Migration to the Cloud – Introduction of Software Licensing Assessment and Optimisation

One of the key considerations in a cloud migration is the existing software that an organisation has been using. Being able to continue using existing software that has been supporting the workloads, or being able to ensure the operational order of an alternative method – is important when a migration to cloud is being evaluated.

Logically, the entitlement to the use of a software is dictated by the software vendor, typically with a series of conditions. That is, if the software vendor’s set conditions are such, then the current software used by an organisation on-premises will not be able to be used in a cloud environment, even if it is technically straightforward to install this software on cloud compute. The non-technical rules on how a software is authorised to be used and on what conditions is known as the licensing entitlement, or licensing conditions.

To help with the explanation, some examples are used below, mainly on Microsoft licensing, with a bit on Oracle software as well. They are for general discussion purposes only. It is important for me to mention that the actual licensing assessment needs to be done specifically for an organisation by a qualified entity, as the software agreement (typically under an Enterprise Agreement or a Volume Licensing agreement) an organisation has with a software vendor can be specific. 

Let’s use Microsoft Windows Server, an ultra-common operating system software, as our first example for discussion. Microsoft has set a number of rules on whether you can reuse your existing Windows licenses - which you purchased for your current on-premises servers – when you move your servers to the AWS cloud.

The following table makes it easier to navigate:    



In the next example, some other common Microsoft software in the application server category, such as SQL Server, Exchange, SharePoint, Dynamics, Lync and others, are given slightly different licensing rules by Microsoft. License Mobility is allowed for them through Microsoft Software Assurance (a Microsoft software maintenance offering).





Oracle software licensing conditions are different again, and likewise require assessment by a qualified entity. For example, when moving Oracle software from on-premises servers to the AWS cloud, the licensing model may change from a license per two-core requirement to a license per one-core requirement. This would mean that for an on-premises server having eight CPU cores, four Oracle licenses are needed. If you are going to move the server to AWS cloud onto an eight CPU core instance type, then eight Oracle licenses would be needed. 


Now we have come to a perfect time to discuss software license optimisation in cloud migration. License optimisation helps to reduce the licensing expenses and potentially eliminate the detrimental licensing effects that software vendors may have imposed on public cloud compute. 

There are a number of ways can be explored. A trusted cloud migration / managed service partner is best suited to work with an organisation to get the most optimal outcomes. A few licensing optimisation options are given in the table below as examples - it is not an exhaustive list and examples are general (in nature).


   

Licensing optimisation can go further. I have seen some organisations migrate Oracle and Microsoft SQL databases to Amazon Aurora MySQL or Aurora PostgreSQL databases. Significant cost savings might be achieved together with other benefits. Amazon Aurora is a global-scale relational database cloud service with built-in security, continuous backups, serverless compute, multiple read replicas, automated multi-Region replication, and integrations with other AWS services. Since these would be heterogeneous database migrations, careful feasibility study, planning and execution are needed. 


Above are some frequently considered ideas on software licensing assessment and optimisation in cloud migration. In AWS cloud’s case there is a specific program doing this - AWS Optimization and Licensing Assessment (AWS OLA). Cloud service partners can help businesses to arrange such programs.


                                                                                                                              -- Simon Wang 20 July 2023


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