• contact@the-chronic.eu
  • World Wide

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Licensing Guide

Dynamics AX 2012 – BASIC LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

All Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 customers need to license:
● Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 solution functionality, which is licensed through the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Server license, and
● Access to the ERP solution functionality by users (and in some specific scenarios, devices) is licensed through Client Access Licenses (CALs).

Dynamics AX 2012_1

Notes:
● All functionality is included with the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Server license, so you do not need to choose between functionality and budget. The Server license includes one application object server. If you want additional application object servers, you may license additional Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Server licenses.
● A single Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 solution (referred to as the ―ERP solution‖ in the Software License Terms) is a logical entity that may utilize resources from multiple servers, or processors, or files. Replicas or copies, in compliance with the Software License Terms, of the system database (in full or partial) are considered part of the ―ERP solution‖. Please find the Software License Terms at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/erp-buy-ax-software.aspx
● Licenses for additional software required for the solution, such as Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft SharePoint Server and their client access license (corresponding to the users) are not included with the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 licenses. See Licensing Additional Software for more information.
● License Keys (Activation Keys) are used to activate the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 software, and are not to be confused with license entitlements (what you are entitled to run and use is based on the licenses you have acquired).

LICENSING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX 2012 SOLUTION FUNCTIONALITY

Licensing the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 solution functionality is simple. One Server license is required for licensing Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and includes all product functionality.
Because all functionality is included with the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Server license, you do not need to choose between functionality and budget. The Server license includes one application object server. If you want additional application object servers, you may license additional Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Server licenses.
*Licenses for additional software that may be required for the solution are not included with the Microsoft Dynamics AX licenses. See Licensing Additional Software for more information.

LICENSING USER ACCESS TO THE MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX 2012 SOLUTION FUNCTIONALITY

Access to the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 solution’s functionality is licensed through Client Access Licenses (CALs). Access by individuals is licensed through User CALs.
Note: Under some scenarios, instead of licensing users, you license devices through Device CALs. See Licensing Device Access to the Solution Functionality for more information.
Any user who directly or indirectly accesses the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 solution must be licensed with a User CAL. All users are licensed on a named user basis. Named user licenses are specific to an individual user and cannot be shared. Note that if a user leaves the organization, the license may be reassigned to another user.
With named user licensing, you have the control and flexibility to decide on what level of investment is appropriate for each individual in the organization by choosing the right CAL for each individual.

Types of User CALs

There are four user types in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, each of which has an associated User CAL.
These four user types were developed to encompass typical roles as predefined in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, thus giving you the flexibility to license users based on how they are likely to use and derive value from the solution. The four user types are:
● Enterprise User
● Functional User
● Task User
● Self Serve User

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 packaging ―out of the box‖ maps a set of actions (called Menu Items in the Security structure of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012) to predefined Roles. Those Menu Items are also mapped to one of the four user types. Each User CAL type provides the rights to perform actions that only that user type can do. The CAL required for a given user is determined by the highest level Menu Item to which that individual has access. For example, in order to approve customer credit limits (an Enterprise level Menu Item), the employee must be designated as an Enterprise User and, therefore, have an Enterprise User CAL. That employee also has license rights to perform actions that are designated at a lower user level (e.g. Task User).

Dynamics AX 2012_2

As you progress from the lowest level CAL (Self Serve User) to the highest level (Enterprise User), the user is licensed to use the solution in ways that will provide more value. You therefore have the flexibility to decide which level of investment to make for any given individual based upon the functions that user is performing on behalf of the organization.

Dynamics AX 2012_3

POTENTIAL IMPACT OF CUSTOMIZATION ON LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is fully customizable to provide you with the right experience for every user. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 has over 10,000 Menu Items which are mapped to the four user types. To make it faster and easier to deploy the solution and determine licensing requirements, these Menu Items are associated with certain Roles.
The required CAL for a given user is determined by the highest User Type classification of the Menu Items to which the user will have access. For example, if you assign an Accountant to a Role that includes access to a Menu Item classified as ―Enterprise User‖, then that person requires an Enterprise User CAL. Menu items that are classified at the ―Self Serve User‖ level are available to all users to which you have assigned a Self Serve User or higher level CAL. Likewise, Menu Items classified at the ―Task User‖ level are available to all users with a Task User or higher level CAL, and so on.
For an even better fit in their organizations, you can change which actions may be performed by specific individuals or Roles. When customizing, it is important to remember that the license required is determined by the highest level Menu Item to which that individual has access.

