Per-User Licensing Model (Enterprise and Enterprise Plus)

Workspot has introduced a new licensing model, based on the number of Workspot users instead of the number of Workspot virtual machines. Called Enterprise and Enterprise Plus, these new models each include a bundle of supported features.

This document provides a brief overview of Enterprise and Enterprise Plus.

Note: Except when discussing the differences between Enterprise and Enterprise Plus, we are referring to both plans when we say “Enterprise.”

Highlights

• Enterprise provides maximum simplicity and flexibility.

• Only two license types:

  1. A “named” license, which entitles the user to persistent desktops, non-persistent desktops, and applications.

  2. A “concurrent” license, which entitles the user to non-persistent desktops and applications only.

• A license entitles a user to an unlimited number of desktops and apps. A user with two persistent Workspot desktops uses a single named license. A user with who uses ten Workspot applications plus a non-persistent desktop uses a single concurrent license, just like someone who only uses a single application.

• The same license covers all VM types. Switching a user to a desktop with more RAM, a GPU, or a different OS does not require a licensing change.

• An Enterprise plan covers Workspot services only. The virtual machines are billed by your Cloud provider or Cloud partner, not Workspot.

• Enterprise licenses are Cloud-agnostic. The same license can be used simultaneously with Azure, GCP, AWS, and on-premises desktops or apps.

• Enterprise licenses are billed annually, on the anniversary of your contract date.

  • Users added during the contract year are billed in the next calendar month, prorated for the fraction of the calendar year between adding them and the next contract anniversary.

• Enterprise is a selective feature available to new Workspot accounts only.

How Named Licenses Work

• Only users who are present in a particular AD group receive named licenses. Control calls this the Named License Group. (See below.)

• Only users in the Named License Group can use persistent desktops.

  • A persistent desktop is assigned to a specific user indefinitely.

  • Compare this to a non-persistent desktop, which is assigned for a single login session and is then released.

• Desktops in different persistent desktops pools are available to different Named users. This is determined by:

  • Group-based desktop entitlements, which map the users’ membership in a given group (not the Named User Group) to entitlements to use specific desktop pools.

  • Individual entitlements, where the Control Administrator assigns pools to users individually.

How Concurrent Licenses Work

• Concurrent licenses are used for non-persistent desktops and Cloud applications. Users do not need to be members of a special group to receive concurrent license.

• A single concurrent license entitles the user to any number of simultaneous non-persistent desktops and Cloud application sessions.

• A user acquires a concurrent license when they use a Workspot resource that requires one, and relinquishes it when they become signed out from their last non-persistent desktop or Cloud application session.

• Note that merely disconnecting is not enough to sign out the user; this happens later, after the Time Limits Policy’s "Signout After Disconnect” timer expires.

Licenses and Billing

Note: Multi-year contracts exist but are outside the scope of this article.

As their name implies, annual licenses are billed yearly. All annual licenses expire on the contract date, which is set when you sign up with Workspot. When you create a new annual desktop license, you are billed pro rata from the day it is created to the end of the contract year. The full amount will appear on next month’s bill.

When a new contract year rolls around, you are billed for another year of service on all your annual licenses. That is, all the licenses that exist on the first day of the new year. Thus, it’s a good idea to check your usage and delete any unneeded licenses before the end of the contract year.

Billing Example

Suppose your billing year ends on March 31. You will receive a bill in April for the full amount of all annual licenses you had on April 1. This applies both to licenses that are assigned to desktops and ones that are not.

If you acquire a new license on January 15, you will be billed in February for the prorated amount from January 15 through March 31 (75 days, or 76 if it’s a leap year).

Increasing Licenses (Self-Service Licensing)

Increasing Licenses Manually

Licensing is controlled on the “My Account > Corporate Settings > Subscription > Company Subscription” page. The process is identical for desktop and application licenses.

• Click the Edit (pencil) icon on the license type you wish to edit.

• Enter a number of licenses larger than the listed “Annual Licenses” for the selected license type.

  • You can increase the number of licenses but can’t decrease them.

• Click the Green checkmark.

• Because changes to licensing will affect how much you are billed, you need to provide a special confirmation before the change takes place.

  • Type the email address you used to sign into Control into the text box.

  • Click “Confirm.”

  • The licenses are available immediately.

Increasing Licenses Automatically

The process is the same for persistent desktops and non-persistent desktops (Application licenses must be increased manually). Suppose you have new employees who need Workspot desktops.

These licenses are assigned automatically as part of the process of creating or expanding a desktop pool in Workspot Control, as follows:

• If enough licenses are available already, they are applied automatically as part of the desktop pool creation/expansion process.  

• Otherwise, you are warned about the shortfall with a “Confirm Licenses Update” confimation like the one above.

  • If you proceed, you will be shown the same the necessary licenses are purchased on the spot.

  • The new licenses become active immediately. They appear on next month’s bill.

• The process is the same whether you create a new desktop pool or increase the number of desktops in an existing pool.

Decreasing Licenses

Contact Workspot.

Resource Entitlements vs. License Consumption

Resource Entitlements

A user’s resource entitlements are distinct from licenses. A user is entitled to a Workspot resource (Cloud desktop, Cloud application, or Web application) if they belong to a Workspot Group that has resources associated with it, or has had an entitlement assigned to them manually by a Control Administrator.

An entitlement alone is not enough to guarantee access to the resource. The resource itself has to be available, and so does a license.

Resource Availability

If every desktop in a desktop pool or every application in an application server pool is in use, no resource is available to honor your entitlement. “No desktops available in pool” and similar error messages will be shown instead.

This allows Workspot resources to be oversubscribed; that is, a thousand users may belong to a group giving them an entitlement to a desktop pool with only 100 desktop. First come, first served.

License Availability

Using a resource also requires a license. Once all licenses have been assigned, users without an appropriate license have to wait until a license becomes available.

• A named user license is assigned to the user indefinitely, as follows:

  • No named license is consumed until the user acquires a named resource (that is, a an actual persistent desktop, not just an entitlement to one).

  • Once the user no longer has any named resources or is no longer a member of the Named User Group, they eventually lose their Named User License. See Weekly Membership Polling, below.

  • Users with a Named user license can use resources that require a Concurrent user license without consuming a Concurrent license.

• Concurrent user licenses are good until the user has signed out from all Workspot resources.

Only actual users of Workspot resources ever acquire licenses licenses. Users who stop using Workspot eventually relinquish them.

The Named License Group

The Named License Group is an AD Security Group.

To enable this group:

• Create a new AD Security Group on your Domain Controller. For example, “WS_NAMED_USERS.” Do not try to make this group definition do double duty.

• This group must have a Global scope.

• Assign users whom you wish to receive persistent desktops to this group.

• Assign this group to the “Named License Group” in Control on the “Users > Groups > Configure Named License Group” page.

Warning: Once set, you cannot change the Named License Group.

Warning: DO NOT use the default “Domain Users” group.

A user in the Named License

Weekly Membership Polling

Every seven days, Control prunes the assigned Named Licenses as follows:

• If a user with a Named License is no longer in the Named License Group AND

• The user hasn’t used the Workspot Client since the last poll, THEN

• The user’s Named License is revoked and becomes available to another user.

This provides a delayed license expiration.

Control will also revoke the user’s Named License when:

• The Control Administrator deletes the user manually from the “Users” page.

• Control becomes aware that the user’s AD or Entra ID account has been deleted or suspended.

Related Documents

• User Self-Registration and Resource Entitlements.

• Workspot BYOcloud (Bring Your Own Cloud).