sublicensed to you by a third party”.[7] Red Hat allows Cloud Access deployment if the customer has bought enough Units, provided the subscriptions “do not have Units that are solely based on physical attributes”.[8] Broadcom’s right to port VMware Cloud Foundation does not apply to licences resold under its Value-Added OEM Program, to some upgrades from legacy offerings that are not Enterprise edition, or to software licensed to partners under its Cloud Service Provider or Metal-as-a-Service programs.[10]
Approved destinations
Every program names where licences may go. The lists differ in length and in who maintains them:
| Vendor program | Destinations | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Oracle Authorized Cloud Environments | Amazon EC2 and RDS, Microsoft Azure Platform, Google Cloud Platform | [6] |
| IBM Eligible Public Cloud BYOSL | An approved list by provider, including IBM, Alibaba, Amazon, Fujitsu, Google, IONOS, KDDI and Microsoft offerings | [7] |
| Microsoft License Mobility through SA | Microsoft Azure Services or a qualified License Mobility through SA Partner | [3] |
| Microsoft Flexible Virtualization Benefit | Authorized Outsourcers, which by definition excludes Listed Providers | [1][2] |
| Microsoft Azure Hybrid Benefit | The customer’s own Microsoft Azure account | [5] |
| Red Hat Cloud Access | A Vendor’s Cloud under the program; Red Hat certified cloud and service providers | [8][9] |
| Broadcom VCF License Portability | The then-current list of Certified Cloud Services | [10] |
Microsoft’s two routes are mirror images. The Flexible Virtualization Benefit lets customers outsource to “any outsourcer (except Listed Providers)”, while customers whose needs “align with the Listed Providers” continue to use License Mobility.[4]
Lists change, and some vendors say what happens then. Broadcom states that if a customer ports to a Certified Cloud Service that is later removed from the list, the service is deemed to remain on it only for licences already ported and only until their current subscription periods expire.[10] Microsoft lets a customer using an outsourcer whose Authorized Outsourcer status ends continue with that entity for one year from the change.[2]
How often licences may move
Microsoft’s baseline rule is that a licence may be reassigned to another device or user “but not less than 90 days since the last reassignment of that same License”, with exceptions for permanent hardware failure, end of employment and temporary cover for absences.[1] License Mobility relaxes this inside a server farm, allowing reassignment “as often as needed”, but moves between server farms, or from shared servers back to the customer’s own, are still “not on a short-term basis (i.e., not within 90 days of the last assignment)”.[3]
The Azure Hybrid Benefit adds a commitment period. Once licences are allocated to Azure, the customer “may not use them anywhere else” apart from the migration allowances, and may stop using them for the benefit only after at least 90 days.[5]
Use in one place at a time
Portability normally moves a licence; it does not copy it. IBM states that when a licence entitlement is used under the BYOSL policy, the customer “may not use such entitlements for any other purpose or in any other place at the same time”.[7] Broadcom requires the customer to port “the entire set of components of the Software” to the certified service.[10]
Microsoft makes a time-limited exception for migrations. Under the Azure Hybrid Benefit, Windows Server Standard licences may continue to be used on premises for 180 days from allocation to Azure, Windows Server Datacenter licences under VM licensing indefinitely, and SQL Server licences for 180 days.[5]
Customer obligations
Portability usually brings paperwork or tooling:
- Verification. Microsoft requires customers to “complete and submit the License Mobility verification form” with each License Mobility partner that runs their software.[3] The Flexible Virtualization Benefit has “no steps to navigate or forms to complete”.[4]
- Measurement tools. IBM names “Required IBM Licensing Tools” for each eligible cloud, mandatory for capacity-based products licensed by PVU or VPC.[7]
- Reporting by the provider. Red Hat customers consent to the cloud vendor “reporting to Red Hat your usage of Subscriptions in the Vendor’s Cloud”.[8]
- Representations. Broadcom customers must provide ongoing representations reasonably requested by the certified provider about the validity of the licences ported.[10]
Relationship to license ownership
Portability does not change who the licensee is or what the licence term is. Broadcom states that the customer “continues to be the licensee” after porting.[10] Red Hat states that deploying subscriptions in a vendor’s cloud “does not change the start date or the duration of the original Subscriptions”, and that payments to Red Hat do not include fees due to the cloud vendor.[8] Red Hat also offers certified gold images that can be deployed directly from the cloud provider’s console “while retaining all of the benefits of your Red Hat subscription”.[9]
Because most programs depend on active maintenance, letting support lapse can remove the right to keep software in the cloud, even where the underlying licence is perpetual. See Software maintenance and support.
Relationship to other disciplines
Portability interacts with enterprise agreement events. Oracle states that licences acquired under unlimited license agreements may be used in Authorized Cloud Environments, “but customers may not include those licenses in the certification at the end of the ULA term”.[6] It also interacts with outsourcing: IBM’s BYOSL policy does not apply where vendors run or manage some or all of the customer’s environment under their own employees, as in strategic outsourcing or managed services, which “require separate arrangements”.[7]
Criticism and challenges
Some portability rules sit in documents that are not contracts. Oracle’s cloud policy states that it “is for educational purposes only”, “may not be incorporated into any contract” and is “subject to change without notice”.[6] Provider lists differ between vendors, so a single cloud can be an approved destination for one vendor’s software and not for another’s. Microsoft’s split between Listed Providers and Authorized Outsourcers means that the same Software Assurance licence carries different rights depending on which provider hosts it.[1][4]
Out of scope
This article does not cover licence-included cloud images sold by the cloud provider, services provider programs in which the hosting partner is the licensee, or the conversion of on-premises licences into cloud credits. Metric conversions in the cloud are covered in Cloud BYOL and authorized cloud environments, and partitioning rules in Virtualization and partitioning.