① Journal · Broadcom (CA) · Datacom · Renewal
Broadcom (CA) Datacom is priced on mainframe capacity under a consumption baseline, so the renewal turns on the baseline you committed and the consumption you actually run. The number moves when you reset the baseline down and validate the peak yourself. Five levers move it.
Datacom is priced against a committed baseline. Reset the baseline and you move the price.
Datacom, the mainframe database Broadcom (CA) acquired with CA Technologies, is licensed on mainframe capacity measured in MSU (Million Service Units) or the older MIPS, and is commonly placed under Broadcom Mainframe Consumption Licensing (MCL). MCL sets a committed MSU baseline and prices consumption against it, with growth above the baseline handled by a True Forward mechanism. Broadcom typically relies on IBM Sub-Capacity Reporting Tool (SCRT) output and may request an ISV SCRT report that lists peak MSU for its own products. That makes a Datacom renewal a baseline problem before it is a price problem: the committed level you agreed and the consumption the meter reports together set the number, and the buyers who move it arrive with both reset and validated rather than accepting the levels the vendor proposes.
The pattern we commonly observe at Broadcom (CA) renewals is a baseline anchored on a historical peak, a True Forward that has quietly lifted the committed level over the term, and renewal uplifts proposed well above flat consumption. The largest lever is the committed MCL baseline itself, supported by an independently validated ISV SCRT peak. Around them sit unbundling the Datacom portfolio, scrutinizing the True Forward, and holding a credible alternative database path. Read this with our guide on preparing for a Broadcom CA renewal and the Broadcom (CA) publisher hub.
What moves the number on a Broadcom (CA) Datacom renewal · the lever and its effect
| Lever | How it works | Effect on the number |
|---|---|---|
| MCL consumption baseline | Reset the committed MSU baseline down to genuine steady state consumption | Lowers the level all consumption is priced against, the largest lever |
| ISV SCRT validation | Validate the peak MSU in the ISV SCRT report independently before accepting it | Keeps the consumption figure honest |
| Portfolio unbundling | Pay only for the Datacom components you actually run | Removes line items from the renewal |
| True Forward scrutiny | Challenge growth billed forward that no longer reflects the workload | Prevents paying forward for capacity you do not keep |
| Alternative database path | A credible Db2 or migration option sits behind the renewal | Caps the renewal against a real switch |
These are levers and patterns we commonly observe on Broadcom (CA) Datacom renewals, not guaranteed outcomes. The effect of each depends on your contract, baseline, and consumption profile; validate your own SCRT data before relying on any figure.
Under MCL, consumption is priced against the baseline you committed, so the baseline is the renewal. Pull twelve months of MSU data, separate genuine steady state from one time spikes, and walk in proposing a baseline trued back to the real workload rather than the historical peak the vendor anchored on. Every other lever works on top of a baseline set honestly. See our explainer on the MSU baseline and how to reset it.
The baseline is the renewal, so reset it.
Broadcom typically prices its own products from an ISV SCRT report that lists the peak MSU attributed to Datacom. Validate that report independently before you accept the consumption figure, because the peak the meter records is not always the peak the workload requires, and a contested peak can lift the baseline through True Forward. Bring your own validated consumption data to the table, not the vendor's unexamined number. See our explainer on contractual vs consumed MSU.
Never accept the vendor's peak unvalidated.
Datacom ships as a family, and the renewal often bundles components you no longer run. Inventory what is actually deployed, pay only for that, and resist consolidation pressure that re-bundles dropped pieces back in. Behind it, keep a credible Db2 or migration path on the table, because a real alternative caps the renewal whether or not you ever execute it. See our guide on handling a renewal uplift demand.
Pay for what you run, with an exit in hand.
④ Where the Datacom renewal is won
A Datacom renewal is priced against a baseline you agreed. The number moves when you reset it. True the baseline, validate the peak, hold the alternative.
Typical renewal reduction
Mainframe spend negotiated on the buyer side
Engagements delivered since 2019
Datacom is licensed on mainframe capacity measured in MSU or the older MIPS, and is commonly placed under Broadcom Mainframe Consumption Licensing. MCL sets a committed MSU baseline and prices consumption against it, with growth handled by True Forward. Broadcom typically relies on IBM SCRT output and may request an ISV SCRT report listing peak MSU for its own products, so the reported peak and the committed baseline together set the number.
The committed MCL baseline. Because consumption is priced against the baseline you agreed, resetting it down to actual consumption is the largest lever, and validating the ISV SCRT peak independently keeps the figure honest. Beyond that, unbundling the portfolio removes line items, scrutinizing True Forward prevents paying forward for growth you do not keep, and a credible Db2 path caps the renewal against a real switch.
True Forward bills consumption above the committed baseline going forward, rather than crediting back consumption under it. A temporary spike in measured MSU can lift the committed level for the rest of the term, so growth needs to be managed and timed. At renewal the discipline is to true the baseline back to genuine steady state, document one time spikes, and resist a baseline anchored on a peak that no longer reflects the workload. See CA 1 Tape Management renewal negotiation.
We pull and validate the ISV SCRT consumption data independently, reset the committed MCL baseline to genuine steady state, inventory the Datacom portfolio so you pay only for what runs, and build the credible alternative before the vendor controls the clock. Our Broadcom (CA) hub maps the levers and our license negotiation service runs the renewal from the buyer side.
Related: Broadcom (CA) publisher hub · CA 1 Tape Management renewal · CA Gen renewal negotiation · preparing for a Broadcom CA renewal · license negotiation
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