Assigning Multiple Roles to a Single User
The most straight forward way to customize which actions a specific employee may perform in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is by assigning multiple Roles to that employee. For example, an employee could be assigned both the Customer Service Rep and the Field Technician Roles, and could therefore perform actions associated with both Roles. In this case, the employee would still only need a single CAL. Since the Customer Service Rep Role is designated at a higher user type level (Functional User) than the Field Technician Role (Task User), the employee would only need the Functional User CAL in order to perform actions associated with both Roles.

Changing Menu Items Associated with a Role
Another way to customize what actions users may perform is by changing which Menu Items are associated with a Role. For example, if you want everyone who is assigned the Customer Service Rep Role to be able to also approve customer credit limits (which is designated as an Enterprise User level action), then you can customize the Role to include the ―Approve customer credit limit‖ Menu Item. Because the required User CAL is determined by the highest level action the user may perform, all users assigned to the Customer Service Rep Role would then require the Enterprise User CAL.

Changing Menu Items Associated with an Individual through Custom Roles
Further, you may assign specific actions to specific users by creating custom roles. Following the example above, if you have 20 employees assigned to the Customer Service Rep Role and want to allow only five of those employees the ability to approve customer credit limits, you may create a new role that contains all of the actions assigned to the Customer Service Representative Role plus the ―Approve customer credit limit‖ Menu Item. Customers would then assign this new role to those five individuals. Those five individuals would then require the Enterprise User CAL, while the remaining 15 employees assigned to the Customer Service Rep Role would require the Functional User CAL.

Creating Menu Items
You or your Microsoft Dynamics Partner may also create Menu Items to fit specific scenarios. When doing so, those new Menu Items must be mapped to the User CAL type that best matches the type of use. Refer to Appendix A for further details on mapping usage scenarios to User CAL types.

Notes:
● Roles in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 are not the same as job titles.
● Menu Item‖ means an object that allows users to display or view a form, subform or URL in a browser application; run a task that triggers a system class, function, workflow or web-action initiated by a user; or cause an output in the ERP solution or a separate device. For additional information about the menu items executed by each CAL type please see (Sign-in required.) .
● For any given Menu Item, a user may be granted ―View‖ or ―Maintain‖ access. For some Menu Items, ―View‖ access is classified at a different User Type level than ―Maintain‖ access, in which case the required CAL is determined by the specific level of access to the given Menu Item.

Dynamics AX 2012_4

Access to Menu Items that Do Not Require CALs
Some Menu Items are not mapped to a CAL type. CALs are not required for users who access only these Menu Items.
For example, if you give applicants access to the ―Apply for a position‖ Menu Item (which is not mapped to a Named User CAL), any user accessing that Menu Item – whether internal or external – does not require a CAL for that access.
Note: Partner or customer created Menu Items must be mapped to one of the CAL types (as specified above) and do not qualify for this mapping exception.

ACCESS BY EXTERNAL USERS

External (third party) users do not require licenses. Third party users are users that are not either (i) your or your affiliates’ employees, or (ii) your or your affiliates’ contractors or agents. In this sense, the definition of third party users does not extend to onsite contractors, vendors and users performing business processes on your behalf.

Dynamics AX 2012_5

LICENSING DEVICE ACCESS TO THE SOLUTION FUNCTIONALITY FOR SPECIFIC SCENARIOS

For some scenarios you may license access to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 on a device basis. In these cases, the device requires either a Device CAL or a Limited Device CAL.
The two types of device CALs are:
Device CAL: Permits a device, used by any user, to directly or indirectly access the ERP solution solely for purposes of managing functions or processes using a warehouse management system or call-center system. Centralized warehouse devices and call center stations are the only two scenarios that may be licensed with a Device CAL. (Note: These rights are a subset of the Functional User rights, so a user licensed with a Functional User CAL may perform these activities without requiring an additional Device CAL.)
Limited Device CAL: Permits a single-purpose device, used by any user, to indirectly access the ERP solution to asynchronously feed data utilizing a staging data repository. This includes devices that do not interact with the ERP system directly. RFID devices and barcode readers are examples of devices that would be licensed with the Limited Device CAL.

