Mainframe Licensing ExpertsIndependent Advisory

① Publisher coverage

Seven publishers. Seven playbooks.

Every mainframe software publisher licenses, audits and renews differently. We maintain a buyer side playbook for each: the estate they sell, the metrics they price on, the renewal behavior commonly observed, and the levers that move the number. Pick your publisher.

48 hour mobilization Audit notice or renewal under 18 months out? We mobilize within 48 hours.

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01 IBM

MLC · IPLA · Tailored Fit Pricing · SCRTThe MLC stack (z/OS, CICS, Db2 for z/OS, IMS, MQ), sub capacity reporting, R4HA peaks, Tailored Fit Pricing baselines and zIIP offload. The largest line item on most mainframe budgets, and the one with the most technical levers.

 02 Broadcom (CA)

Portfolio agreements · MCL · True ForwardSince acquiring CA Technologies in 2018, Broadcom has commonly applied renewal uplifts of 30 to 80 percent, pushed portfolio consolidation, and moved buyers toward the Mainframe Consumption Licensing model. Leverage exists, but it has to be built early.

 03 BMC

MSU based · zCL · suite agreementsThe AMI portfolio, MainView and Control-M, typically priced on MSU tiers with consumption options under zConsumption Licensing. Often the credible displacement alternative to IBM and Broadcom tools, which makes BMC paper a leverage instrument in itself.

 04 Rocket Software

Micro Focus AMC · ASG · terminal emulationRocket acquired ASG Technologies in 2021 and the Micro Focus Application Modernization and Connectivity business from OpenText in 2024. Acquired paper means inherited metrics, overlapping entitlements and renewal repricing risk.

 05 Software AG

Adabas & Natural · legacy contractsThe Adabas & Natural estate now runs as a standalone business under Silver Lake ownership. Long lived contracts carry specialized metrics and audit exposure that most sourcing teams see once in a career. We see it continuously.

 06 Compuware (BMC)

Topaz · Xpediter · Abend-AID · File-AID · StrobeBMC acquired Compuware in 2020, and the developer tooling estate now renews under BMC commercial terms. Entitlement overlap with existing BMC agreements is common, and commonly missed.

 07 Syncsort (Precisely)

MFX · Ironstream · capacity based renewalsSyncsort became Precisely in 2020. Sort and data integration tooling is typically priced on machine capacity, so the bill grows with every hardware refresh even when usage does not. That linkage is negotiable.

② Where buyers start

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A

An audit notice arrived

Start with mainframe audit defense. Scope control and independent recalculation in the first two weeks decide most of the outcome.

B

A renewal is inside 18 months

Start with mainframe license negotiation and the publisher playbook above. The runway is the leverage.

C

The bill keeps growing without new workload

Start with cost optimization. Consumption, capacity and entitlement reviews typically surface 20 to 35 percent of addressable spend.

Which publisher is on your desk? Start there.

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