Smart-1 Cloud and Enterprise vs SPARK licensing equivalents (need product mgmt insight)

[Garrett_DirSec]

Hello All --     

Note:  I'm not including names of field personnel to insure no one "gets in trouble".   I don't care about blame but rather want to resolve this definitely and (hopefully) have CP product mgmt make small update to online/partner product catalog "license instructions". 

TOPIC:     Licensing Smart-1 Cloud to manage gateway.

Checkpoint differentiates between (a) Enterprise, and  (b) SPARK (Embedded GAIA) gateways when licensing Smart-1 Cloud. 

Current licensing packs available (licensing is cumulative):

1. 5-gateways SPARK
2. 5-gateways ENTERPRISE
3. 1-gateway ENTERPRISE

ISSUE:   Local CP field team claims that ONE Enterprise gateway counts as FIVE SPARK gateways (specific to Smart-1 Cloud environment and associated licensing).   this includes references to cloud architects who confirm, etc.

Thus, A customer could purchase #2 above ( 5-gateways Enterprise) and manage gateways as follows:

• 1-Enterprise Gateway, and 20-SPARK gateways
• 25-SPARK gateways
• 2-Enterprise gateways, and 15-SPARK gateways
• etc.

RESEARCH ISSUES and NEXT STEPS:

1. This "FIVE SPARC to ONE Enterprise" is not explicitly documented anywhere. 
2. I suggest such a relationship for Smart-1 Cloud licensing should be explicitly spelled out in "License Instructions" in the online catalog (PartnerMAP).   
3. In fact, the "License Instructions" in online catalog (for relevant SKU) in fact CONTRADICT this claim.   see screenshot below.
4. I opened case with CP Account Services and they responded with "where is this documented?" and "one gateway equals one gateway" and immediately closed the case. 
5. I suspect this calculation "relationship" is simply a loop-hole that exists because Smart-1 Cloud not fully enforcing gateway count and Enterprise vs SPARK platforms.     The concern is future change where product mgmt simply starts enforcing hard limit of "one gateway equals one gateway" regardless of type.     Will this result in massive problems across the globe because this "1Enterprise to 5Spark" relationship has been used by non-zero portion of sales team for years? 
6. Obviously, if the "1Enterprise to 5SPARK" is an "informal relationship" and CP product mgmt has no plans to enforce otherwise, then I want our customers to not over-spend and purchase the "better value" license for their mixed gateway needs.

I include two related screenshots below that further explain the issue. 

License Instructions assocaited with Smart-1 Cloud 5-Enterprise gateway SKUSmart-1 Cloud datasheet where some ambiguity lies

[Tomer_Noy]

Smart-1 Cloud licensing is explicit and should be used as written on the SKU.

If a customer purchases licenses to manage 5 enterprise gateways, this does not grant the option to manage 25 Spark gateways.

It is true that the 5 Spark license currently costs the same as 1 enterprise gateway, but that could change in the future, and anyway they are not interchangeable.

[Garrett_DirSec]

Hello @Tomer_Noy -- sincere thanks for the reply and insight.

From my perspective of working with Checkpoint sales team for past twenty years, I perceive situation on Smart-1 Cloud gateway licensing is a result of tribal knowledge and no explicit instructions otherwise.     

The CP sales team, in the best interest in customer, simply organized Smart-1 Cloud licensing to keep things simple. 

Case in pont:

If I have customer with TEN SPARK boxes, TWO Cloudguard Azure gateways, and ONE physical Enterprise gateway. 

Using the "1 Enterprise = 5 SPARK" equivalent, the customer could be quoted the following SINGLE license:

CPSM-CLOUD-5-GW   (Smart-1 Cloud for Five Enterprise gateways, annual).

If we enforce the "one gateway is one gateway, regardless of whether SPARK or Enterprise", the customer would need to be quoted:

1. CPSM-CLOUD-5-GW   (Smart-1 Cloud for Five Enterprise gateways, annual).
2. quantity TWO:   CPSM-CLOUD-5-SMB-GW  (Smart-1 Cloud for Five SPARK gateways, annual)

I'm being told in certain terms that customers throughout North America are running Smart-1 Cloud licensing using the "1 Enterprise to 5 SPARK" gateway factor.    

At what point does SmartCenter services start to enforce "one gateway is one gateway"?