Are you frustrated trying to understand the cost of your business intelligence software? You’re not alone. Many business owners are frustrated by the lack of transparency in pricing for BI tools.
First, you often have to enter your contact information and sit through a sales pitch to even gain access to what the price is. Even then, there are multiple prices depending on users, data sources, by query, and more. It’s a headache just to figure out what you need.
That’s where DashboardFox is different. We offer a different model that’s easy to understand and makes the most sense – concurrent session licenses.
What Is Concurrent Session License?
What are concurrent session licenses for BI software? It’s a system where you gain full access for a certain number of people at a time.
That’s it!
If you have 20 people on your team, you don’t need 20 licenses. Just get the number of people that will be using the system at the same time. Don’t buy dedicated licenses for users who don’t use the system that often. Also, don’t worry about transitioning between users if your employees move to another role.
It’s the easiest way to get reports and data for your entire team. And with DashboardFox, the most cost-effective way (compared to our non-transparent competitors).
However, we find there are a few false assumptions people tend to make about concurrent licenses. So we wanted to discuss some of them in the rest of this article.
Assumption: Everyone Will Use the BI Tool A Lot
While everyone might benefit from data from your business intelligence tools, the reality is that not everyone feels the same way about data that you do. Folks absolutely will use it, but not as frequently as you expect.
One thing to keep in mind: Dashboardfox has an amazing audit capacity which will show you who’s doing what within the system.
The truth is, folks will log in once in awhile and won’t be in the system very long. They see what they need and then exit (or time out). Many people prefer to avoid logging in and simply have a report go to their email each day, which is quick and easy to do with our system.
What if you want to have a dashboard display on a large screen in the lobby or hallway? Will that consume a full-time license? Not with Dashboardfox! Many other providers will charge you for a full license, but we provide 5 public view document licenses per concurrent session license – and you can add more if needed.
Assumption: Everyone Will Log In at 8am!
If everyone logs in to check data at the start of the work day, then you’ll need an awful lot of concurrent licenses, won’t you? It can seem to negate the cost savings.
There are times when this happens, but you can take steps to avoid buying a lot of licenses. You can use the public view document licenses, for instance, or you can avoid embedding the dashboard on a homepage where everyone logs in.
You can also encourage employees to set up emailed reports so they don’t have to log in.
However, if you really do have a lot of folks logging in first thing in the morning, let us know. We can work out another licensing arrangement that works for you.
Benefits of DashboardFox Concurrent Session Licenses
There are a lot of benefits to you as a business owner or manager when it comes to concurrent licenses. First, you can manage costs and get only the number of licenses you need. You don’t have to link it to a specific user or log in.
If someone tries to login and all the licenses are in use, they’ll get a message to try again in 15 minutes (or you can customize the message).
Concurrent session licenses for business intelligence software also give wider access to data. Your whole team can view information, rather than just a few executives, analysts, or team leaders. Even if they don’t need it often, it’s always available.
Each user can access as many databases as needed while logged in. There are no per-data-source fees.
Finally, scheduled reports don’t use up an active session. Users can schedule as many reports as they want to be delivered by email.
Get Started With Dashboardfox Today!
We make it easy to get started.
We recommend that you start with fewer licenses than you might expect, and monitor trends. Let the system run for a few weeks and see if the top limit is hit on a regular basis.
If you need more, you’ll know. The good news is we make it easy to get more licenses – there’s no need for several levels of approval before you’re ready to go.
If you feel that the concurrent license model won’t work for you, don’t worry! We have other options as well. We’re an agile company and we can work with you to create a win/win situation.
Ready to find out what we can do for you? Schedule a meeting with a BI expert and we can discuss our solutions and answer your questions.