How to Compare Named-User and Concurrent Seat Definitions

An ops lead at a 17-person UK architecture studio is about to click Sign because sales said you only need eight seats — people share them, same as floating. The order form says Named Users. Credentials may not be shared. A 90-day lock turns weekly rotation into a breach. Named, concurrent and floating are three different bills; a shared inbox or API key can eat a named seat.

In September 2026, Joss — Ops at a 17-person UK architecture studio — has Finance’s yes on a model-review SaaS used on two shifts. Sales: buy 8 seats and float them. Order form: 8 Named Users at £95 a seat a month. Clause 3.1: identified individual; credentials may not be shared; reassignment only after ninety (90) days, except termination of employment. Fourteen people need access. Admin export: peak 6, plus 3 shared logins and 2 integration keys. AE Slack: “Same as floating.” Signature pack is Monday.

“Per seat” is an umbrella. Software Pricing Partners (21 August 2026) split “per seat” on three axes: what the unit attaches to, what window counts it, and which user type holds it. If headcount doubled, simultaneous use did not, and nothing is owed, the grant is pooled. A named grant with unrestricted same-day reassignment is a pooled grant with extra paperwork.

Disclaimer: Checkory provides AI support, not legal advice. Consult a qualified lawyer for binding decisions.

What does the unit attach to — named, concurrent, or floating?

Write what the unit attaches to before you argue the eight. Named attaches to one identified person. Concurrent attaches to a peak of simultaneous sessions. Floating attaches to a check-out from a pool. Sales “float” is not the paper. Circle the word on the order form first.

Freeze the packet — the exact file set you will sign: the MSA — master services agreement sitting above the order form — plus the order form plus any licence-metric exhibit — an attached schedule — plus the “float” deck. Heading “seats” + definition Named User = “named — not a pool.” Licendi (9 July 2026) : vendor wording controls whether “floating” equals “concurrent.” Revenera FlexNet 2026 R1 counts concurrent usage against a licence-file cap. If sales calls the fight a true-up, that is a different hunt — the SaaS true-up and true-down usage audit. Do write named, concurrent, or floating on one line. Don’t treat “8 seats” as a pool when Clause 3.1 says identified individual.

Who counts as a user — a human, a bot, or a shared inbox?

Write every identity that can authenticate, not “people who logged in this week.” A named grant typically counts the credential. A shared inbox, service account, API key, or bot can eat a named seat. Silence on non-humans means the vendor can count the key.

For example, Joss already has 3 shared logins and 2 integration keys — five named seats before the architects sit down. Smartsheet (structure): login credentials may not be used by more than one User. OpenText Audit Defense colour: named meters distinct authorised individuals; service accounts are not people. Do list humans, shared inboxes, service accounts, API keys, and bots. Don’t treat “user” as a person on the rota.

What does a 90-day reassignment lock do after a leaver?

Circle the lock days before you plan a weekly rotate. A named seat is not a same-day loan. Weekly rotation on eight named seats is a breach if the lock is ninety days and credentials may not be shared. Write lock days, or “silent / same-day rotate.”

Microsoft Product Terms for Online Services, accessed 13 September 2026, are structure, not a statute for England and Wales: most Subscription Licences may not be reassigned within 90 days of the last assignment, except absence or a device down. Coggno (24 July 2026) colour — LMS, not BIM — a completed named seat often cannot move. Do circle exceptions — termination only, absence, device down. Don’t move a seat on Friday because someone left Thursday.

How do you measure peak concurrency, not a monthly unique?

Pull a week of session timestamps and write two numbers. Distinct identities who may log in is one bill. Peak simultaneous sessions is another. A concurrent or floating grant uses the second. A named grant uses the first. Do not stack the two.

In practice, Joss’s two numbers are 14 distinct identities and peak simultaneous 6. OpenText’s ALM note : do not stack named and concurrent; counting the full population against a concurrent pool overstates. Size from peak, not headcount. Do write peak versus distinct identities. Don’t treat “14 people this month” as the concurrent number.

Which metric matches how people actually log in?

Pick the metric against the rota, not the sales deck. Daily always-on architects need a named seat each, or named for the core and concurrent for the shift if a pool is still sold. Night-shift contractors who never overlap the day team are a concurrent case — if the paper is concurrent.

Joss’s paper — 8 Named Users, 14 people, peak 6, 90-day lock — does not match a float. Price both ways as colour only: 14 × £95 versus 8 concurrent if offered. Do not invent a vendor concurrent price. Ivanti colour: named is cheaper per unit but over-licenses shift users; 80 vs 24 is an example, not a rule. Do fill the metric table. Don’t buy eight named seats because peak is six.

When to define, swap the metric, or walk

Ask to define the unit on the order form, swap the metric to a pool sized to peak plus a buffer, or walk. Walk when sales said “float” and the paper is named plus no-share plus a 90-day lock. Spend counsel — a qualified lawyer, not the chatbot — on that mismatch.

Define named as an identified individual, no-share, stated reassignment, non-humans out. Swap only if a pool sized to peak 6 plus a buffer is still sold. Pause if the MSA and the order form name different metrics — that is the order-of-precedence review. Do escalate the Named User sentence and the ninety-day lock. Don’t treat the Slack “same as floating” line as the grant.

Success bar before you sign: fill the one-page log — packet, unit attaches to named / concurrent / floating, who is a user, reassignment lock, peak versus distinct identities, sales float versus the paper, define / swap / walk — and point to one sentence that would pause Monday. “Eight seats, people share them” is not that sentence if the paper is Named User plus no-share plus a 90-day lock. Optional Checkory first-pass — a first machine pass that extracts clauses before a human reads every page — at document analysis, then a human opens every High flag — a high-severity hit a human must verify — plus the Named User sentence and the 90-day lock. Do not mark the paper safe.