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Usage Metering

Unified Usage Metering interface to cover all pricing models crossing all marketplaces

Overview

There are varies of pricing models crossing three cloud marketplaces. Some of them share the same name, but have totally different models. For example, AWS Subscription is Pay-as-you-go (usage-based metering), but GCP Subscription is flat-monthly-commit without usage-based metering.

Vendor Pricing Model Description Support Usage-based Metering
AWS Subscription Pay-as-you-go, no commit, buyers can cancel any time. YES
AWS Contract Commit contract, can't be cancelled, buyers can also pay for additional usage above their contract. YES
Azure Flat Rate Monthly or annually commit contract, buyers can also pay for additional usage above their contract (included quantity). YES
Azure Per User Monthly or annually commit contract per user, support updating user quantity, buyers can also pay for additional usage above their contract (included quantity). YES
GCP Subscription-based Flat rate commit contract. NO
GCP Usage-based Pay-as-you-go, no commit. YES
GCP Combined Flat rate commit + Usage-based together. YES

Meter Usage Records

To meter usages for an active Entitlement in AWS, Azure or GCP, your service can send a POST request to the Suger Metering API with a body similar to the following example. Suger will validate, aggregate & report them to the right vendor within the right pricing model format.

		

			
      
				{
        	
			

			
      
				  "ID"
        	
				: 
        	
				"uuid"
        	
				,
        	
				 # optional, if not provided, suger will generate one and return in the response.
        	
			

			
      
				  "organizationID"
        	
				: 
        	
				"your-suger-org-id"
        	
				,
        	
			

			
      
				  "entitlementID"
        	
				: 
        	
				"your-suger-entitlement-id"
        	
				,
        	
			

			
      
				  "records"
        	
				: 
        	
				{
        	
			

			
      
				    "dimension-key-or-name-0"
        	
				:
        	
				 2
        	
				,
        	
			

			
      
				    "dimension-key-or-name-2"
        	
				:
        	
				 6
        	
				,
        	
			

			
      
				    "dimension-key-or-name-3"
        	
				:
        	
				 10
        	
				,
        	
			

			
      
				  }
        	
			

			
      
				}
  • It is highly recommended to provide ID in the metering usage records request body. Suger service can deduplicate the metering requests if they have the same ID. The duplicate request will return HTTP error 409.
  • The 'key' in the records map can be either the usage metering Dimension Key or Dimension Name. They are available inside the WorkloadEntitlement.info.dimensions.

Batch Meter Usage Records

You can efficiently report multiple usage records for various entitlements or buyers simultaneously using either the Suger Console or the Suger API.

Upload CSV

By simply uploading a CSV file containing raw usage data, you can quickly and effortlessly report multiple records. The CSV file should include specific required columns as show below, which are crucial for accurate reporting.

Column Name Requirement Description
sugerBuyerId Only require one of sugerBuyerId, sugerExternalBuyerId, customerId or sugerExternalEntitlementId The buyer ID in Suger platform
sugerExternalBuyerId Only require one of sugerBuyerId, sugerExternalBuyerId, customerId or sugerExternalEntitlementId The external buyer ID in Suger platform, which comes from marketplaces
customerId Only require one of sugerBuyerId, sugerExternalBuyerId, customerId or sugerExternalEntitlementId The buyer ID in your own system
sugerExternalEntitlementId Only require one of sugerBuyerId, sugerExternalBuyerId, customerId or sugerExternalEntitlementId The external entitlement ID in Suger platform, which comes from marketplaces
dimension Required The dimension key used to meter the customer
quantity Required, float or integer number The quantity of the usage dimension
timestamp Optional, must be in format of YYYY-MM-DD or ISO 8601 2023-09-07T15:30:00Z The date/timestamp when the usage were recorded in your metering/billing system. NOT the date/timestamp when the usage are reported to the Suger

Once uploaded, Suger will validate the usage records within the CSV and highlight any invalid entries with corresponding error messages. This ensures that only valid usage records are eligible for batch reporting to Suger.

validate

Limit to Report Old Usage Records

Most cloud marketplaces recommend reporting usage records within 1 hour of their metering. However, they do allow some flexibility for reporting older usage records as shown below table. If a usage record has a timestamp later than the official hard limit, the marketplace's metering service will not accept or process it.

