What Is An IBM i (iSeries/AS400) Concurrent User?

The purpose of this blog is to explain what an IBM i concurrent user is.?

Disclaimer: IBM i is an operating system. iSeries and AS400 are servers. I use these terms interchangeably to make it easy for folks to find this information on the web.

Background

While most experienced IBM i users know the answer, you may be surprised how many folks ask what a concurrent user is.

How come they may not know?

First, the users may be moving to new POWER servers from legacy servers that do not have concurrent user licensing (i.e. 9406-520 and older servers).

Second, they may have little-to-no IBM i expertise. Their IT background is on different technology or they are managers with limited technical understanding.

As my readers know, I am an IBM Business Partner. The population of folks that do not know what a concurrent user is higher than you may think as more legacy servers and non-IBM i experts are in the market for new POWER servers.

This blog is for this specific audience.

What Is An IBM i Concurrent User?

A concurrent software license is?a type of license that is based on the maximum number of users who will use the server simultaneously. For example, if a company purchases 5 concurrent licenses, that means that up to 5 of their employees can use the POWER server at any given time.

What If I Have More Than 5 Users?

Many companies have more users than concurrent users. While a company may have 20 users, at any given time only 5 users need access. These are generally heavy users. The other users access the IBM POWER server infrequently or they are in a different time zone to avoid access conflict with the heavy users.

What If I Need More Than 5 Users?

You can order more concurrent users if you need them.

For entry POWER servers in the P05 Software Tier, a company can license blocks of 5 users up to 80 users total. If you license 80 users, you are entitled to unlimited users for that server. In other words, even though you are licensed for 80 users, you could have 200 users or more with this P05 user license.

If you have an enterprise POWER server in the P10 Software Tier, a company can license blocks of 10 users. If you license 200 users, you are entitled to unlimited users.

What If I Exceed My Maximum Concurrent User Count?

You will receive error messages that you have exceeded your user count.

This is a notification that you may need to contact your IBM provider to license more users.

If you do nothing and the notifications persist, at some point your extra users will be locked out.

If you have unlimited concurrent users, you should not receive any notifications.

What Happens To My Concurrent User Entitlements When I Move My IBM Software To A New Server?

If you keep your IBM Software Support (SWMA) current, you may transfer your user entitlements to the new server for $5000. This moves both your IBM i OS and your user count.

This is actually a good deal because you do not have to relicense your IBM i OS and your user count, which can range from about $24,000 to about $75,000. (Please note that these estimates may change over time as IBM updates their pricing.)

Conclusion

You must license IBM i concurrent users to allow access to your new IBM POWER server. While you may have as many as 100 users that may need to access the server, you may find you only need to license 20 concurrent users based on your activities and workload.

Should you get notified you need more concurrent users, contact your IBM POWER supplier to order more concurrent users.

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