Licensing FIM 2010 may seem easy at first, but, like any licensing question, it’s rarely the first time or last time that this kind of discussion with a customer will end with more questions than answers.



Also, on the FIM 2010 TechNet forum, the topic of licensing has been discussed since the introduction of FIM (even at the ILM 2 era):

• “Why do I need a FIM Client Access License? It did work without before.”
  (ILM customers must get used to the CAL based licensing model.)
• ”I want to view data in the FIM portal, but not modify it.”
• “What if I manage (only) external users with FIM?”

An excellent summary of the question of when FIM CALs are required is located in this Technet FIM 2010 Forum post: “As per my scenario, how to license MS FIM 2010 ?” There are a number of resources pertaining to the licensing of FIM, including:

• The FIM 2010 Product FAQ:
  • Q. How will Forefront Identity Manager 2010 be licensed?
  • Q. How does FIM licensing differ from Identity Lifecycle Manager 2007 licensing?
  • Q. How much does FIM 2010 cost?
• Brjann Brekkan’s (Microsoft FIM product group) post on the Microsoft Technet forum: “FIM 2010 (ILM v2) Licensing Model ?”
• FIM 2010 pricing and licensing product page

In summary, there are numerous resources which contain partial answers to the question of how to properly license FIM.

In addition to the resources listed above, you can use the Microsoft Product Licensing Advisor or pick up the phone and call the Microsoft licensing department.
 

Common Licensing Scenarios

While there are a number of permutations pertaining to FIM licensing, the following section summarizes a number of the most common licensing scenarios.

• In all instances, any live instances of FIM require a FIM server license. These instance include any server which hosts any FIM components (e.g. the FIM Sync Service, Portal, or Service).
• If the FIM Portal, Service, or Certificate Management component is going to be deployed, a FIM CAL is required for each user which is managed by FIM. If you will only be using the FIM Sync Service, CALs are not required.

Licensing Guide

The FIM 2010 Pricing and Licensing Guide provides detailed explanation on these licensing scenarios.
Besides the licensing methods, it also provides some interesting examples and calculation exercises which in lots of cases can be mapped to the practical environment for which FIM will provide its services.
The document also discusses the SQL license (CAL or CPU license) and Windows server licensing (CAL per FIM managed user).
Furthermore, the relation between the External Connector license (ECL) and the CAL is explained.  

External Connector

Customers who are managing identities of users who are external users (that are persons who are not employees, nor similar personnel of the company or its affiliates, and not someone to whom you provide hosted services using the server software) may purchase an External Connector license on a per FIM server basis to replace the CALs needed to cover all of these individuals. 

• a CAL is required for each external user affliated with the organization
• An External Connector License is required for each FIM server accessed by unaffliated external users. 

Education

Education customers do not need to purchase CALs for students, alumni, and other external entities and may instead purchase an External Connector license for each FIM server in lieu of FIM CALs. FIM CALs are still required for all employees of education customers (e.g. faculty, staff, and contractors). 

Downgrading

FIM 2010 downgrade Rights: customers who purchase FIM will also be licensed to use ILM 2007.
 

Development and Test Environment Licensing

The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) provides licensed users the ability to access and use enterprise products covered by their subscription for Development and Test purposes only, not for production environments.
  

Cold Stand-By Servers

If you have purchased Software Assurance (SA) with your FIM licenses, you are entitled to install one cold standby server for each production license without purchasing an additional FIM server license.
If you do not have SA as part of a Enterprise Agreement or other Open licensing model - then you need to purchase additional licensing.

Summary

- a server license is needed for each server on which FIM components are installed
- you need a CAL for each user for whom the software issues or manages identity information. (inlc. smart card & digital certs)
- a CAL is required for a administrator using FIM portal & services.
BUT
- no CAL is needed if you only use the sync service
- no device CALs needed
AND
- Under SA you are allowed to install one cold-standby server with the same license
- you can use ILM 2007 with your FIM license
 

Downloads

Download the FIM 2010 Pricing and Licensing Guide (PDF) below (3 pager, v 2010)
This quick guide contains clear scenario descriptions (which are no available in the 58 pager document).

 

Product information

Identity Manager > How to buy
For more information on Forefront Licensing download the pricing and licensing guide (58 pages, version 2011).
For licensing advice on configuring products, programs, and pricing options visit the Microsoft Product Licensing Advisor.

See Also

• Current Forefront Identity Manager Resources

Note
To provide feedback about this article, create a post on the FIM TechNet Forum.