Notes:
● Unlicensed users using a licensed device may use that device only for its designated purpose. For example, an unlicensed user may not use the licensed Device CAL to perform Self Serve or Task level actions.
● The Device CAL does not inherit the properties of the Limited Device CAL.

Dynamics AX 2012_6

REASSIGNING CALS
You may reassign CALs in the following ways:
● Permanently reassign a device CAL from one device to another, as long as the new device complies with the limitations applicable to the specific device CAL type
● Permanently reassign a user CAL from one user to another
● Temporarily reassign a device CAL to an alternate device while the first device is out of service
● Temporarily reassign a user CAL to a temporary worker while the user is absent

MULTIPLEXING
Multiplexing is the use of hardware or software (including manual procedures) to reduce the number of devices or individuals that access or use the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 solution by pooling connections. Multiplexing does not reduce the number of licenses required to access the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 solution. Any user that accesses the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012—whether directly or indirectly—must be properly licensed.
Note: Licensed users may manually rekey information (when coming from non-licensed users) into the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 solution. This scenario is not considered to be multiplexing.

Dynamics AX 2012_7

BUSINESS READY ENHANCEMENT PLAN
The Microsoft Dynamics Business Ready Enhancement Plan offers multiple features that help to maximize the value of the Microsoft Dynamics solution. These benefits include the ability to upgrade to newer versions of the software when they become available, as well as to receive fixes, updates, service packs, and tax and regulatory releases. For additional information about the Microsoft Dynamics Business Ready Enhancement Plan, please refer to http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/customer.

LICENSING ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE
Licenses for additional software that may be required for the solution, such as Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft SharePoint Server and their corresponding CALs are not included with the Microsoft Dynamics AX licenses. They must be acquired separately in accordance with licensing models for those products. These licenses may be licensed through traditional volume licensing channels.

Dynamics AX 2012_8

ENSURING ACCURATE LICENSING
Microsoft Dynamics customers have asked for easier ways to implement Software Asset Management (SAM) across their organization, because they realize that SAM can help them:
● streamline IT resources and improve visibility and control of their environment now and in the future,
● increase awareness of the organization’s overall software purchasing needs and better work with software vendors to meet those needs, and
● get greater insight into how to manage the organization’s assets, helping them to make more informed decisions to reduce risk and plan for the future.
To help you navigate through the product flexibility and its impact on licensing, we have created a report within the application that looks at all of the Menu Items associated to each user directly accessing Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and computes the assigned number of users by user type. You are
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Licensing Guide | August 2011 | Customer Edition Page 10
responsible for determining the number and type of third party users directly accessing Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and subtracting these users from the report generated by the system. You are also responsible for determining the number and type of internal users indirectly accessing Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and manually adding these users to the report generated by the system. As the actions of indirect users are not associated with Menu Items tracked by Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, you determine appropriate User CAL types for indirect users according to the access rights detailed in Appendix A.

Note: As Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 does not track devices, you are also responsible for manually tracking the number of Device CALs and Limited Device CALs.
By comparing this to your license information in CustomerSource, you can identify any discrepancies in your licenses. If you not currently on a plan, you can get your license information by contacting your partner.
You are advised to check licensing by running the report whenever you make a change, but are required to run the report at least annually per the Software License Terms. You may voluntarily share the results of the User Report with Microsoft or any other third party, but are not required to do so. Running the report before and after changing Roles, security, and user permissions will help confirm the impact of changes to the license requirements and provide a chance to undo the changes if they had unintended consequences.

Dynamics AX 2012_9

Remedying License Discrepancies
The license review may expose discrepancies between the number of licenses required for certain user types and what the customer has licensed. Here are the options for remedying those discrepancies:

Dynamics AX 2012_10

LICENSING FOR EXISTING CUSTOMERS

UPGRADING TO MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX 2012
If you are upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, you will need to transition from your current license model to the Server/CAL model used for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. For details on how to do so, please contact your Microsoft Dynamics Certified Partner.

For more informations download the document:

(© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)

Leave a Reply