When you upload usage metrics like resources levels, network bandwidth, and data storage to Tackle, the metrics are directed to cloud providers who then bill your buyer.
How metering works
As a vendor, you are responsible for keeping track of your buyer's usage and any potential overages. You can either do this internally or hire someone to do it for you. This is where Tackle can help.
When you use Tackle for metering, you can:
Submit usage metrics to the cloud providers and to track and manage metering for all your marketplaces in one place.
Use Tackle to bill all of your customers through the cloud, or you can use it in combination with other billing methods, for example: to track overage.
If you are using a third-party vendor like Orb to track usage, Tackle offers a native integration for submitting Orb invoices to the marketplace for metering🔗.
Other partners, like Metronome or M3ter, can also submit usage metrics through Tackle to the marketplaces with the Tackle API🔗.
Get started
To set up metering in Tackle, you'll first need:
A marketplace listing with usage-based billing dimensions
An active contract for the buyer on that listing
With these requirements, you'll need to submit metering records to Tackle to track usage for that buyer. For each buyer contract, you can submit multiple records. Each record tracks a single dimension, for example: how many users are in your product during a certain time. Depending on how you gather your usage data and how your company handles billing, you can submit usage data to Tackle one of three ways:
Create a metering record. Manually enter records in the Tackle platform by adding a few records at a time (useful for submitting true-ups).
Upload a CSV to create multiple records. Efficiently create multiple records at a time by exporting your usage data and submitting it all at once to Tackle.
Connect to the Tackle API. For ongoing, automated submission of usage data. This will require developer assistance to set up.
With all of your metering tracked in Tackle, you'll be able to:
Check the status of your submissions in the Tackle platform, or by making an API call.
Review buyers and their contracts, including dimensions and quantities, and submit charges by creating new records.
Search and filter metering records across marketplaces, products and buyers.
Export metering data for auditing or reporting purposes.
Note
Tackle supports metering for the AWS Marketplace, Google Cloud Marketplace, and Microsoft commercial marketplace. If you have an AWS meterable listing and an active contract on that listing, Tackle submits hourly zero quantity records on your behalf. It is possible to cancel your contract before the end of the subscription date.
You must submit any outstanding usage within the allowable timeframe dictated by the marketplace. For AWS, you have one (1) hour; for Microsoft, you have 24 hours; and for Google Cloud, you have one (1) hour after it was canceled with a timestamp of usage before the cancelation time.
If you accidentally submit the wrong dimension or quantity, you will need to process these changes with the cloud provider directly, but you can contact Tackle Support🔗 for assistance in escalating this request if needed. If you miss reporting usage, follow best practice guidance from your cloud provider. For more information on metering see cloud provider documentation: