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RE: Simultaneous User Pricing 

Forwarded message:
From: "Sloan, Bernie" <bernies@uillinois.edu>
Subject: RE: Simultaneous User Pricing
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 15:20:09 -0600

For what it's worth, I can think of a reason why vendors might put limits
on simultaneous use under Ann's second scenario. 

In cases where the institution maintains the hardware/software/etc that
provides access to the product, a vendor might need to put limits on
simultaneous use in order to be able to reasonably guarantee performance
warranties. 

But then I guess that doesn't necessarily mean they have to directly tie
PRICING to simultaneous users. 

Bernie Sloan

************************************
Bernie Sloan                                     
Senior Library Information Systems Consultant
University Office for Planning & Budgeting
University of Illinois
(217) 333-4895
BernieS@uillinois.edu 
************************************

> From: 	Ann Okerson
>Sent: 	Friday, January 31, 1997 1:32 PM
>To: 	liblicense-l@pantheon.yale.edu
>Subject: 	Simultaneous User Pricing
>
>I.  When no. of simultaneous user pricing model makes sense: 
>
>Simultaneous user pricing makes sense (to me) when the electronic resource
>is accessed remotely from a publisher or vendor.  In that case, the
>deliverer must ramp up services to accommodate a certain kind of load on
>his system.  The provider is there not only to sell an information product
>but to deliver a service (access, at the least). In order to offer that
>access the provider must have a good idea of how many folks might come
>knocking at the door and be prepared to deliver.  If customers get poor
>access and service, the producer and his product are not viable.  So, in
>the remote-access-case, the producer might reasonably ask the customer to
>pay based on anticipated maximum demand.  The customer in turn decides
>what that might be; the provider will then, ideally, offer the customer
>data that will allow the customer to fine-tune the numbers of simultaneous
>users paid for.  The customer may choose to pay for as many simultaneous
>users as desire the service, or may set an economic cap.
>
>Note that not every provider of remote access asks for simultaneous user
>pricing, by any means. 
>
>II.  When simultaneous user pricing makes less sense (to me): 
>
>When the product is delivered to our institution and we in turn serve it
>up locally (through the "Intranet" if that is the right word here) or
>through a CD-ROM network, then the cost of the delivery is borne by us. 
>We have to worry about the wires, pipelines, storage, backup, user
>support, and so on.  In this case, I fail to see why, simply because we
>are investing more at our end to deliver a producer's product to a user,
>we (the institutional subscriber) should be charged additional $$$ by the
>provider.  The provider should charge for the product in that case, not
>the access portion.


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