FlexSpend Credits - Features, Benefits and FAQ
Description
What is FlexSpend?
SonicWall® FlexSpend is an on-demand subscription tool that significantly improves the flexibility and management of SonicWall services while lowering capital and operating expenses for customers and partners.
FlexSpend Benefits
- Minimize Cash Flow Fluctuations:
Better spread cash outlays since services can be set to last as few as 28 days - Drastic Reduction Of Time Spent On Service Procurement:
FlexSpend cuts procurement down to one step. Enable multiple services instantly on multipleunits at once - Reduce Sunk Cost:
Recover any amount of unused FlexSpend Credits beyond the first 28 days of service for any given product - Gain Rapid Insight on Service Costs:
Better map support contracts and subscription services to hardware and software units deployed for customer.
Single location to review past and future service consumption - Reduce Renewal Contract Overhead:
Quickly pinpoint large number of disparate service expiration dates – Easily designate a single expiration date
FlexSpend Credits as a Payment Option
- Ordered through Distribution (SecureFirst program discounts apply)
- Available in various denominations
From 1,000 to 300,000 credits - 1 FlexSpend Credit = $1 of MSRP buying power in your current regional main partner price list.
- The cost of the credits themselves are also in your regional price list.
- Actual credits needed for a service deployment:
Depend on Duration and number of nodes/client licenses
Exportable report to Excel
Obtained in FlexSpend (Service Management menu) - Minimum credit allocation: 28 days
- Maximum credit un-allocation: Any amount in excess of the next 28 days
Example: If 1-yr of APSS costs USD $1000 at MSRP on the main partner price list, then 1000 credits would be needed for a full year of coverage. Therefore, to cover only 6 months, 500 credits would be needed.
Multi-Year Discounts
- Initially (by default), the displayed cost per day (or CPD) is based on the MSRP of the 1-yr equivalent on our main partner price list SKU divided by 365. However, it declines after allocating 24 or 36 months (2-yr and 3-yr SKU prices kick in, respectively)
- A discount is based on the duration of the service (24+ or 36+ months), starting from the date of the last transaction, regardless of the service being previously active or not
- However, ability to un-allocate credits is reduced when obtaining a discount. Hence the minimum service duration is either 24 months or 36 months of service when having a discounted rate
- Applying less than 24 months of credits will always result in a credit rate equivalent to the 1-yr SKU. Hence, credit un-allocation is unrestricted for any amount of credits beyond the next 28 from the service start date
Resolution
FAQ
Q: Can I un-allocate FlexSpend Credits after I have allocated them in a previous transaction?
A: You can only un-allocate credits in excess of the next 28 days. In other words, FlexSpend requires that a unit remains with at least 28 days of service. You un-allocate credits by bringing the expiration date of a service closer to the present date
Q: Can FlexSpend be used to add Comprehensive Support for GMS (CGMS)?
A: No. CGMS is only available outside FlexSpend.
Q: What happens if a partner adds/removes a node under CGMS after adding Dynamic Support to any of its nodes?
A: Dynamic Support’s expiration date would be overridden and become the same as the CGMS expiration date. This is the current behavior outside FlexSpend as well. In FlexSpend those Dynamic Support credits would be lost. Otherwise, adding Dynamic Support would continue to follow one of the two existing, potential scenarios:
If CGMS is expired, Dynamic Support would automatically backdate up to a year or use credits to deduct reinstatement fee, whatever uses fewer FlexSpend credits
If CGMS is still active, Dynamic Support would start on the date when CGMS expires (no support gap)
Q: Which account should I use to allocate FlexSpend Credits?
A: The one used to activate the serial number of FlexSpend Credits SKU. However, any FlexSpend Credits activated by a given organization are shared among all accounts that are invited into the same organization. FlexSpend Credit SKUs are consumed on a FIFO basis (first-in, first-out)
Q: Can FlexSpend Credits be applied to Secure Upgrade units?
A: Yes. The expiration date of services or support in those units is extended by the number of service or support days added in FlexSpend.
Q: Where can I see the number of credits required for a given service?
A: The consumption rate (cost per day) of any given service and unit combination is displayed below the “Credits rate” column in the “Service Management” section in FlexSpend
Q: Why is FlexSpend not allowing me to modify the duration or license count of a service listed in the FlexSpend interface?
A: Please make sure that you are dealing only with services previously allocated via FlexSpend. Chances are that you are seeing a standard/SKU service, which is listed there for convenience but FlexSpend can not modify.
Q: How is the number of FlexSpend Credits derived?
A: For most services, the number of credits consumed depends only on the number of service days, the service type and the product type. For other services, the rate will also depend on the number of nodes (client licenses). This rate is displayed in the FlexSpend Service Management interface, allowing partners to estimate the number of credits needed for a particular deployment. Regular partner discounts tier apply during the initial purchase of a FlexSpend Credit SKU itself. The credit rate is adjusted when the equivalent 1/2/3-year SKUs have price changes on the main partner price list but this only applies to auto-renewals and new allocations post increase, any fully allocated credits will not be affected by the price increase.
Q: Can a partner only manage under FlexSpend products registered by that partner?
A: No. The end customer can transfer the products to the partner to allocate FlexSpend credits and then transfer the units back to end customer. However, it’s more convenient and recommended that end customers simply share their units through the ‘User Groups’ MySonicWall menu.
Q: How long does it take for units to get updated with new expiration dates?
A: Typically, it ranges from 15-30 minutes (or up to one hour in rare circumstances). Each service in the process of being synced up will be highlighted in the FlexSpend interface until it reflects the requested changes.
Q: I haven’t purchased FlexSpend Credits just yet. Can I try out FlexSpend in the meantime?
A: Yes. Partners that are approved into the MSP Advantage program can try out FlexSpend before purchasing any FlexSpend credits. This would give an opportunity to partners to generate quotes and know how many credits would be required to enable services through FlexSpend for a given period of time.
Q: Are FlexSpend Credits restricted to the account in my company that activated a FlexSpend SKU serial number?
A: No. FlexSpend Credits can be managed by any user that is added to the account under which a FlexSpend SKU serial number was activated. The functionality to add users to the same account is available in ‘My Groups’ in MySonicWALL. Credits are consumed on a first-in, first-out (FIFO) basis, starting from the earliest FlexSpend SKU purchased.
Q: I can’t see my High Availability units in FlexSpend?
A: FlexSpend will only display the primary unit and it will first need to be paired already in order to be displayed in FlexSpend.
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