New OMS Pricing and Licensing

One of the many OMS related announcements made during Ignite 2016 is that of the new pricing and licensing structure for OMS. This new pricing model has seen Microsoft move away from pricing options that included an option for a System Center edition or purchased separately, and pricing options of various add-ons for OMS based on data tiers, to a more streamlined and simplified subscription model that allows users and enterprises to select offers that make the most sense for their needs.

This new subscription model is comprised of 2 types of subscriptions. For enterprises, E1 and E2 subscriptions are structured per node per month with an annual commitment, and provide a significant discount (~50%) compared to purchasing the included components separately.

SOURCE: OMS Pricing Sheet

As seen in the above illustration, while the OMS E1 subscription enables advanced Insights & Analytics, and Automation & Control, the E2 subscription includes the components for E1 and adds Security & Compliance, and Backup and Site Recovery. Both OMS subscriptions include rights to System Center 2016 components to provide a complete solution for hybrid cloud environments. The new pricing model also accounts for customers with existing System Center agreements, and as such, has a System Center OMS Add-on that enables customers with existing System Center licenses to attach OMS services, and use them through the end of their existing agreements, after which they can take advantage of special pricing offers and convert their System Center licenses to OMS subscriptions, which would then entitle them to both OMS and System Center.

This new pricing and licensing change is also reflected in the data tiers that are now available for use in OMS. Whereas previously the tiers where comprised of free, standard and premium, users will now be able to choose between a free tier, a standalone Log Analytics option, and a OMS subscription option. Any customers currently using the standard or premium log analytics tiers will be able to use them for their existing deployments, and new customers or any customers expanding their deployments will be able to choose from one of the flexible licensing options based on their needs.