Today’s IT is fast-paced and in constant evolution. For many clients, IBM Z® is at the center of their digital transformation. Utilizing this secure, flexible infrastructure with the agility of public cloud and the security and resiliency of a private cloud, clients can accelerate the deployment of new services to help meet market demands. We continue to deliver security, development and operations enhancements to help clients create a secure and agile business.

However, the speed of innovation and services may not be enough. As I have met with clients across the globe, many seek more predictability in pricing and affordability in adding new workloads and solutions. We are committed to helping achieve this predictability which can remove barriers from building and innovating on the platform.

Last year we announced Container pricing as a building block for clients to develop and deploy new workloads on IBM Z. Now we have announced further enhancements to pricing with the Solution Consumption Licensing Charge (SCLC) for qualified new IBM z/OS-based application solutions isolated from existing workloads with two flexible options:

• No minimal financial commitment – pay-as-you-go (per-MSU) pricing[1] for software programs within the NewApp Solution.

• Low minimum monthly commitment – providing savings of 20 percent off of the pay-as-you-go price points.

Additionally, we announced a simplified process for the Application Development and Test Solution [2] which reduces the need for clients to cap their environments for cost reasons. We’ve provided a sizing calculator which clients can use to automatically size their solution quickly and gain a more complete view of the benefits they can gain.

Many clients are already seeing value from container pricing.

Responding to customer expectations of being able to manage finances anytime, anywhere, Wüstenrot exploited Container Pricing for IBM Z® and implemented IBM z/OS® Connect Enterprise Edition–enabling developers to build slick, user-friendly web and mobile apps using simple REST APIs based on core business systems running on the mainframe. They boosted agility and cut time-to-market for new services, all while lowering the cost of running test and development workloads on the mainframe substantially.

As the market evolves, we evolve too. We understand the speed of innovation must be balanced with the ability to predict and manage costs. Our new Solution Consumption pricing and Application Development and Test Solution enhancements make it simpler than ever to deal with the pressure of managing costs.

We will continue to evolve and balance both in IBM Z–a foundation for secure cloud with predictable and transparent costs.

To learn more, visit the Z Software Pricing page.

[1]Read the Consumption based pricing announcement: https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/5/897/ENUS218-325/index.html&request_locale=en

[2]Read the Dev/Test container solution announcement here: https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/4/897/ENUS218-324/index.html&request_locale=en