PPM license types

PPM offers you two types of user licenses: named licenses and concurrent licenses. You can install the license type that can best support your business.

Named license

A named license is individualized. Only the user named can access specific features of PPM. And the user can access PPM anytime and anywhere.

What features can named licenses cover

  • Configuration
  • User Administration
  • Application Portfolio Analyst
  • Application Portfolio User
  • Demand Management
  • Deployment Management
  • Portfolio Management
  • Program Management
  • Project Management
  • Time Management

Named license capacity check

PPM checks the capacity of named licenses when you assign them to users. If a named license limit is reached, you cannot assign that license to users.

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Concurrent license

Concurrent licenses enable a pool of licenses to be shared across a group of potential users, ensuring that at no point in time is the maximum concurrent number of licenses exceeded.

For example, in a four-user concurrent user license setup, four users, regardless of who they are, can simultaneously access PPM, but another user is unable to log in until one of the four users logs out.

Typically, concurrent licenses are purchased for the maximum number of people who will be using PPM.

What features can concurrent licenses cover

  • Foundation - Over 25 Users
  • Configuration
  • User Administration
  • Demand Management
  • Project Management
  • Portfolio Management
  • Program Management
  • Time Management

Concurrent license capacity check

PPM does not check the capacity of concurrent licenses when you assign them to users. You can assign installed concurrent licenses to as many users as possible.

PPM checks the capacity when the users that are assigned the concurrent license log in to PPM. If the concurrent license limit is reached, a warning message pops up when another user tries to log into PPM: Cannot login. The limit for concurrent online users has been reached. Try again later.

Force end a concurrent session

If the concurrent license limit is reached, you can forcibly rclose inactive sessions to release the concurrent licenses. Use the ALLOW_CONC_LIC_STEAL_AFTER_IDLE_DELAY_IN_MINUTES parameter to configure this. For details, see the ALLOW_CONC_LIC_STEAL_AFTER_IDLE_DELAY_IN_MINUTES parameter in Server parameters.

Compatibility with Portfolio Optimization and Mobility licenses

If you have installed the Portfolio Optimization or the Mobility license, they can both work with the related concurrent licenses.

  • If Portfolio Optimization is enabled, all concurrent license users who have the Portfolio Management licenses can access the feature.

  • If PPM Mobility Access is enabled, all concurrent users who have the Demand Management licenses can access the feature.

Known issue for new users

Known issue: If you use instance-on or Eval licenses and assign such licenses to some users in the trial period, after you install the concurrent licenses, the PPM Server cannot be started.

Cause: The instance-on and Eval licenses are named licenses. They are disabled once you install the concurrent licenses. When the PPM Server starts, PPM will check whether the number of the users that are assigned named licenses exceeds the license number. Since no named license exists in PPM, PPM cannot be started.

Solution: A script is provided to help you transform the named-licensed users to concurrent-licensed users.

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Use example

You have installed 5 concurrent licenses. The total capacity of the concurrent licenses are:

  • 5 Foundation - Over 25 Users
  • 5 Configuration licenses
  • 5 User Administration licenses
  • 5 Demand Management licenses
  • 5 Project Management licenses
  • 5 Portfolio Management licenses
  • 5 Program Management licenses

If five users with only the concurrent licenses are currently accessing PPM Portfolio Management module, then a user with the concurrent license cannot log into PPM Portfolio Management module, unless at least one of the five previous users logs out. However, if a user with the concurrent license tires to log into PPM Time Management module, the user can log in: because none of the implicit Time Management licenses is consumed.

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Concurrent license FAQs

A: When you log into PPM, one concurrent license is consumed for each feature assigned to you. When you log out from the last session, all the concurrent licenses are returned.

A: If you close a session without explicitly logging out, the concurrent license is returned until the session timeout.

A: By default, a PPM session times out after 120 minutes. You can modify the timeout setting using the KINTANA_SESSION_TIMEOUT parameter in the server.conf file.

A: Concurrent licenses are consumed on a per-user basis. When you log into PPM, one concurrent license is consumed for each feature assigned to you, regardless of how many sessions you open.

A: When SSO is enabled, you will automatically log into PPM if the SSO session is longer than the PPM session. If the SSO session is shorter than the PPM session, you need to log into IDP again. In both cases, PPM session is logged in and the concurrent license is consumed.

A: If you open the PPM Workbench, there is heart-beat communication between the workbench and PPM. Therefore, PPM session is logged in and the concurrent license is consumed. Make sure you close the workbench after use.

A: Each SOAP request will automatically log into and out of PPM. Therefore, the concurrent license is consumed and returned automatically.

A: Yes. Each REST API call creates a PPM session. The concurrent license is consumed until all the sessions are closed. You can call logoff API to actively end the session. Or, wait until the session timeout.

A: No.

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