Predictika · Backup software license quotes
An AI sales agent prepares a subscription license quote for a data protection customer: edition, protected terabytes by workload type, appliance, migration from an older product, co-term. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of the public license terms and returns a verdict, every reason and the license counts it computed.
This validator models NetBackup and DataProtect license quotes and the appliance and migration rules that go with them — not just the scenarios shown below.
Any NetBackup or DataProtect license quote that touches these editions, appliances, terms or migrations is in scope — not only the scenarios pictured here. Not covered: list prices (no public price list exists, so this validator produces no price build-up or line-item quote), workload-based SKUs that are not publicly documented, other Cohesity products, and the customer's own CPQ platform. Assumptions: DataProtect is treated as subscription-only; appliance capacity is checked only where published; migration credits, co-term credits and the discount limits (5, 15 and 25 percent) are placeholders because their terms are not published.
8 scenarios in 3 groups · each group runs from the agent’s first attempt to the outcome · click one to switch
Illustrative agent statement. The validator receives the structured request below.
Proposing agent: AI sales agent (scripted)
Before sending, the agent must call Recorded run
What this means
Our assessment of what a typical rules-based CPQ (product rules, price rules and validation rules, as in Salesforce CPQ) does with the same cases. It is a judgment about effort and reliability, not a claim that nothing can be built.
| What the validator caught | Typical rules-based CPQ | Predictika |
|---|---|---|
| Flexible licensing: virtual and cloud workloads count 1.5 FETB per unit, and the quote states a license count | Only with care The count is a calculated field and the stated count has to be a field on the quote before a validation rule can compare them; the ratio differs by edition. | The count is computed from the workloads on every call and compared with the stated count. |
| Appliance entitlements that differ by model: usable capacity ceiling, primary service availability license, Flex Plus requirement | Only with workarounds Each model needs its own product rule and its own entitlement logic, and the capacity ceiling exists for only some models. Changes ripple across rules. | All of it follows from the model record in the catalog; the findings come back together. |
| Edition conditions: subscription-only editions, 250 FETB cap, virtual-only edition, capacity and per-unit licenses never in one domain | Only with care One product rule per restriction, each tied to an edition. Works, but every new edition adds rules someone has to keep in step. | The restrictions sit on the edition record and are checked on every call. |
| Migration to DataProtect: migrated FETB cannot exceed licensed FETB, and co-term needs an active subscription | Only with workarounds The existing subscription and the licenses being retired live in the install base, not on the quote, so a rule can only check them if they are copied onto the quote as fields. | Existing FETB and months remaining travel with the request and are compared with the quote. |
| Expired subscription: use is restore-only, so a renewal that covers new backups made during the lapse is refused | Only with workarounds Needs the expiry date, the lapse length and a statement about new backups on the quote, then a rule chain that depends on deal type. | Months since expiry and backup activity are inputs; the rule is checked with every other rule. |
| Every problem returned in one answer | Only with workarounds Rules tend to fire as the quote is saved or a step is completed, so a rep often fixes one error and meets the next. | All findings come back together, whatever order the choices arrived in. |
Every rule is checked on every call, in any order the choices arrive; one problem never hides another. Blocking findings stop the quote; approval findings need a person to sign off; everything else is computed.
