So tricky question. The people you want to notice the message are not on the system. They are in a tiny room with numbers and an 8 to 5 job.
The system teams (Ops, MVS, IMS, etc) would be monitoring for these types of messages. The process I like is when I can run a daily batch job to check the license value. Then if it is within 30, days, the tool would produce a message to the JOBLOG and SYSLOG. That way I can trap anything with an automation tool. I also like processes that let me set the RC if the license is about to expire. So if I can tell the software - when you hit 30 days, then produce a message to syslog and set the RC to 08 - but only if this tool is run. Not normal batch. And if it is 10 days or less, I want a 12. Then I could set up an email to the Contracts team to let them know we are need to make sure we paid our bills. Lizette > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of > Charles Mills > Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2019 3:40 PM > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > Subject: Best way to alert customer to pending license expiration? > > Okay, I am "dropping up one level" from my question about persistent WTO > messages. The REAL question is "what would be the best way to tell a customer > that their license is fairly close to expiration?" > > Please, may I ask that we not digress into whether license enforcement is a > good idea. That's a valid discussion but it's not this thread. I'm a > contractor on this and it's not my decision. I also happen to think that > software vendors need to get paid and not every customer ponies up > spontaneously. FWIW, there is no CPUID checking in the product, just certain > usage restrictions and an expiration date. > > It's a batch product. It's not a huge big deal product, so there is no "CA-1" > that is devoted to license management. > > What would be the best way to get the right peoples' attention to let them > know that the license is fairly close to expiration? Let me tell you from > experience three things that do not work well: > > - An I message in SYSPRINT with no elevated return code. Put simply, nobody > notices or cares. (Until the product expires, and then all heck breaks > loose.) > - A W message in SYSPRINT with a return code of 4. All heck breaks loose at > that point, because everyone seems to use JCL that checks for a zero return > code, and you break their batch processes with a 4. You might as well return > 16 as return 4. > - Having vendor sales management keep track of whether a new license has been > sent, and managing it that way. (1) "A license has been sent" is not the same > thing as "someone actually installed the license"; and (2) not every sales > person is a genius at getting paperwork right. > > I was considering some sort of WTO that would require manual attention -- or > at least console automation simulated attention -- but that may not be a > great possibility. > > So ... what have you seen that has worked well in your opinion? > > Thanks, > Charles > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to > lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
