The licensing of Hadrone PPM software has been carefully designed to:
- promote the widest possible use of the software within an organization, without incurring excessive licensing costs (thanks to the use of free accounts),
- align the cost of the software with the scale of the project activities in a given organization (thanks to the use of paid accounts for selected roles).
As a result, Hadrone PPM software is successfully used by both smaller organizations, which have a dozen or so paid accounts, as well as very large organizations, where the number of paid accounts is in the thousands or even more.
There is also a corporate license designed for the largest organizations, which allows for unlimited use of paid accounts for a fixed licensing fee.
In this article, you will learn:
- What are the licensing rules for Hadrone PPM software?
- What are the types of user accounts and how do they impact the licensing of Hadrone PPM software?
- What integrations does Hadrone PPM software offer, and are they licensed separately?
- How many IT environments can you have under one Hadrone PPM software license?
- Can you use Hadrone PPM software across different companies in a capital group?
- Can your suppliers also use Hadrone PPM software?
Licensing rules
Regardless of the model used for Hadrone PPM software (On-Premises or SaaS), the licensing rules are the same. The only difference is the period for which the software can be purchased and the frequency of payments for the software. From an accounting perspective, this purchase will also be treated differently.
In the On-Premises model, the license is granted for a chosen period (a year or longer) and is paid upfront for the entire period. As part of the license, the Client also gets access to all new versions of the software (i.e., updates)—in the case of Hadrone PPM, there are 4 new versions released each year. When planning the budget for purchasing the software, it is important to remember that for licenses purchased for more than a year, the license can be "CAPEXed."
In the SaaS model, the Client does not purchase a license but rather the service of accessing the software, which is maintained in the provider’s cloud. The agreement for access to Hadrone PPM software can be concluded for any period, including indefinite periods, with a one-month notice period. Payment can be made upfront for the entire period or monthly. As part of this payment, the Client also gets access to all new versions of the software (i.e., updates), just like in the On-Premises model. New versions are available to users immediately after their release. When planning the budget for purchasing the software, it is important to remember that, in the SaaS model, there is no possibility to "CAPEX" the incurred fees—the access to the software is a service, not a license.
If you want to learn more about the differences between using Hadrone PPM in the On-Premises and SaaS models, we encourage you to read the article „Hadrone PPM on own infrastructure (On-Premises) or in the cloud (SaaS)?
Licensing rules for Hadrone PPM software consist of two main elements:
- the number of user accounts (specifically, the number of advanced accounts),
- the integrations included, offered as optional additional modules.
Ultimately, the software price is calculated as follows:
Software price = number of advanced accounts ×price of a single account for a given period (e.g. one year) + price of optional additional modules for the given period (e.g. one year).
When planning the overall budget for Hadrone PPM software, in addition to the software cost itself, you should also account for the one-time implementation cost and optionally the post-implementation support cost for a selected period.
You can read more about Hadrone PPM implementation in the article „How long does the Hadrone PPM implementation take and what does the process involve" and post-implementation services in the article „What support can I expect after implementing Hadrone PPM?" All the efforts and benefits from implementing Hadrone PPM, collected in one place, can be found in the article „How to calculate ROI from Hadrone PPM Implementation?"
Types of user accounts of Hadrone PPM
Regardless of whether you use Hadrone PPM software in the On-Premises or SaaS model, there are three types of user accounts:
- standard accounts (free of charge),
- system accounts (free of charge),
- advanced accounts (paid).
STANDARD ACCOUNTS
Standard accounts are intended for members of project teams. A person with such an account has access to basic project data in which they are involved (goal, scope, organization, schedule) as well as the details of tasks assigned to them. Their work in Hadrone PPM software includes:
- viewing projects they are assigned to,
- reviewing their tasks (within individual projects and collectively across all projects in one place),
- reporting progress on assigned tasks,
- communicating with project managers and the team working on the same task,
- adding files/documents created to the task (either as links to files or as files within the MS Teams integration),
- (optionally) reporting the time spent on completing a given task,
- sending completed tasks to the person who assigned them for acknowledgment or revision.
The number of standard accounts is unlimited. These are named accounts, assigned to a specific user, but they are free. This allows our clients to include in Hadrone PPM software all people who will ever work on projects, without risking unpredictable increases in licensing costs. User accounts can be automatically created through integration with MS Active Directory / MS Entra ID, so even with a large number of employees, this doesn’t involve extra work. The availability of free standard accounts, which can be freely assigned to users, is a key feature of Hadrone PPM software—other solutions often charge for all user accounts.
SYSTEM ACCOUNTS
System accounts are used for performing administrative tasks within the Hadrone PPM software. These tasks include:
- managing roles and their permissions, user catalogs, and user accounts,
- managing webhooks,
- uploading the license key (only applicable to the On-Premises model),
- editing system settings, including configuring API keys and connections to JIRA and MS Teams.
The number of system accounts is unlimited. These are named accounts, assigned to a specific user, but they are free of charge. This means that our Clients do not consume specialized accounts (which are paid) for users who do not actively use the functionality of the software but only occasionally perform administrative tasks.
