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  • 1.  When using Sage 100 Premium - How many SQL user licenses do you see customers buying?

    Posted 02-07-2024 14:09

    If a customer has a 50 user Sage 100 Premium license - how many SQL licenses do you see them purchasing? I know in the past our discussions have really varied from the minimum to one for every Sage 100 Premium licensed user. In actual practice what number of licenses do your customers typically purchase for the SQL Server?



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    Wayne Schulz
    wayne@s-consult.com
    Schulz Consulting
    (860) 516-8990
    Moodus, CT
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  • 2.  RE: When using Sage 100 Premium - How many SQL user licenses do you see customers buying?

    Posted 02-07-2024 17:37

    I think at a certain point it becomes cheaper to buy processor license(s) rather than user licenses.



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    Phil McIntosh
    Friendly Systems, Inc.
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  • 3.  RE: When using Sage 100 Premium - How many SQL user licenses do you see customers buying?

    Posted 02-07-2024 17:52

    I believe I remember @Carmen Cruz mentioning you only need 2 or 3 SQL licenses.... one for mas-user, one for mas_reports and maybe one other.  I could be hallucinating again.



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    Doug Higgs
    Midwest Commerce Solutions, Inc
    (312) 315-0960
    Chauffeur, Chef, and Personal Assistant to Sprinkles
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  • 4.  RE: When using Sage 100 Premium - How many SQL user licenses do you see customers buying?

    Posted 02-07-2024 18:06

    If you want to fail an IT Audit, that is a good strategy.  Technically you are not blocked... but license compliance is another matter.

    Microsoft doesn't care about what login is used, they care about users connecting.  If you have a warehouse user on a scanner that connects to SQL through a ScanForce / ScanCo service, even without a Sage license being used, that is a SQL connection that M$ wants to be paid for.  Non-Sage user who uses Excel to pull sales / inventory data from SQL: another SQL license.  Sage users connect directly to SQL when printing, so one license per Sage user is a base minimum... I can't really say whether different humans on different shifts need to be counted individually (where Sage licenses by concurrent connection, Microsoft licensing rules are much more complicated, to the point I simply don't advise clients on such matters, and tell them to consult with a SQL licensing expert). 

    And yes, as Phil mentions, per core licensing becomes cheaper at some point.    I remember @Steve Iwanowski mentioning the threshold being around 30 users, but my memory may be incorrect on that... and again, I am not an expert in M$ licensing at all.



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    Kevin Moyes
    Technical Systems Analyst
    Munjal White Consulting Co.
    Toronto ON
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: When using Sage 100 Premium - How many SQL user licenses do you see customers buying?

    Posted 02-08-2024 08:35

    Retail pricing is here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-2022-pricing

    MS per-core licensing dictates that SQL be licensed for all available physical cores or 4 minimum on a VM (most likely scenario nowadays), so the breakeven is still ~30 users for 4 cores. I know Sage still says 'you only need 2 users' but every audit eventually ends up using the 'COULD a user EVER touch the database directly or indirectly' logic and then each human requires a license.



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    Steve Iwanowski, NextStep Technology Advisors, aka DSD Lancaster PA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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  • 6.  RE: When using Sage 100 Premium - How many SQL user licenses do you see customers buying?

    Posted 02-08-2024 09:55

    Great info - I used Gemini Pro to summarize and anonymize. I'll work this into the Premium FAQ. 

    Here's the final version of the summary, formatted as a titled document with the pricing information integrated:

    SQL Licensing Requirements for Sage 100 Premium

    Date Created: February 8th, 2023

    Central Question:

    • How many SQL user licenses are needed when using Sage 100 Premium?

    Discussion Points:

    • Minimum vs. Compliance: Some consultants suggest purchasing only a few SQL licenses to handle Sage's technical requirements. However, others note that this would likely fail an audit, as Microsoft licensing considers any potential user accessing the SQL database.
    • User Threshold: Participants discuss the point at which purchasing SQL licenses per processor-core becomes more cost-effective than buying them per user. Estimates place this threshold around 30 users.
    • Sage's Position: Sage officially states that a limited number of SQL licenses are needed. However, experts advise taking a broader view of anyone (e.g., non-Sage users pulling data via Excel) who "could" access the database to ensure licensing compliance.

    Key Takeaways:

    • Microsoft licensing of SQL is complex, and simply meeting Sage's minimum technical requirements doesn't guarantee compliance.
    • Sage 100 Accounts Requiring SQL Licenses:
      • mas_user
      • mas_reports
    • To avoid audit issues, a more expansive view of who accesses (or could potentially access) the SQL data is important when determining necessary SQL licenses.
    • Switching to processor-core based licensing may be cheaper for organizations with larger numbers of Sage 100 Premium users.

    SQL Pricing and Considerations

    • Per-Core Licensing: Microsoft requires SQL to be licensed for all available physical cores (or a minimum of 4 cores on a VM). The breakeven point where this becomes cheaper than per-user licensing is often around 30 users.

    Original Message Thread (Posted February 8th, 2023)

    Let me know if you have any other edits you'd like to make!



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    Wayne Schulz
    wayne@s-consult.com
    Schulz Consulting
    (860) 516-8990
    Moodus, CT
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