① Product · Rocket · Terminal Emulator
Rocket Terminal Emulator, formerly Rocket BlueZone, is the desktop client that connects users to the host. It is licensed per user, concurrent or single, so the cost driver is the size and concurrency of your user population, not mainframe capacity. With Rocket moving to subscription and consolidating its emulators into Secure Host Access, the seat count and the licensing basis are where the money sits.
Rocket Terminal Emulator, sold for years as Rocket BlueZone, is the client software that gives users secure access to mainframe, AS/400, and Unix host applications from the desktop or browser. It is the green screen window into the host for tellers, agents, operators, and back office staff. It is mature, widely deployed, and easy to overlook in a software estate precisely because it is a quiet desktop tool, which is exactly why its seat counts and entitlements drift over time.
This is per user licensing, not capacity licensing. BlueZone historically offered two methods: a Concurrent User License, sized to the number of simultaneous connections drawn from a shared pool, and a Single User License tied to one individual on one machine. Rocket has been shifting the portfolio away from perpetual licenses toward subscription, and consolidating its acquired emulators into the unified Secure Host Access line with Rocket Terminal Emulator as the single product. The renewal therefore turns on a per user count and the concurrent versus named basis, not on any mainframe MSU figure.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Charge model | Per user; subscription increasingly default |
| Metric | Concurrent users or single named users |
| Not billed on | Mainframe MSU or host capacity |
| Product line | Rocket Secure Host Access (unified) |
| Former name | Rocket BlueZone |
Because the basis is the user population, the contract terms around counting and true up matter most. See what audit clauses allow.
The first driver is the licensed seat count, which tends to drift upward as the tool is installed for new staff but rarely removed when people leave or move on. The second is the licensing basis: paying single user prices for a population that is largely occasional wastes money that a concurrent model would save, and the reverse is true for dedicated daily users. The third is the subscription transition, since moving from perpetual licenses with maintenance to a per user subscription changes the cost shape and is a point where the seat count should be trued down to real need rather than carried forward unexamined.
Per user software has its own exposure pattern, all about counting. Common traps we see at pattern level:
Where exposure hides
The levers all work on the user population and the basis. The five that pay:
Buyer side levers
Terminal emulation is a competitive market, which makes it one of the more contestable line items in a mainframe estate. Alternatives from other vendors exist and cover the same core function, so a competitive evaluation is realistic leverage. The switching cost is in reconfiguring connection profiles, macros, keyboard mappings, and any automation built on the client, plus user retraining, so a full replacement is a managed rollout rather than an overnight swap. The practical play is to price a credible alternative, use it to discipline the Rocket renewal, and weigh an actual move against the rollout effort across your user base.
Count the users, not the MSU.
Explainers: what audit clauses allow and escrow and continuity rights. Sibling product: Rocket Enterprise Suite (Micro Focus) licensing. Hub and commercial: the Rocket Software buyer side guide and Rocket Software audit defense.
Audit notice or renewal under 18 months out? We mobilize within 48 hours.