VMware Aria Operations SaaS is licensed as a subscription based service. This is different from VMware Aria Operations on-prem which is sold with a perpetual license. Consumption of the service is calculated differently in the subscription model, as compared to the perpetual license model.

Before you proceed with this topic, you must have access to the following products:
  • VMware Aria Universal Suite if you have a VMware Aria Universal Suite license.
  • VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager in case of VMware Aria Operations on-prem.
  • VMware Aria Hub Subscription when using VMware Aria Operations SaaS or on-prem.

What is Subscription Based License?

When you subcribe to the VMware Aria Operations SaaS service, you pay depending on your usage. Consumption is calculated based on the objects managed by VMware Aria Operations SaaS. Not all objects are metered.

There are two types of subscription based license based on whether you are a VMware Aria Universal Suite customer or you have purchased a standalone version of VMware Aria Operations SaaS:

Standalone subscription license
The unit of measure is Operating System Instance (OSI). For more information on how you can check the consumption information, see the topic, VMware Aria Operations Billing.
VMware Aria Universal Suite license
The unit of measure can either be CPU or number of cores. For more information on how you can check the metering and consumption information, see the topic, VMware Aria Universal Suite Billing.

VMware Aria Operations on-prem is sold with a perpetual license. You can have a combination of perpetual and subscription based licenses for your VMware Aria Operations on-prem and SaaS instances in your organization.

How is the Consumption of VMware Aria Operations SaaS Metered?

VMware Aria Operations SaaS
VMware Aria Operations SaaS sends the consumption information to VMware Aria Hub Subscription. VMware Aria Hub Subscription calculates the consumption and derives the billing information. For more information, see the VMware Aria Hub Subscription documentation.
VMware Aria Operations On-Prem
VMware Aria Operations on-prem passes the consumption information to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager. VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager sends this information to VMware Aria Hub Subscription. VMware Aria Hub Subscription calculates the consumption and derives the billing information. More information about how you can track VMware Aria Operations On-Prem license details is available in the on-prem documentation. See, VMware Aria Operations License Keys.

What is Overage and How Can You Prevent It?

When your consumption of the VMware Aria Operations SaaS service exceeds the allowance permitted by your license, you are charged on-demand pricing for the excess usage. This is termed as overage.

If you have a standalone VMware Aria Operations SaaS license, overage is the amount of usage of the service during any hour that exceeds the number of OSIs covered by your active committed term subscription(s).

If you have a VMware Aria Universal Suite VMware Aria Operations SaaS license, VMware Aria Hub Subscription calculates the overage.

Overage is always billed at the highest bracket. Overages are charged are billed quarterly in arrears. To avoid overage, follow the steps mentioned in KB83784.

For more information on this topic see the blog article, How VMware Aria Hub Subscription Can Help Manage VMware Aria License & Subscriptions – Usage and Overages.

How Can You Terminate Your VMware Aria Operations Subscription?

To stop using the VMware Aria Operations SaaS Service, you must remove adapter instances, delete cloud proxies and raise a request by sending an email to [email protected].