  • To provide a safety margin, the Sugar metering service reduces the official limit by one hour.
  • Usage records with timestamps within the Sugar limit are reported with their original timestamp, while those outside this limit are reported with the timestamp of the Sugar limit.
  Official Hard Limit Suger Limit
AWS 6 hours 5 hours
AZURE 24 hours 23 hours
GCP 6 hours 5 hours

Usage Records Validation

When the usage records are sent to Suger via the Suger Metering API, they are validated immediately, and return errors if they are not valid. Here is the list of all rules used for validation in Suger service, and their returned error.

Rule Error If Invalid
The ID in the request body should be unique HTTP Conflict request with code 409
The length of ID in the request body should not exceed 36 HTTP bad request with code 400
The target Entitlement must be in ACTIVE, SUSPENDED or PENDING_CANCEL status HTTP bad request with code 400
The Key in the Record should be valid for the target Entitlement. It is either the Dimension Key or the Dimension Name HTTP bad request with code 400
The Quantity in the usage Record should be non-negative HTTP bad request with code 400
At least one usage Record has positive Quantity HTTP bad request with code 400

Metering Dimension Conversion

Under certain scenarios below, you may consider to enable & configure Metering Dimension Conversion.

  • The dimension names in your metering system are different from those in cloud marketplaces, and you don't want to change either.
  • A new metering dimension is added to your product, and you want to meter your existing clients in cloud marketplace, however their entitlements do not include new metering dimension.
Metering Dimension

By enable & configure Metering Dimension Conversion, you can map your dimension keys from your metering system to the cloud marketplace by using multiplier factor.

Configure
  • Once you enable & configure the Metering Dimension Conversion for one cloud marketplace, it is applied to all entitlements in this cloud marketplace.
  • When the Suger metering API receives usage records, it applies a predefined mapping (if it is enabled) to convert the dimensions. Any dimensions that cannot be mapped will be left unchanged.
  • You can map multiple source dimensions to single destination dimensions with different multiplier value.

Commit with Additional Usage Metering

In AWS or Azure Marketplace, a contract or entitlement with commit and usage metering doesn't accumulate usage by default, and consumes the commit first. This means that ISVs or sellers have to set up their own metering system to track usage, and report any extra usage to the marketplace if it exceeds the prepaid commit.

To simplify the configuration and remove friction, Suger offers an optional feature called Commit with additional usage metering. When enabled, Suger automatically accumulates all usage records and compares them with the commit. If the commit isn't fully used, the usage records won't be reported to the marketplace. Only usage records that exceed the commit are reported to the marketplace. This feature streamlines the process and reduces the need for sellers to set up their own metering system.

How to enable Commit with additional usage metering? Visit Suger Console Settings and select the Usage Metering tab. Click the editing icon to enable or disable the Commit with additional usage metering for the target marketplace.

  • We don't recommend to enable Commit with additional usage metering in GCP Marketplace since it hase the native pricing model to support the same function.

Commit with Additional Usage at List Price

In both AWS and Azure Marketplaces, the usage metering price is typically the negotiated price after the commit amount has been used up. They do not support metering of extra usage beyond the committed amount at the list price.

To make the configuration process simpler and more streamlined, Suger offers an optional feature called Commit with Additional Usage at List Price. When this feature is enabled, Suger automatically adjusts the quantity of received usage records by calculating the ratio of the list price to the negotiated price. This ensures that buyers are billed at the list price for any additional usage beyond the committed amount.

How to enable Commit with additional usage at list price? Visit Suger Console Settings and select the Usage Metering tab. Click the editing icon to enable or disable the Commit with additional usage at list price for the target marketplace.

  • We don't recommend to enable Commit with additional usage at list price in GCP Marketplace since it hase the native pricing model to support the same function.
  • Before enabling Commit with Additional Usage at List Price, you must first activate Commit with Additional Usage Metering.

Divide Entitlement Commit

The GCP, Azure, and AWS Marketplaces do not currently offer support for the pricing model that combines a prepay one-year commitment with monthly overage metering. For instance, a private offer might include a one-year commitment of $120K, paid upfront by the client. The client then receives $10K in credits for prepaid usage each month. If the client's actual usage within a particular month is below $10K, there will be no overage usage metering, and no additional charges will apply. However, if the client's usage exceeds $10K during any month, they will be billed for the overage usage that exceeds the prepaid amount.

Suger introduces the flexibility to divide upfront/parent entitlement commit to multiple sub entitlement terms of credits. So the overage usage can be metered more granularly within each sub entitlement term.

  1. Click the button Divide Commit to open the dialog below. Configure the start dates for each sub entitlement terms, and click the button Divide.
    Divide Commit
  2. There are multiple sub entitlement terms created on top of the original upfront/parent entitlement term, with type of DivideCommit as shown below.
    Multiple Sub Entitlement

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