HCLSoftware began the simplification journey for HCL Domino licensing several years ago and have continually worked with customers and partners to tune the license model and the renewal processes. We are now taking the final steps along two key trajectories:

First, Consolidating all Domino Licensing on the Domino Complete Collaboration (CCB) Model

As of today, HCL Domino is only available based on our flagship user-based licensing comprised of:

• HCL Domino Complete Collaboration Business Edition (CCB) for the B2E and B2C users,
• HCL Domino Complete Collaboration eXternal User (CCX) for B2B users,
• HCL Domino Complete Collaboration Solution Partner Edition (CCS) for ISVs/solution providers.
• In addition, HCL Volt MX Go, permitting the use of all Domino features and extending Domino applications using the multi-experience low-code and integration capabilities of HCL Volt MX.

Today marks the End of Marketing (EOM) of all other (the former IBM) Domino license parts as well as End of Support (EOS) for the same as of June 11, 2025. The HCL Domino Utility and HCL Domino Utility Express Server parts and IBM xWork parts were deprecated in 2023.

Over 80% of the Domino customer base is already on CCB licensing and the remainder should find the features and new capabilities that are only available with CCB licensing and subsequent upgrading to Domino v14.0 very attractive.

Second, Consolidating all HCLSoftware on Subscription-based Licensing

HCLSoftware is consolidating all product families on subscription-based licensing (Term license) and will gradually phase out on-premises perpetual licensing - see HCLSoftware Renewal Pricing Policy Update.

Almost 70% of the CCB customer base is already using Term licensing and the remainder should find the price/performance of Term licensing more attractive than annual renewals of Perpetual licensing.

In addition, future key updates and new features will focus on the Term licensing parts to ensure customers and partners always have access to and deploy the latest technologies and support. We remain committed to ensuring customer and partner success by the most resilient and secure application platform with HCL Domino – see 122 Security Reasons to Upgrade on why we are keen about customers keeping Domino updated.

Next Steps if You Use Any of the Past IBM Domino License Parts and Not Yet on CCB

The old IBM license parts originated in a different era of technology:

• Licensing by server capacity (Processor Value Units) is increasingly meaningless and difficult as processor architectures change, and Cloud/SaaS models prevails - and you constantly must watch server configuration changes for needed PVU true-up!
• Traditional client-side licensing is increasingly meaningless as there are no longer any dependency on a rich client deployment for a laptop/desktop as web clients prevails, but Client Access Licenses (CALs) are still needed for the logical access and use of the servers!

For any customer using former IBM Domino license parts (except CCB) you can remain on support and gain access to all new features and security updates by moving to current CCB licensing at your next renewal.

Customers have the option of Domino CCB and Volt MX Go to meet their needs. Both are future-proof licenses entitling customers to all of Domino's features, updates, and supporting programs.

As CCB covers all use cases by any combination of former licensing, all existing configurations can be left intact when upgrading to CCB licensing and do not require the re-installation of any Domino components – except for new features to be deployed.

To facilitate license and version transition and general interoperability, Domino Servers deployed under CCB entitlements may replicate with any server in- or outside Licensee's Enterprise.

Note: For e-mail only environments, the HCL Domino Messaging Express user-based license is now the only available option. Messaging Express is based on same metric as CCB and will cover any former deployment of Domino Messaging CAL and Domino Messaging Server PVU/Domino Enterprise Server PVU (for HA/DR clustering).

At your next renewal, use DLAU (see further below) to obtain a baseline report for CCB licensing of your complete configuration which your HCLSoftware Customer Success Manager or Renewal Manager or your Business Partner needs to build an attractive quote for the conversion.

CCB: Simplifying Domino Licensing

CCB is the cornerstone of our journey to provide a single, user-based license model for Domino:

• A simple “Per User everything model” - use any client and any protocol for any server capacity to run all applications – including enterprise e-mail.
• Transparent license compliance management by simple user counting - and using the DLAU tool for simple determination of entitlement requirements, as detailed below.
• Future new Domino features will generally be included with CCB Term entitlements. Similar to the recent additions to CCB only e.g. Nomad for Web Browsers and Domino REST APIs.
• Same for adding any Supporting Programs, where CCB recently was extended by Limited Entitlement to Domino Leap (including maximum 5 enterprise apps), and the OnTime Freemium Group Calendar solution from IntraVision.

CCB entitlements are needed for all employees and contractors in your enterprise needing access to your Domino CCB servers – covering all B2E (Business-to-Employees) scenarios. A server licensed under CCB also includes unlimited external anonymous and guest web user access as defined below as needed for most B2C (Business-to-Consumer/Citizen) scenarios:

• Guest: unlimited anonymous browser users can freely access your Domino based websites.
• Known Guest: unlimited registered users with credentials to login for read-only access to applications (see Known Guest Use Cases in this blog Licensing Update: Domino V12 and Key CCX Enhancement).

To determine the volume of entitlements for a CCB (or Volt MX Go or Messaging Express) configuration, HCL has introduced the DLAU tool. This tool will count all credentials in Domino directories or other authentication sources used by the enterprise.

CCX: Covering External B2B or B2C users

For B2B (Business-to-Business) or advanced B2C scenarios, where the external users must fully engage in applications beyond the read/only access permitted for Known Guests, HCL introduced the CCX entitlement as an add-on for CCB-only environments.

CCX users have full functionality (up to ACL level of “author”) to use Domino and Domino Leap (if installed) applications and workflows but cannot create applications themselves. CCX users do not have a personal mailbox but can use task/functional mail for workflow routing or applications generating mail.

