MicroStrategy licence compliance combines three mechanisms: checks that the Intelligence Server performs on its own use, reporting tools that customers run (License Manager and a Workstation dashboard), and contract rights that let Strategy audit books and records and bill excess use. The system administration help describes the first as follows: “Intelligence Server verifies how your system is being used in relation to licenses and users”, and says License Manager can be used to find installs, users or CPUs above the licensed numbers.[8] The documentation also frames licence management as an opportunity: an audit can show that a CPU-based licence for four CPUs is using only two, so the setup can be changed to use all four.[4]
Editions
The compliance tooling is described once for both the Named User and CPU bases. License Manager comes with a purchase: “Once your enterprise has purchased one or more of the license types available, you will also get access to License Manager.”[14] The retrieved documents do not say whether customers of the Strategy-managed cloud services run License Manager themselves. The licence types are in MicroStrategy Named User and CPU licences.
Metrics
Two metrics are verified.
- Named User. Intelligence Server “scans the metadata repository daily for the number of users fitting each Named User license type”. The time of day of the scan can be set in the Intelligence Server configuration. If a licence count is exceeded, an error message appears when a user logs in to a Strategy product.[5]
- CPU. Intelligence Server “scans the network to count the number of CPUs in use by Intelligence Servers”; if the CPU licences are exceeded, an error message appears when a user logs in.[6]
Counting / floors
License Manager audit
License Manager is “a tool for auditing and administering your Strategy licenses and installation”, runnable as a GUI or on the command line on Windows and Linux. It can audit Strategy products, request an activation code and activate an installation, and update the licence key. In GUI mode it can also show the licences used by a user group, change the number of CPUs used by a product where licences are CPU-based, trigger a licence verification check, show the machine configuration, and show the installation history “including all license keys that have been applied”.[10]
The audit counting rule is: “License Manager counts the number of licenses based on the number of users with at least one privilege for a given product.” The default Administrator user is not counted, disabled users “do not count against the licensed user total”, and the procedure is performed on each server machine and the totals added across machines. License Manager can print or export XML, HTML and CSV reports, with an option to show all privileges for each user by licence type.[9] Catalog proof: License Manager counts users with at least one privilege for a product.
A new licence key must be applied on every machine where Strategy products are installed, and CPU counts can be adjusted in the same step if the licence is CPU-based; Intelligence Server must then be restarted so that the system returns to normal behaviour.[11] After installation a customer has 30 days to activate, after requesting an activation code from Strategy.[13]
Compliance Telemetry
Administrators can also monitor use in Workstation. The Licenses section embeds a pre-formatted Compliance Telemetry dashboard with chapters for Named User Overview, Named User Detail (product details and a user-by-product privilege matrix) and CPU License. It requires “an environment with Platform Analytics installed and configured”. The dashboard reflects that “by rule each client license requires a corresponding server license, so a client privilege will automatically consume a server license, with the exception of Reporter privileges”.[12] The documentation defines compliance simply: “You are considered in compliance if you are using less than or equal to the amount of licenses available.”[14]
Out-of-compliance timeline
| Time out of compliance | Effect |
|---|---|
| From the start | A message shows on administrative products (Web Administrator page, the Administration icon in Developer), stating the licence types affected and the days left before Intelligence Server can no longer be restarted; it is only a warning |
| 15 days | An additional warning is displayed to all users when they log in to a project source; users can still log in |
| 30 days | Privileges of out-of-compliance products are marked unavailable in the User Editor; for Named User non-compliance they are disabled in the User, Group and Security Role editors so they cannot be assigned to additional users |
| Key expiry | If the time in the message is longer than the validity of the key, the product is not accessible after the key expires |
All rows are from the documentation on the effects of being out of compliance.[7] The page repeats that the customer should contact its Strategy account executive to buy more licences. The documentation does not describe a hard stop of running users at 30 days: it describes blocking further privilege assignment. Catalog proof: After 30 days privileges of out-of-compliance products are marked unavailable.
Contractual audit and billing
The Master Service Agreement adds the commercial side.
- Audit. “In the instances when an audit is the only way we can verify accuracy of your payment obligations under the Agreement”, Strategy has the right to audit the customer’s books and records, “no more than once per 12-month period, to the extent necessary”, and the customer agrees to cooperate reasonably.[1]
- Excess use. If the customer exceeds the scope of its rights, Strategy “may invoice you for such excess and any related Technical Support Services fees, calculated at our standard list prices from the date you exceeded the scope of your rights”. If the Product is no longer sold, the higher of the last list price or the successor’s current list price applies, and the parties agree the sum is payment for excess use and “not as a penalty”.[1]
- Restricted conduct. The customer may not use the Products in a manner “that exceeds your authorized access and use rights or that is intended to avoid incurring fees or exceed usage limits or quotas”.[1] Catalog proof: Excess use is invoiced at standard list prices from the date it began.
Support route
Customers can log licence compliance questions with Technical Support. If support decides the case is not caused by a Product issue but by over-deployment, “customers will be asked to contact their Account Executive to realign their licensing agreement”.[3]
OEM partners
OEM partners face a stricter regime. They must keep records of their and their customers’ installation and use, and “within ten (10) days following our written request” must certify in a writing signed by an officer that use complies with the Agreement and provide the Records Strategy specifies. Within the same ten days Strategy may audit the Records and the installation and use of the Products at the partner’s facility or by remote or electronic means. Quarterly reports of all OEM Solution sales are required, and late reports allow Strategy to suspend the right to distribute.[2] The same excess-use billing rule applies.[2]
Virtualization & partitioning
Audits count CPUs as seen by Intelligence Server, which includes virtual cores under the MSA definition. License Manager can change the number of CPUs used by a product when licences are CPU-based, and CPU affinity limits Intelligence Server or Strategy Web to selected CPUs.[10][6] The retrieved documents do not state how the network scan treats virtual machines on shared hosts, so that behaviour should be tested in the customer’s environment.
Cloud / BYOL
The MSA audit and excess-use clauses refer to “Products”, which the agreement defines as the Software and any other Services, so they reach cloud services as well as installed software.[1] The product documentation on licence checks is written for installed Intelligence Server deployments, which includes any platform the customer deploys itself.
Programs
- Out-of-compliance warnings. The 15-day and 30-day steps above.[7]
- Installation activation period. Thirty days to activate.[13]
- OEM program. Certification within ten days and audit rights.[2]
Out of scope
This article does not state how often Strategy audits customers, which no retrieved document says. It does not cover the process of negotiating a settlement, the privilege lists per licence type, or Platform Analytics configuration beyond the prerequisite for the dashboard. Third-party audit rights under other vendors’ agreements are not covered.