Optimize your Google Cloud Spend with Flexible Licensing

Introducing a powerful new feature

Today, we’re thrilled to announce the release of flexible licensing on Google Cloud, a new feature that SUSE is proud to be a part of. This new feature will help you anticipate, maximize‌ and gain greater control over your SUSE costs within your Google Cloud environment, streamlining your financial operations and maximizing your cloud spend.

The challenge of optimizing your cloud commit

You might be a long-standing SUSE customer. When your migration project to Google Cloud started, it was a logical choice to leverage your existing SUSE Subscriptions through the Bring Your Own Subscription (BYOS) model. This approach smartly prevented double billing and allowed you to utilize your active licenses. At the time, this approach made completely sense for a smooth transition.

Now that your cloud migration is complete, you and your purchase department, you’re looking at optimizing costs on Google Cloud. Like many customers in your case, there is a high chance that you signed up for a Google Cloud Commit, providing you with very interesting financial conditions in exchange for an engagement on the volume.

With this commitment signed, you’re looking for ways to “burn down” your commit in order to meet that usage quota. This is where a common problem arises: your existing Bring Your Own Subscription (BYOS)  SUSE subscriptions don’t count toward your Google Cloud Commit.

This is where SUSE can help. 

Renew your SUSE subscriptions on the Google Cloud marketplace thanks to flexible licensing 

• You can now transfer your SUSE subscriptions to the Google Cloud Marketplace to “burn down” your commit! 
• SUSE subscriptions acquired on the Google Cloud Marketplace will count 100% toward your commit.

What are the advantages of purchasing SUSE on the Google Marketplace? 

​​Transitioning your SUSE subscriptions to the Google Cloud Marketplace brings a host of benefits, both technical and commercial.

Technical advantages 

• Optimized Images with Google Cloud Tooling
  SUSE, in partnership with Google, builds and maintains the SLES images available on Compute Engine. These images are not merely generic SLES installations— they are specifically optimized to run on Google Cloud. This includes pre-configured tooling and metadata that facilitate seamless interaction with Google Cloud services. For instance, SLES instances automatically register with Google Cloud’s update infrastructure for security and bug fixes.
• Free SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Lifecycle Management+ Subscription
  For customers with 10 or more SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications Pay-as-you-go acquired from the Google Marketplace with the Google Compute Engine instances, SUSE offers a free subscription to SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Lifecycle Management. 
• Enhanced Support and Reliability with Combined Expertise
  When you acquire SLES through the Google Cloud Marketplace, you benefit from a collaborative support model. The Google Cloud support team addresses issues with the SLES images and engages the SUSE support team when necessary. This partnership ensures you have access to the combined technical expertise of both Google and SUSE in one place, leading to faster issue resolution and deeper insights, which are crucial for running mission-critical workloads like SAP confidently. 
• Enhanced Security
  Live Patching is included with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications (SLES for SAP) from the Google Cloud Marketplace offerings on Google Compute Engine.
  A new instance will automatically set up the Live Patching repository when it is created. SUSE has expanded support for live patching, not only in the kernel but also in user space, to improve security compliance and minimize planned downtime.

Commercial advantages

Cost optimization is always at the center of all cloud  discussions. Purchasing SUSE on the Google Cloud Marketplace provides the following financial benefits:

• Maximize Your Google Cloud Commit: Your SUSE consumption will be burning down at 100% towards your Google Cloud Commit 
• Simplified Procurement: You will benefit from one support contract for both software and infrastructure, simplifying your procurement and vendor management. 
• Streamlined billing: SUSE usage appears as one line item on your Google Cloud bill, making cost tracking easier. 
• Full Cost Control and Transparency: You gain full control over your costs, budget forecast and allocation per project, and ensure transparency on who is purchasing what and when within your organization.
• Flexible Billing Models: Choose the best Marketplace model that fits your needs and pay only for what you need : 
  • Pay as you go (PAYG): for your immediate, short term needs to keep the maximum of flexibility
  • Committed use discounts (CUD): for your long-term needs and VMs that are running all day long.
  • Private offer : SUSE can also create a 100% custom offer to fit your requirements. Contact us to request a proposal!

Make the most of your budget that’s already been allocated to the Google Cloud!

How can I switch from BYOS to Marketplace ? Introducing flexible licensing on Google Cloud 

This is where the new flexible licensing on Google Cloud feature truly shines. With this new feature, in a few clicks you will have the ability to switch your SUSE Linux OS instances from a BYOS billing model into a Marketplace billing model, leveraging our Marketplace SUSE  listings on Google Cloud.

Before this release, such a move would have required you to redeploy and reinstall your VMs with the new image. However, with this new feature, you can adapt your licensing model dynamically in just a few clicks as your cloud strategy evolves.

The flexible licensing feature implements the ability for an instance to be migrated from a Bring Your Own Subscription (BYOS) billing model to a Marketplace billing model, with minimal disruption. This allows users who, for example, run a workload, to adapt their licensing model dynamically as their cloud strategy evolves. 

For more information, please read our technical blog ‘Switching Licensing Models on Google Cloud For SLES and SLES For SAP Instances‘ and ‘Google’s documentation on flexible licenses‘.

FAQ

“We have a negotiated direct contract with SUSE with some special pricing conditions, how can I make sure to keep my advantages?”

We can provide you with a custom Private offer on the Google Marketplace: You can request a Private offer here.

“We are using some SLES extensions like LTSS and SUSE Multi-Linux Manager, is it possible to transact them on the Google Marketplace as well?”

Yes, we have the possibility to create Private offers for those solutions as well.

“I have a dedicated SUSE Dedicated Premium Support engineer. How would that impact our contract?”

It won’t impact your current Premium Support contract. Our teams are used to collaborating with Google Cloud. You can also transact your Premium Support contract directly on the Google Marketplace through a Private Offer.

Ready to get started? Switch over to the Google Cloud Marketplace now!

For questions, contact us at cloudsales@suse.com