VMware vCloud Usage Meter

Whats new in VCPP Pricing, Metering, and Reporting: March 2021 Update

We’ve just finished the fourth webinar in our quarterly series on updates to the VCPP Pricing, Metering and Reporting! We kick started this year’s series with a review of the some of the major changes we’ve seen in the program. This was followed by what partners need to know now, and what they needed to prepare for down the road. In this blog, we’ll share a quick recap along with relevant documentation!

March 2021 Update!

Pricing Updates:

  • Product Usage Guide for Q1 is now available!
  • There are no new products added to PUG this quarter. We have, however, removed a couple of them:
    • NSX Enterprise Standalone (Per VM)
    • On App (Per VM)
  • We made a few language updates to provide clarity on how to acquire, meter and report products. Here are some of the examples of the changes we have made.
    • Updated the terminology ‘Reserved RAM’ to ‘Metered RAM’. There is no change to the way it is calculated today. We only changed the terminology to reflect that this is the Usage which is collected by the Usage Meter
    • Added that VMware vRealize Network Insight Advanced can be reported per VM or OSI (Operating System Instance) per month,similar to the other VCPP products
    • Added a detail in Tanzu Basic Product section that it is to be used with vSphere only
    • Added a Feature based Metering table for VMware vSAN Editions in Appendix A specifically for Usage Meter 3.6.1 for Partners who have not yet moved to UM 4.x versions
    • Added a new Features table for vROpS Editions table for Tenant App
    • Added more details regarding Contracting and Reporting for VMware Cloud Director Data Protection Solution, in Appendix B

Metering Updates:

  • Usage Meter 3.6.1 goes EOL on July 31, 2021 and UM 4.X requires Flex
  • Usage Meter 4.2 is going End of Support on May 30, 2021
  • Usage Meter 4.4 is coming out in April to provide LDAP and Customer Monthly Reports as the last remaining features for UM 3.6.1 parity.

Reporting Updates:

  • We have started Automatically moving Partners to Flex Pricing Model in small waves
  • The first wave of Partners, 360 in total, have been moved. Partners that were automatically migrated should have received a notification from their aggregators.
  • More Partners will be moved in coming months post notification. These will be Partners with no effect on pricing (price protected or reporting don’t require it). Partners with Customizations / pricing affected need to immediately have conversation with their VMware representative
  • We need to move all partners off Bundles by July 31, 2021 as Bundles are going End-of-Life after that. Partner will not be able to report on Bundles after July Usage Period.
  • The last MBO with Bundles will be July (reported in August).

Recommendations for Partners:

Our recommendations remain the same as for the last few quarters. These are the actions that Partners need to take immediately.

  1. Adopt the Flex Pricing Model. If you don’t report against custom pricing for a product or a custom bundle, then go ahead with the transition to Flex immediately. Partners with custom pricing need to work with their VMware Sales Rep to help migrate to Flex Pricing Model.
    1. If you report on any custom SKU’s or SKU’s with custom Points Per Unit, please make sure to reach out to your VMware Sales Rep before proceeding to signup for Flex!
  2. Adopt Automatic Reporting. Usage Meter 4.X requires Usage Insight. With the UM 3.6.1 End of Life right around the corner, it would be best to start using the auto-reporting service right now! Usage Insight has no effect on price. It just helps you automatically fill out your Monthly Billing Order in Commerce Portal.
  3. If you see “Standard Bundle” (not Standard Bundle with X) on your Monthly Usage Report from Usage Meter 3.6.1, then you need to replace the license keys you use on your physical ESXi hosts! Follow this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7D-Ry6Z4B4

 That’s all for the March 2021 update! We will schedule the next one in June as the next Product Usage Guide is published! If you want to join us live or get notified about the recording, make sure that you have access to the Commerce Portal at vcp.vmware.com! We send invitations to all Commerce Portal users.           

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