Like the CCB Authorized User (A/U) entitlement, the CCX A/U entitlement is also unique; however, it can logically be reassigned after 30 days of inactivity. Consequently, you need entitlements to cover actual/expected CCX users in any 30-day period, i.e., the high-water mark of active CCX users per month. Hence, some former server-only based B2B/B2C use cases can now be easily supported by CCX as sporadic application use does not accumulate a large number of user credentials which would require entitlement under CCB. DLAU comes in handy to make this determination.

See also CCX Use Cases in Licensing Update: Domino V12 and Key CCX Enhancement.

CCB and Domino Leap – Adding the Citizen Developer...

The CCB entitlement can be extended with the HCL Domino Leap add-on providing a true citizen developer capability (see also HCL Leap 9.3.2 and Domino Leap 1.1.1). Since the general availability of Domino V14.0, CCB includes a Limited Entitlement to Domino Leap to deploy a maximum of 5 enterprise applications. Acquiring the full Domino Leap add-on includes in addition to unlimited Leap Applications, the HCL Enterprise Integrator for Domino and HCL Domino Connector for SAP Solutions.

What is the Domino License Analysis Utility (DLAU) Tool

Following an adoption rate of over 80% for CCB licensing and now consolidation of all licensing on CCB, HCL continues to enhance and support the Domino License Analysis Utility (DLAU) tool to enable customers to perform a baseline count of the needed CCB/CCX entitlements for any Domino (or Volt MX Go or Messaging Express) configuration and, at the same time, to perform a security “health check” on your Domino deployment.

DLAU will assist you in determining the entitlements needed for CCB/CCX (or Volt MX Go/CCX, or Messaging Express) licensing of your complete Domino deployment and is a simple to deploy and use, non-intrusive tool:

• HCLSoftware Support will assist customers (both with and without an active Support subscription) using DLAU for the purpose of creating a baseline.
• Delivered as a Notes application file (.nsf) to be run from a Notes client. Supports Notes and Domino R7 and above.
• It does not require any changes to your Domino servers (except ensuring any needed logging is enabled).
• It does not modify any existing data.
• It runs in the background and will not “freeze” the Notes Client.
• Results are normally provided within a few hours (dependent on environment complexity).

DLAU only scans log files and configurations, and generated reports are under the control of the Administrator and are fully GDPR compliant. DLAU also offers a range of analyses and recommends best practices updates and remedial actions. Most importantly, DLAU will report on Security Observations.

HCLSoftware has provided the DLAU tool and a comprehensive Users’ Guide here ==> https://opensource.hcltechsw.com/domino-license-analysis-utility-DLAU/

In addition, DLAU is included in the HCL License & Download portal for any customer with access to the portal and without requiring an active Domino Support subscription.

HCLSoftware Support and DLAU

To facilitate the use of DLAU for Domino CCB or Volt MX Go renewals or restarts, HCLSoftware supports DLAU via normal channels. Support is now available for running DLAU with all versions from Domino 7 - even for customers without active Support for HCL Domino. Support is provided to help all customers obtain a baseline report for CCB (and Volt MX Go) licensing. Customers should engage with their HCLSoftware Business Partner or Seller for the interpretation and use of the report.

Understanding DLAU Reports

It is important to note that DLAU is not conducting a license audit, which is always an in-depth hindsight analysis. Instead, DLAU is creating a baseline to help you and HCLSoftware have a meaningful forward-looking conversation for your renewal or restart or move to CCB or Volt MX Go. The baseline must be augmented by the customer in terms of future deployment plans as the customer is continually responsible for license compliance going forward.

The DLAU report includes an overall Authorized User (A/U) count which is the total number of credentials found permitting authentication to the scanned configuration. The count Is further refined into needed CCB and any CCX entitlements for the environment. Due to the difference in metrics, a reported CCX entitlement need (based on the 30-day high-water mark mentioned above) will be less than the total number of scanned external credentials included in the A/U total.

Volt MX Go: Extend Domino Apps with New Mobile Experiences and Enterprise Integration

Volt MX Go uses the same A/U definitions as CCB/CCX with the following exceptions and additions for the use of the Domino servers:

• HCLSoftware Support will assist customers (both with and without an active Support subscription) using DLAU for the purpose of creating a baseline.
• A Volt MX Go A/U is entitled to full use of Domino applications and Domino user interfaces and clients, and the full use of the Volt MX multi-experience low-code platform with unlimited Volt MX B2E applications.
• For external use of Domino applications with a Domino user interface, the CCB Guest, Known Guest, and CCX models are entitled as described above for CCB (CCX must still be acquired separately).
• For any external user of Volt MX features, each user needs a Volt MX B2C (unlimited applications) entitlement. For any use of a Domino user interface, this entitlement replaces CCX and provides the same entitlements as CCX.

The DLAU tool described above is needed to document Volt MX Go/CCX entitlements as for CCB/CCX.

Licensing per Use Case for CCB and Volt MX Go

Consult the table below for a summary of entitlement needs per use case and constituents.

If you have any questions about this blog post and announcements or have any licensing questions, please contact your HCL Seller or Business Partner.

Useful Links:

• HCLSoftware License Information Documents
• Learn about Domino Access Control Lists (ACL)
• https://opensource.hcltechsw.com/domino-license-analysis-utility-DLAU/
• HCLSoftware Renewal Pricing Policy Update

Related Blog Posts:

• Licensing Update: Domino V12 and Key CCX Enhancement
• Accelerate Domino App Modernization with Volt MX Go v2.0
• HCL Leap 9.3.2 and Domino Leap 1.1.1
• HCL Sametime 12.0.2 seamless collaboration and easier administration
• Explore the Power of Domino V14
• 122 Security Reasons to Upgrade