① Product · Software AG · Entire Net-Work
Entire Net-Work is the message based middleware that lets Adabas databases be reached across a network. It is connectivity that sits underneath the Adabas and Natural estate, easy to overlook in a contract review, yet it carries its own MSU capacity license and its own renewal. With Software AG having spun Adabas and Natural into a standalone business in 2025, the capacity sizing on connectivity like this is exactly where buyers should look.
Entire Net-Work is Software AG message based middleware that allows Adabas databases to be accessed anywhere on the network. It is the transport layer that lets an application on one system reach an Adabas database on another, and lets Adabas instances communicate across systems, providing the benefits of distributed processing without every application needing a local copy of the database. It is foundational connectivity for distributed Adabas environments, and like most plumbing it tends to be deployed once and then forgotten, which is exactly why its licensed footprint drifts out of line with actual need.
Like the rest of the Software AG mainframe portfolio, Entire Net-Work is licensed by capacity, measured in MSU, the IBM measure of processor capacity. Enforcement is by a license file, a sequential XML record that carries the operating system type, CPU ID, LPAR ID, system name, and the licensed MSU capacity, checked at runtime. In Software AG mainframe licensing the product is identified by the code WCP. So the cost is driven by the MSU rating of the LPARs where Entire Net-Work runs, the same capacity basis as Adabas (ADA) and Natural, and it is usually bundled into the wider Software AG mainframe agreement.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Charge model | Capacity license on MSU |
| Metric | MSU of the authorized LPARs |
| Enforcement | License file with CPU ID, LPAR ID, MSU capacity |
| Product code | WCP in Software AG licensing |
| Sits with | Adabas (ADA) and Natural estate |
Because it is capacity priced, the lever is the LPAR footprint. See the MIPS to MSU conversion question and sysplex vs standalone pricing differences.
The first driver is the MSU capacity of the LPARs where Entire Net-Work is licensed to run, which tends to be set at the full Adabas footprint even when distributed access is only needed on a subset. The second is the bundle, since Entire Net-Work is usually wrapped into the wider Software AG mainframe agreement where its line item is easy to lose and hard to challenge individually. The third is the broader Software AG renewal posture, because legacy Adabas and Natural contracts carry real audit exposure, and connectivity components like this ride along with that exposure when consumption is not validated independently.
Capacity priced connectivity has a specific exposure pattern. Common traps we see at pattern level:
Where exposure hides
The levers work on the footprint, the bundle, and the validated consumption. The five that pay:
Buyer side levers
Entire Net-Work is tightly coupled to Adabas, so it is rarely replaced on its own. The credible alternative is the bigger decision: whether to keep the Adabas and Natural estate at all, or to modernize off it, which removes the Software AG license stack including the connectivity layer. That is a multi year program with real cost and risk, not a quick swap, but it is the genuine walk away that disciplines a Software AG renewal. The narrower play is to right size and unbundle the connectivity license within a continued Adabas estate. For the wider decision, see Natural vs COBOL modernization.
Connectivity is still capacity. Size it to the footprint that needs it.
Explainers: the MIPS to MSU conversion question and what audit clauses allow. Sibling products: Natural licensing and EntireX licensing. Comparison: Natural vs COBOL modernization. Hub and commercial: the Software AG buyer side guide and Software AG renewal advisory.
Audit notice or renewal under 18 months out? We mobilize within 48 hours.