On NAV 2013 Licenses – Part 2 | Add-on Ranges

 

So in my chat with MS operations on insert rights for our add-on on NAV 2103 it became clear why we didn’t have these insert rights (yet) in our newly configured NAV 2013 development/demo license. Gary Winter’s comment however argues this and I truly hope he’s right, because using the workaround Arend-Jan Kauffmann, switching between NAV 2009 and NAV 2013 licenses, isn’t the most practical thing to do.

Meanwhile I have been digesting a lot of information on NAV 2013 licensing related to add-on registration and certification – taken from PartnerSource (see references) and provided by various MSFTs – to get a clear picture on where we stand, a Dynamics NAV Selling ISV with a number of add-ons not yet CfMD certified.

Add-ons and NAV 2013, CfMD versus non-CfMD

With NAV 2013 MS replaces the existing Add-on Program with a new program called Microsoft Dynamics NAV Registered Solution Program, which will be “the only available mode for Independent Software Vendors (“ISVs”) to offer their solutions on Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 using the reserved objects range (1,000,000-98,999,999)” [see reference 1]. To take part in this program each ISV needs to sign the Registered Solution Program Agreement, in short RSPA, which is an addendum to the SPA. Signing the RSPA is a requisite for registering add-ons on NAV 2013 by the ISV.

Now once an add-on is registered – “formally added to the Agreement” as reference 1 calls it – a quarterly fee will be charged to the ISV. This fee is based on the number of object ranges that make up the add-on and some other rules as described in reference 1, which I skip for now except the one most interest to us: CfMD.

Modules corresponding to solutions that are CfMD are excluded

In other words: CfMD add-ons will not be charged!

OK, charged or not charged, clear. But what is the difference money-wise?

Taken the example as give by reference 2, where 150 objects (per object type) are charged:

Object Type	Chargeable Object Range	Rounded Up to nearest Pack size	Pricelist per pack	Object Cost
Codeunit	150	200	€ 600	€ 1.200
Queries	150	200	€ 600	€ 1.200
Page	150	200	€ 600	€ 1.200
Report	150	200	€ 600	€ 1.200
Table Data	150	150	€ 600	€ 9.000
XMLPort	150	200	€ 600	€ 1.200

Total			€ 15.000
Multiplied by 0.625			€ 9.375
Quarterly Fee Charge			€ 9.375

So this is serious money! Quarterly. Irrespective whether you sell the add-on or not. Ouch! Questions boiling up … Let’s do a Q & A.

Q & A

In what way can we register this non-CfMD add-on and not being billed by MS?

Answer: In no way. Once RSPA has been signed and Add-on is registered (for NAV 2013) the ISV will be billed. For now, however, there is a workaround:

You can sell the customer NAV 2009 and include the Add-On before upgrading them to NAV 2013.
This way you can avoid signing the RSPA and including the Registered Solution on the RSPA therefore avoiding the fee.
So sell NAV 2009, with your granules on a BRL license, and then transition to a NAV2013 license.

Passing the Software Solution Test (SST) for the Registered Solution – as part of CfMD – on NAV 2013 will allow the ISV 12 months to get their certification in place.
Where CfMD is a key component to the new program, the NAV 2009 upgrade route is a consideration for partners that need more time to get their solutions ready on NAV 2013.

So with the suggested workaround, the customer will get a NAV 2013 license at no additional cost?

Answer: There are no additional costs for customers on a current enhancement plan. They are allowed the latest version as part of their BREP benefits. All details can be found in reference 3. In a nutshell:

Two upgrade paths are available: (1) License Migration Transition Upgrade (LMT Upgrade) for licenses registered before October 1, 2012, and (2) License Credit Transition Upgrade (LCT Upgrade) for licenses registered on or after October 1, 2012.

With LMT a NAV 2009 license can be exchanged for a NAV 2013 license “to ensure that customers receive at least their current functionality plus the number of users they have already licensed”.

With LCT exchange is done based on investment, i.e. the value of the NAV 2009 license can be exchanged against NAV 2013 functionality (and users) for the same ‘value’. Additional value has to be paid for.

So with LMT no additional cost applies (if no additional functionality or users are acquired), with LCT additional cost might be applicable.

And with this workaround the ISV, not having a RSPA, can insert existing NAV 2009 Add-on code in NAV 2013, can adjust this code, but cannot insert new objects/fields as the dev license for NAV 2013 does not have insert rights for our existing add-on?

Answer: Correct. The reserved Add-on object range is unlocked in NAV 2013 on the customer’s license when an existing customer with an Add-on on NAV 2009 is transition upgraded to NAV 2013. So any insert in Add-on should be/have been done in NAV 2009

How long will this “NAV 2009 upgrade route” be available for … existing customers?

Answer: At present MS has not put an end date on when existing customers can transition to a (perpetual) license on NAV 2013.

… new customers?

Answer: From December 2013 MS will not be selling any new BRL licenses for NAV 2009, so you can continue to do this work around until then.

[UPDATE 2012-10-19 – BEGIN]

If our Add-on range is bigger than the actual number of objects in use, are we going to billed for the full range or the objects used?

Answer: Only objects that are used are invoiced for. So if you have reserved 400, but are using 150 you will be invoiced for the 150 rounded up (see example).

[UPDATE 2012-10-19 – END]

[UPDATE 2012-11-17 – BEGIN]

Assume we have our add-on CfMD certified, which means that  we will not be billed for the objects that are part of the add-on.
What about any new objects that we add to this add-on due to the further expansion of the add-on? Will these be charged when selling our “new” add-on?

Answer: As a rule, in these circumstances, we are allowing partners to increase the number of objects by 20% without incurring extra costs.

[UPDATE 2012-11-17 – END]

Facit

We can continue with our non-CfMD Add-on having a workaround, however, there will be a point in time (December 2013) where we will need to be fully “on” NAV 2013, i.e. enforce CfMD on it.

So this gives us some breathing space, especially as all communication on this Add-on program change has been quite late and also during our holidays season. Only when NAV 2013 was released and licenses could be created we found out what this meant for us having non-CfMD add-ons (even though we have been working on it, but haven’t finished yet). As stated above: we are talking about serious money!

References

1. Microsoft Dynamics NAV Registered Solution Program Guide
2. Example of a Registered Solution Program Calculation
3. Microsoft Dynamics Perpetual Transition Upgrade Policy

Regarding the new Microsoft Dynamics NAV Registered Solution Program all documents are to be found on PArtnerSource on this page: Microsoft Dynamics NAV Registered Solution Program / Add-On Registration.

Notes

• When calculating the “object cost”, as in the example above, the number of objects is rounded up to the nearest pack size. How these pack sizes are defined for numbers above 200 I didn’t find the right resource yet.
• Just as a simple and clear statement: RSPA does not have any effect on the customer ranges (50.000-99.999).
• In order to see what additional cost might be apllicable for an LCT upgrade it would have been usefull if some sort of tool (Excel sheet?) were available. At least haven’t found one.

Related posts

• On NAV 2013 Licenses – Part 1 | Add-on Ranges