Frequently Asked Questions

The perpetual use (CapEx) price of IRI data de-identification software (like IRI FieldShield) is usually based only on the number of hostnames where static data masking jobs run; i.e., wherever the executable/engine (SortCL program) is installed. The price does not vary by the number of cores, IRI Workbench (job design GUI) users, data sources, rows, functions, features, etc.

The same considerations below apply to IRI Voracity (data management platform) licenses which include FieldShield, CellShield EE, DarkShield, RowGen, CoSort, etc. DarkShield licenses used for database (RDB or NoSQL) sources with C/BLOBs are priced the same as FieldShield. For DarkShield masking of files and documents and NO databases involved, pricing per hostname is not fixed but volumetric, yet the same considerations below apply.

Base FieldShield and DarkShield can be purchased standalone (or discounted together) at one-time license fees that cover perpetual use, documentation, and the first year of technical support (for standard use cases). There are discounts on multiple and runtime (see below) licenses, and both FieldShield and DarkShield (as well as CellShield EE and RowGen and other included components) are also available (and more affordable in volume) with Voracity (see below).

At least one license of a standalone product (engine) is needed to mask data, though the base/first Voracity price tier includes five executable licenses. FieldShield users will need at least one (heavily discounted) local dev/test version of the executable in addition to at least one full-priced production server license. With FieldShield, Linux/Unix licenses cost about 1/3 more than the Windows version, but there are discounts for multiple licenses.

Generally, the total number and location of masking licenses needed should take factors like performance, convenience, and budget into consideration:

• In performance terms, the number of licenses may match the number of (major) database servers in use ... particularly where tables volumes are large. While it is not a one-for-one requirement, masking jobs run faster if the masking engines are installed/licensed on each large DB source or target system (to avoid both network and I/O contention). The best way to know your tolerable degradation point on a given install is through testing.
• In convenience terms, it's very common to also license the engine for local use on one or more IRI Workbench client dev/test PCs, where masking jobs are first designed and debugged, as well as on disaster recovery/failover systems. Regardless of the number of licenses however, IRI Workbench is always free to distribute. Bear in mind that remote Workbench connections (like these on Linux) to SortCL licenses installed on Windows servers do not work well due to server side restrictions so it is more practical for Windows users to test CoSort, FieldShield and RowGen with locally installed development licenses (which are also discounted with FieldShield, included in Voracity price tiers, and not an issue with the DarkShield API).
• In budget terms, additional perpetual-use production masking licenses of IRI *shield tools procured simultaneously (along with the first one at full price) are discounted between 20% and 40%. Annual maintenance (support) renewals for those same *shield products are offered at 20% of the paid-up license fee(s), and include upgrades and limited license transfer and disaster recovery rights. Maintenance is included with Voracity platform subscriptions, but offered at lower renewal rates for perpetual use. 

Additional Pricing Considerations

1) Voracity also includes one IRI CellShield EE Excel-side license, the DarkShield front-end wizards in Workbench and back-end API, plus the same 5 "SortCL" engines that support FieldShield data masking, DB subsetting, IRI RowGen test data synthesis, NextForm data/database migrations, plus CoSort-powered data integration (ETL) and migration, data quality, analytics, and much more. Voracity has higher tiers for broader deployments (e.g., Tier 2 up to 15 hostnames, Tier 3 up to 50, and so on) where the unit pricing drops in higher volumes, though you can only license in tiers, not per hostname, in the case of Voracity. Annual Voracity (OpEx) subscription license include support whereas perpetual use (CapEx) licenses only include support in the first year.

2) For dynamic data masking applications through the FieldShield 'Sandkey' API library (SDK) or DarkShield RESTful API -- or for runtime decryption sites using either engine without IRI Workbench, documentation, or support -- there is more deeply discounted, volume-tiered, pricing. That is offered in a royalty covenant attached to a primary static data masking development license (which covers IRI support and the other features above). Dynamic data masking performed on the same systems/s) (hostname/s) on which the static data masking license is already installed does not require additional licensing, however.

3) Note that IRI is developing new web application front-end starting with DarkShield, and from there FieldShield and a RBAC-driven dyamic data masking system for various sources. Pricing will differ for these environments. IRI also offers premium bundled options for those interested in advanced DevOps and TDM through data and database virtualization; i.e., IRI-integrated solutions like Windocks (or Actifio or Commvault) or ValueLabs TDH (or Cigniti) for containerized or on-demand database/file instances scrubbed through Voracity masking, cleansing, subsetting or generating jobs. 

4) See this FAQ regarding cases where additional or fewer hostname-specific licenses may be needed in the future.

Please contact info@iri.com if you have further questions, or need help pricing an IRI data masking or management product for your environment.