Transitioning from AWLC to Tailored Fit Pricing: A Guide for Mainframe Optimization

As your business evolves and mainframe usage changes, transitioning from IBM’s Advanced Workload License Charges (AWLC) to Tailored Fit Pricing (TFP) offers an opportunity to gain better cost predictability and operational efficiency. While TFP provides flexibility, especially for spiky or fluctuating workloads, making the switch can be complex. Preparing adequately is essential to maximize the benefits.

Why Transition to TFP?

IBM introduced TFP to address customers' evolving needs to manage modern workloads and hybrid cloud environments. Unlike traditional models that calculate costs based on peak capacity (like Rolling 4-Hour Average in AWLC), TFP aligns software costs with actual consumption, offering a predictable monthly billing structure.

How Should You Prepare for the Transition?

Before making the leap to TFP, businesses currently on AWLC should focus on optimizing their environment to reduce their baseline costs. By implementing cost-saving strategies ahead of the switch, you can ensure that your long-term TFP agreement works in your favor.

Key steps to prepare include:

1. Optimize Your Workloads: Analyze your current SCRT reports to understand your historical MSU consumption. Implement workload optimization strategies like scheduling batch jobs during non-peak hours or leveraging specialty engines.
2. Monitor MSU Usage in Real-Time: Real-time monitoring is crucial to ensure you don’t over-consume. Zetaly Automated Capacity (ZAC) enables continuous tracking of your MSU consumption, helping you manage peaks and prevent unintentional cost overruns.
3. Leverage Automated Cost Controls: Tools like ZAC help dynamically allocate resources based on business activity, ensuring you stay within your consumption limits while maintaining performance.

Case Example:

Using ZAC, companies transitioning from AWLC can reduce software bills by up to 18%. By dynamically managing capacity allocation, ZAC minimizes peak consumption and ensures compliance with TFP’s billing structure.

Transitioning to TFP from AWLC presents a strategic opportunity for cost savings and efficiency. By preparing ahead of time, leveraging tools like ZAC, and closely monitoring your MSU usage, you can optimize your environment before entering a TFP contract.

Download our detailed ebook to get actionable insights on how to prepare your organization for this important transition and maximize the benefits of TFP.