Oracle cloud

Hosted Named User – Oracle SaaS Licensing

Hosted Named User is an Oracle SaaS licensing metric that can be complex, especially when determining how many licenses your organization needs.

This guide aims to demystify this term and provide a practical example to help you calculate the number of licenses your organization may need; this metric applies to most Oracle cloud services, such as ERP cloud, HCM Cloud and Sales Cloud.

What is a Hosted Named User?

In Oracle’s licensing terminology, a “Hosted Named User” is authorized by your organization to access the hosted service. This includes individuals who may not be actively accessing the service at any given time.

Hosted Named Users can include a variety of roles within your organization, such as:

  • Business Network Administrators: These individuals oversee your organization’s business network operations.
  • Endorsing Trading Partners: These are individuals or entities authorized by your organization to conduct transactions on its behalf.
  • Participating Trading Partners: These are individuals or entities that your organization has authorized to participate in its trading network.

It’s important to note that the definition of a Hosted Named User is based on authorization, not active users. This means that even if a user is not actively using the service, they still count towards your total number of Hosted Named Users authorized to access it.

Calculating the Number of Licenses Needed

To calculate the number of licenses your organization needs, you need to count the number of individuals authorized to access the hosted service, regardless of their active users.

For example, let’s say your organization has the following:

  • 50 Individuals who use the service actively.
  • 30 Individuals who don’t use it at all but have access.
  • 40 Users who use it once every week.

Even if some individuals are not actively using the service at any given time, they are considered Hosted Named Users because they are authorized to access the service. Therefore, you would add up all these individuals:

50 + 30 + 40 = 120 Hosted Named Users

In this case, your organization must purchase 120 licenses to cover all the Hosted Named Users.

Conclusion

Understanding Oracle’s Hosted Named User license definition is crucial for accurately determining the number of licenses your organization needs.

By counting all individuals authorized to access the service, not just those actively using it, you can ensure you fully comply with Oracle’s licensing requirements and avoid potential penalties or additional costs.

Remember, when it comes to Oracle licensing, it’s always better to err on caution and ensure you have enough licenses to cover all your Hosted Named Users.

Author

  • Fredrik Filipsson

    Fredrik Filipsson possesses 20 years of experience in Oracle license management. Having worked at Oracle for 9 years, he gained an additional 11 years of expertise in Oracle license consulting projects. Fredrik has provided assistance to over 150 organizations worldwide, ranging in size and tackling various Oracle licensing challenges, including Licensing Assessments, Oracle audits, Oracle ULAs, and more.