Concurrent-session licensing
Concurrent-session licensing charges according to how many users are active at the same time, rather than how many named accounts exist, so occasional users do not each consume a permanent seat.
Per-seat licensing assumes steady individual usage. Analytical tools rarely work that way: a large population dips in occasionally while a smaller group works continuously. Under per-seat pricing the occasional users are the expensive ones, which pushes organisations to restrict access — the opposite of what a governed platform should encourage.
Concurrent licensing prices the peak instead of the roster. An institution can give a broad population access while paying for the number genuinely working at once. This tends to widen access, which matters when the aim is for analysis to be reviewed by the people accountable for it rather than confined to a licensed few.
The enforcement mechanism matters as much as the pricing model. Counting sessions against a central service reintroduces an outbound dependency, which is unacceptable in a disconnected environment. Signed licence files allow the same limit to be enforced locally.
What distinguishes it
- Priced on simultaneous active sessions rather than named accounts
- Occasional reviewers and approvers do not each consume a permanent seat
- Enforceable offline through signed licence files, with no check-in required
- Encourages broad access, which supports review by accountable stakeholders
In DataQube
DataQube is licensed by concurrent active sessions, and validation works fully offline from signed licence files. The same model applies whether a deployment is connected or air-gapped, so licensing never becomes the reason a disconnected environment cannot be supported.
Common questions
How is concurrent licensing different from per-seat licensing?
Per-seat licensing counts named accounts, whether or not they are used. Concurrent licensing counts sessions active at the same moment. For tools with a broad but intermittent user base, the concurrent count is usually a small fraction of the named-user count.
What happens when the session limit is reached?
Additional sign-in attempts wait until a session is released. Because the limit reflects simultaneous use rather than headcount, organisations typically size it against observed peaks and adjust as usage settles.
Can concurrent licensing work without internet access?
Yes, when the licence is a cryptographically signed file validated locally. Models that count sessions against a vendor-hosted service cannot work in a disconnected environment, because the check itself requires connectivity.
Related terms
Air-gapped AI
Air-gapped AI is an AI system that operates entirely inside a network with no external connectivity, meaning model inference, data access, and licence validation all function without any call leaving the perimeter.
AI data agent
An AI data agent is software that answers analytical questions by planning and executing its own steps — querying approved databases, running code, and citing what it used — rather than only generating text.
Deterministic workflow
A deterministic workflow is an ordered, parameterised sequence of steps that produces the same result when run again with the same inputs, making it suitable for recurring reporting and review processes.