# Overview Today, Self-managed Ultimate trials are issued only as legacy licenses, issued self-serve from about.gitlab.com/free-trial. This epic will explore the work needed to allow for the creation of Self-managed Ultimate trials that can be accessed with an activation code and synced with Cloud Licensing. ### Why is this needed? 1. **Align trials to preferred licensing methodology:** Cloud Licensing is the default and preferred licensing method for Self-managed customers due to the visibility and flexibility it provides. 2. **Expand availability of Duo trials for prospects:** The GitLab Duo Pro & Enterprise add-ons for SM require the customer to be on Cloud Licensing, which means these trials can be issued only for existing Premium & Ultimate cloud licensed customers. Allowing for a combined Ultimate + Duo Enterprise trial would allow prospects to test out Duo features ahead of purchasing GitLab. 3. **Support Duo temporary extensions for customers:** Today temporary renewal extensions rely on legacy licensing, which means if a customer has a base plan and a Duo add-on, they lose access to Duo during the extension period. Allowing for SM trials with cloud licensing will allow us to support a Duo extension as well. 4. **Visibility into SM trial usage:** SM trials on cloud licensing would allow GitLab to receive key trial usage data, allowing for targeted outreach to larger customers. 5. **Greater control over trials:** With cloud licensing, GitLab could identify trial usage abuse and potentially cancel a trial if needed. # Iteration Proposal _See detailed engineering breakdown in_ https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/customers-gitlab-com/-/issues/8623. ## Iteration 1: Introduce SM Ultimate trials on Cloud Licensing * **Summary:** In addition to the existing legacy SM Ultimate trials, this first iteration will provide a new offering of SM Ultimate trials for GitLab prospects. This will mimic the existing trial offering, but be highlighted as the preferred license method on the self-serve trial form and allow collection of seat usage data from SM trialing customers. * **Status:** ~"workflow::refinement" - _see epic comments for weekly status updates._ * **Target completion date:** Paused for Duo Nano work (tentative ~FY26 Mid) ## Iteration 2: Combine GitLab Duo Enterprise with SM Ultimate trials * **Summary:** Combine 100 seats of GitLab Duo Enterprise with the cloud licensing SM Ultimate trial offering to allow prospects to trial Duo. * **Status:** ~"workflow::planning breakdown" * **Target completion date:** Mid ~FY26 ## Iteration 3: TBD * **Summary:** * **Status:** ~"workflow::planning breakdown" * **Target completion date:** Mid ~FY26 # Visual representation of iterations For Provision process diagrams see [Lucid chart here](https://lucid.app/lucidchart/3f98bc40-67b8-4be5-8122-5daa3e04633a/edit?viewport_loc=93%2C313%2C2345%2C1114%2C0_0&invitationId=inv_fb988e50-143e-423e-8cad-8b25301560e3) For User Experience flow diagrams see [FigJam board here](https://www.figma.com/board/mYjpJEVyGPeSnhiBoKUQyu/FY26---Trial-Strategy?node-id=38-330&t=Qh5YPXMNxzABZs3J-0) | Version | User Experience | Provisioning process | |---------|-----------------|----------------------| | 0 - Current existing |  | {width="550" height="236"} | | 1 - Ultimate trials with Cloud licensing |  | {width="975" height="604"} | | 2 - Ultimate trials + Duo Enterprise with Cloud Licensing |  | {width="768" height="469"} | ## Future Work 1. Allow Support to manually generate a cloud license for SM trials 2. Temporary extensions for SM subscriptions using cloud licensing 1. Supports extensions of a Duo subscription ahead of expected renewal 3. GitLab team member provisioning via Cloud Licensing 1. Allows for team members to have production SM instances with Duo