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Simultaneous User pricing
I have read with interest the discussions on this list, particularly the recent thread relating to per user pricing and peak vs. off-peak etc. As a vendor of hosting services and software used by some of the larger publishers, I would like to offer a service providers perspective, and perhaps give some background as to why, from a technical and service assurance perspective, at least some measure of the peak demand on a service is important. Many different services, (computer networks, electricity grids, water reticulation systems etc.) need to be sized to deliver consumers an acceptable service level most (if not all) of the time the service is meant to be available. This amounts to having to size all critical aspects of the service infrastructure according to the peak demands placed on them, and in situations where high reliability is necessary, to replicate all or part of the infrastructure so that there is no single point of failure. The actual cost of the infrastructure is therefore directly related to the peak demands placed on it. In terms of providing electronic access to databases or journals, this is (more or less) related to the maximum number of concurrent users. Whilst it may be true that peak demand only exists for part of the day or year, sizing of the systems and infrastructure needs to be done on the basis of that peak demand. Off-peak capacity that can be delivered cheaply is only available because the service infrastructure to meet peak demands is in place (and paid for) already. Were you to be a publisher with a usage pattern that is opposite to the norm, we might consider selling you some off-peak capacity, but with that you would have to accept strict limitations on how much resource you consumed during peak periods. However, as a publisher (or publisher's customer) you would probably consider it unacceptable to have potentially no service at certain times of the day, or have your service cut off without warning because there was no spare capacity available. (Electricity authorities commonly use this model for off-peak electricity - you get a heavily discounted price, but they can switch off the off-peak supply whenever they need the resource to service other demand). In conclusion, if your publisher's charging model is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, it may appear that you are paying for something you aren't using most of the time, but given that the publisher's facilities must be sized to deliver you an acceptable service level when your demands are at their highest, peak-based pricing is reasonably reflective of the costs of infrastructure to supply the information online (of course infrastructure is only one of many components in the equation). Rgds, Ken Robinson Whether you can police a concurrent user limit on a www-based service depends on the software you use to control the web site. Using what we have, you can, with most, you can't. _________________________________________________________________ Ken Robinson | Ph +61-2-410-4612 Senior Solutions Consultant | Fax +61-2-411-8603 Online and Network Services | Email kenr@fujitsu.com.au Fujitsu Australia Limited | Mobile 014-998-334 475 Victoria Avenue, | Chatswood. NSW. 2067 | Australia | _________________________________________________________________
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