ADVANCED ACCOUNTS
Advanced accounts are used by all other users (apart from those using standard or system accounts). Depending on the permissions assigned to the account, they allow users to work in specific projects, programs, sub-portfolios or at the portfolio level of all projects. Typical roles using advanced accounts include: Project Manager, Project Coordinator, Chairperson and Member of the Steering Committee, Project Stakeholder, Project Office, Board of Directors, and Business Managers overseeing selected projects or project portfolios/sub-portfolios, Resource Managers, task assigners, and individuals responsible for strategy planning and reporting.
Advanced accounts are paid. These are named accounts, assigned to a specific user. In the event of deactivating a user with an assigned advanced account, that account returns to the pool and can be reassigned to another user.
The number of advanced accounts is the primary factor influencing the licensing cost of Hadrone PPM software. In addition to the number of advanced accounts, the cost of the license is also affected by optional additional modules, including built-in integrations.
If you're wondering how many advanced accounts your organization may need, feel free to contact us at https://hadrone.com/en/contact/. Sometimes it can be difficult to imagine who might need to use the software - so we recommend conducting a pilot program, during which we'll specifically find out who will be working with the Hadrone PPM software and in what roles, and consequently, how many accounts of each type will be required. The process of the pilot program is described in the article „Can I try Hadrone PPM before purchasing (pilot)?".
Built-in integrations in Hadrone PPM software
Hadrone PPM software includes both built-in integrations (which only require configuration) and open integration mechanisms that allow for custom integrations with the Client's environment (using REST API and webhooks).
Built-in integrations are licensed separately and incur additional fees for the Client. Custom integrations are not separately licensed and their use does not incur additional costs.
Hadrone PPM offers built-in integrations with the following software:
- Atlassian JIRA
- Microsoft Active Directory
- Microsoft Entra ID
- Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft Project
The integration with JIRA is available under the standard license, without additional fees. The other integrations (MS Active Directory, MS Entra ID, MS Teams, and MS Project) are paid separately as additional modules, regardless of the number of user accounts.
You can read more about built-in and custom integrations in the article „What integrations does Hadrone PPM offer?"
Number of IT environments
The number of IT environments will differ depending on whether the software is used in the On-Premises or SaaS model.
In the On-Premises model, the license agreement allows for the creation of three IT environments for Hadrone PPM software:
- production environment (where users work),
- training environment (used for training purposes),
- test environment (used for testing new versions or configurations).
The Client is not obliged to maintain three environments, but they have the option to do so within a single licensing fee.
In the SaaS model, access is usually provided to a single environment, namely the production environment, where users work. Optionally, a training environment may also be available. However, a testing environment is not used — every new version of Hadrone PPM software is immediately available to users in the production environment (and optionally in the testing environment).
If you want to learn more about the differences between using Hadrone PPM in the On-Premises model and the SaaS model, we encourage you to read the article „Hadrone PPM on own infrastructure (On-Premises) or in the cloud (SaaS)?".
Using Hadrone PPM software in Capital groups
Can more than one company from a capital group use Hadrone PPM software? Yes, and this often happens. This is the case regardless of whether the Hadrone PPM software is used in the On-Premises or SaaS model.
In such cases, two approaches can be applied:
- one shared instance of Hadrone PPM software for multiple companies,
- separate instances of Hadrone PPM software for each company.
When a shared instance of Hadrone PPM software is used for multiple companies, those companies use a single license, within one fee. In this case, there is a shared limit of advanced accounts, which can be assigned to users from different companies. These users can come from one common user directory in MS Active Directory / MS Entra ID or from multiple separate directories.
When should this model be chosen? If you want to manage all projects in one environment, and particularly share financial and human resources.
When this model may not be the best choice? If the project management needs of individual companies vary greatly, resulting in different software configurations. In this case, some dictionaries may be redundant for a given company, which can negatively affect the user experience.
If each company requires a separate instance of Hadrone PPM software, each will have its own software license. If the same person needs access to multiple instances at the same time, they will require separate accounts for each instance. This will, in the case of advanced accounts, translate into additional costs for these accounts.
When should this model be chosen? If it is crucial to adapt the software configuration to the specific needs of each company and it is less important to manage all projects from all companies in a single environment, particularly if there are no plans to share financial and human resources between companies.
Using Hadrone PPM software by Suppliers
Hadrone PPM software can also be used by employees of your suppliers. You can assign tasks to them and expect progress reporting directly within the Hadrone PPM software. You can even delegate project or program management to your supplier. Through the appropriate configuration of permissions, the supplier's representative will only have access to the information and functionalities required. This way, you eliminate the additional work related to reporting and project monitoring, both on your side and the supplier's side.
Incorporating your supplier into Hadrone PPM means that you need to create accounts for their employees in the Hadrone PPM software, just as you would for your own employees. If your supplier is only going to act as a task performer, you can use standard accounts, which are free of charge. However, if you want to assign more permissions and responsibilities to the supplier, it may be necessary to use an advanced account. Therefore, when planning the required number of advanced accounts, it is also important to consider the possible involvement of suppliers. If your collaboration with a particular supplier on a specific project ends, their advanced account will return to the pool, and you will be able to assign it to someone else.
When planning to involve suppliers in using Hadrone PPM software, you should consider any technical rules and IT security constraints within your organization. It may be necessary to implement a secure connection for the supplier (e.g., VPN) to connect to the software hosted within your organization (for On-Premises models).
