Big Blue’s special subscription plans may make an attractive alternative to AWS.
IBM this week announced its “Pay as You Go With Committed Use” plan for cloud customers. The deal is based on an agreement each customer must sign that sets out how much cloud services they will commit to paying for each month.
But there is a special deal sweetener: once IBM agrees the customer’s level of commitment, that customer will get the same pricing even if they exceed the expected consumption level.
Providing a “dynamic and flexible billing model”
IBM announced the new pricing plan on their website this week. “As your business models evolve during these challenging times,” they say, “IBM’s goal is to provide a dynamic and flexible billing model to help you optimize your business.”
The company seeks to position their new model as a better alternative to basic subscription plans. “Unlike a subscription, you are invoiced at the service level for what you consume each month,” they explain. “Your monthly invoice will reflect your monthly usage charts, including any potential discounts agreed upon by IBM.”
The kicker, they say, is that there are no overages. “If you spend more than the amount you committed to, you will continue to receive the same discounts agreed upon by IBM,” they explain. The discounted charges will appear on the customer’s monthly invoice.
Improved console experience
IBM is also including an enhanced console experience as part of the new offering. The new feature allows customers to better visualize the progress towards a commitment. They can easily identify their discount, spending progress, and remaining time on the commitment.
The console breaks out a customers monthly spending by each month. This allows for managing the customer’s commitment by viewing any change in spending month-to-month. The user can also view their spending trends over time.
Availability
New US-based customers who purchase the IBM Cloud Pay as you go with Committed Use billing model from this point forward will begin to see these benefits, by default, according to IBM. Existing customers interested in adopting the new mode should contact their sales representative for more details.
The new billing model is available to select US-based customers today, but will continue to roll out in the US and worldwide throughout 2021.
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