AXIS Diplomat 2008 Software Licensing

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How Is AXIS Diplomat 2008 Licensing Controlled?

AXIS Diplomat 2008 is licensed on a concurrent user basis. This means that a licence is granted to use the software on a given number of workstations (or screens) at any one time. This can be thought of as comparable to buying a given number of copies of a book, where anybody can read a copy of the book, but only one person can read a particular copy of the book at any one time.

2. Is Client ("Per User") Licensing normal in the Computer Industry?

Yes - this is the standard way in which use of software is controlled, although the scheme which Axis First adopts for AXIS Diplomat 2008 is more flexible than most. With most software suppliers, each client licence allows the software to be installed on/run from a single workstation. This would mean that if you had ten workstations, each needing access to the same package, you would need ten licences. AXIS Diplomat 2008 is different. Each additional client licence allows the software to be run from one additional workstation at a time. This means that if you had ten screens but only four of them would be used for AXIS Diplomat 2008 at any one time, you would only need a four client AXIS Diplomat 2008 licence.

3. Does each copy of AXIS Diplomat 2008 I run on my workstation count as a separate client?

Axis First recognises that it is common to find each operator running multiple copies of AXIS Diplomat 2008. To cater for this situation, without forcing additional user licences to be purchased, AXIS Diplomat 2008 will allow any number of copies of software to be loaded on any given workstation, provided that the total number of copies does not exceed the system limit.

4. AXIS Diplomat 2008 allows Operator IDs to be configured to control access to the system. Are these limited by the client limit?

No. Because AXIS Diplomat 2008 licensing is concerned with concurrent users (i.e. the number of people using the system at any one time), you could configure hundreds of operator ID's on a single user system if you wish. This does not affect the licensing since only one of those hundreds of valid operators can use the system at any one time.

5. Why bother with client licensing at all?

The mechanism of client licensing allows the cost of the system to be scaled according to the size of the system. Without this mechanism, AXIS Diplomat 2008 would have a price tag based on a middle size system (say 32 users) which would mean that anyone below that size would be paying an unfair amount for their software to have capacity which they would never need.

6. If I have a number of modules (Accounts, Hire and Warehousing, for example), do I need to buy additional client licences for each of them?

No. AXIS licensing is controlled at the package level and not at the module level. This means that each additional client licence allows you to run the AXIS Diplomat 2008 software (regardless of modules) on one additional workstation at any one time. For licensing purposes, there are only two distinct AXIS Diplomat 2008 packages - Accounts and Payroll. Payroll licensing is controlled separately since there are normally fewer Payroll users required than for the Accounts.

7. What does "workstation" mean in the context of AXIS licensing?

A workstation is a physical screen - a PC or a Thin Client (Windows Terminal) or a remote user using Terminal Services (RDP). The industry standard term for this type of licensing is "per seat", which gives an accurate picture of a workstation as something that you can put a chair in front of!

8. What is a software licence?

Most software is licensed, not sold. The user is granted the right to use the software within the terms of the licence agreement. The ownership and copyright of the software remains with the publisher.

9. If I upgrade, do I have to pay to upgrade my user licences and my modules?

No, unlike some software publishers, Axis First prices upgrades to AXIS Diplomat 2008 purely on the number of user licences in use at the earlier version - the same price applies regardless of the number of AXIS Diplomat 2008 modules in use.

This document has been produced by Axis First as a source of general information only, regarding AXIS Diplomat 2008 licensing issues. No warranties or guarantees should be implied from this information.