| 1 | The quote states 800 licenses; NetBackup Complete Edition with Flexible Licensing needs 600 for the protected data. |
| 2 | Flexible licensing needs monthly usage reporting; the quote has none. |
| 3 | Flexible licensing must be set up within 90 days of purchase; the quote is 120 days after purchase and would fall back to 1 to 1 counting. |
| 4 | NetBackup Platform Base Limited Edition is capped at 250 FETB across all domains; the quote protects 300 FETB. |
| 5 | NetBackup Enterprise Virtual Client is for virtual environments only; the quote includes 50 TB of physical workloads. |
| 6 | A capacity license cannot be combined with traditional per-unit licenses in the same NetBackup domain; this domain would hold both. |
| 7 | The NetBackup Flex 5,260 holds up to 442 TB usable; the quote needs 520 TB. |
| 8 | The NetBackup Flex 5,260 needs a primary service availability license; the quote has none and no high-availability configuration that includes it. |
| 9 | On the NetBackup Flex 5,372 primary service availability is included only with a Flex Plus license; the quote has Basic. |
| 10 | Co-terming needs an active subscription to co-term to; the existing one has 0 months left. |
| 11 | The quote migrates 900 FETB of existing licenses but licenses only 800 FETB of protected data. |
| 12 | After a subscription expires the software may be used only to restore data; the quote covers new backups made during the 2 month lapse. |
| 13 | Cold disaster recovery allows 30 testing days in any 12 months; the quote plans 45. |
| 14 | A perpetual license stays with the hardware it was installed on; moving it needs Cohesity written permission. |
| 15 | A 10 percent migration credit is requested; migration credit terms are not published and need Cohesity approval. |
| 16 | 20 percent discount exceeds the 15 percent anyone can approve on a deal of $400,000. |
The recorded result of the validator for each scenario on this page: the request the AI agent sent, the verdict, and every finding, in the order they appear above.
The agent's request. Please quote NetBackup Complete Edition with Flexible Licensing as a new subscription, for a customer protecting 200 TB of physical, 450 TB of virtual and 150 TB of third-party cloud workloads. The deal value is $400,000. The quote states 800 licenses. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Blocked.
The agent's request. Please quote NetBackup Complete Edition with Flexible Licensing as a new subscription, for a customer protecting 200 TB of physical, 450 TB of virtual and 150 TB of third-party cloud workloads. Monthly usage reporting is turned on. The deal value is $400,000. The quote states 600 licenses. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Allowed.
The agent's request. Please quote NetBackup Platform Base Complete Edition as a new subscription, on a NetBackup Flex 5260 appliance, for a customer protecting 500 TB of physical and 300 TB of virtual workloads. The customer needs 520 TB of usable backup storage. The deal value is $400,000. The quote states 800 licenses. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Blocked.
The agent's request. Please quote NetBackup Platform Base Complete Edition as a new subscription, on a NetBackup Flex 5360 appliance, for a customer protecting 500 TB of physical and 300 TB of virtual workloads. The customer needs 520 TB of usable backup storage. The deal value is $400,000. The quote states 800 licenses. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Blocked.
The agent's request. Please quote NetBackup Platform Base Complete Edition as a new subscription, on a NetBackup Flex 5360 appliance in a high-availability configuration, for a customer protecting 500 TB of physical and 300 TB of virtual workloads. The customer needs 520 TB of usable backup storage. The deal value is $400,000. The quote states 800 licenses. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Allowed.
The agent's request. Please quote Cohesity DataProtect as a subscription for a NetBackup customer who is moving to it, for a customer protecting 300 TB of physical, 400 TB of virtual and 100 TB of third-party cloud workloads. The customer is migrating 900 FETB of existing NetBackup licenses and wants to co-term to its existing subscription. The deal value is $400,000. The quote states 800 licenses. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Blocked.
The agent's request. Please quote Cohesity DataProtect as a subscription for a NetBackup customer who is moving to it, for a customer protecting 300 TB of physical, 400 TB of virtual and 100 TB of third-party cloud workloads. The customer is migrating 800 FETB of existing NetBackup licenses and wants to co-term to its existing subscription, which has 14 months left, with a 10 percent migration credit. The deal value is $400,000. The quote states 800 licenses. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Needs approval.
The agent's request. Please quote Cohesity DataProtect as a subscription for a NetBackup customer who is moving to it, for a customer protecting 300 TB of physical, 400 TB of virtual and 100 TB of third-party cloud workloads. The customer is migrating 800 FETB of existing NetBackup licenses and wants to co-term to its existing subscription, which has 14 months left, with a 5 percent discount. The deal value is $400,000. The quote states 800 licenses. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Allowed.
The text of the narrated walkthrough, step by step.