Method for determining pricing

• US 20040128263A1
• Filed: 07/29/2003
• Published: 07/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Dosanjh, Raj
• Application Number:
  US10/630,432
• Publication Number:
  US 20040128263A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/400
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination

Abstract

A method of determining a price at which a supplier provides a commodity to a customer, the method being performed by the supplier and comprising: (a) characterising the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity; (b) receiving information from the customer specifying the commodity required; (c) receiving notification of the use of a quantity of the commodity by the customer; and (d) determining a price for the commodity used, the determined price being dependent on the quantity of the commodity used, a level of commercial risk associated with the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity, and an industry average price for the commodity at the time of determination of the price. This method is particularly applicable to the pricing of goods and services in the field of computing and information technology, in particular to items of server infrastructure such as storage capacity and processing capability.

Claims

1. A method of determining a price at which a supplier provides a commodity to a customer, the method being performed by the supplier and comprising:

(a) characterising the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity;

(b) receiving information from the customer specifying the commodity required;

(c) receiving notification of the use of a quantity of the commodity by the customer; and

(d) determining a price for the commodity used, the determined price being dependent on the quantity of the commodity used, a level of commercial risk associated with the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity, and an industry average price for the commodity at the time of determination of the price.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of receiving notification of the use of a quantity of the commodity further comprises monitoring the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein, if the usage monitoring indicates that the customer has a need for more or less of the commodity, the method further comprises effecting provision of more or less of the commodity from the supplier to the customer.

4. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the customer'"'"'s usage history of the commodity, as monitored by the supplier, is used to dynamically reassess the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity, and hence the associated level of commercial risk.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein, in the step of characterising the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity, the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity is characterised as either constant growth, explosive growth or volatile growth, and wherein, in the step of determining a price for the commodity used, the corresponding level of commercial risk is determined respectively as low, high or intermediate.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein, in the step of receiving information from the customer specifying the commodity required, the commodity is selected from a plurality of alternatives in the same category of commodity.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the category of commodity is one of a plurality of categories and a selection is made from more than one category, and wherein the alternatives available for selection in each category are modified in response to customer'"'"'s preference data, or on the basis of previously-selected commodities.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 for determining the price of commoditized solution elements in the information technology industry.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the categories of commodities include storage capacity, server processing capability, and level of support service required.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein, for the commodities of storage capacity or server processing capability, the step of receiving notification of the use of a quantity of the commodity is performed using monitoring and reporting software or hardware installed on a server of the customer.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1 executed using a computer program.

12. A computer program operable to determine a price at which a supplier provides a commodity to a customer, the computer program being operable to:

(a) receive input characterising the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity;

(b) receive input specifying the commodity required by the customer;

(c) receive input comprising notification of the use of a quantity of the commodity by the customer; and

(d) determine a price for the commodity used, the determined price being dependent on the quantity of the commodity used, a level of commercial risk associated with the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity, and an industry average price for the commodity at the time.

13. A computer program as claimed in claim 12 further operable to receive data from a remote device specifying the usage of the commodity by the customer.

14. A computer program as claimed in claim 13 wherein, if the usage data indicates that the customer has a need for more or less of the commodity, the program is operable to effect provision of more or less of the commodity from the supplier to the customer.

15. A computer program as claimed in claim 13, further operable to interpret the customer'"'"'s usage history of the commodity to dynamically reassess the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity, and hence the associated level of commercial risk.

16. A computer program as claimed in claim 12, wherein the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity is characterised as either constant growth, explosive growth or volatile growth, and wherein the corresponding level of commercial risk is determined respectively as low, high or intermediate.

17. A computer program as claimed in claim 12 wherein, when receiving input specifying the commodity required by the customer, the commodity is selected from a plurality of alternatives in the same category of commodity.

18. A computer program as claimed in claim 17, wherein the category of commodity is one of a plurality of categories and a user makes a selection from more than one category, and wherein the computer program modifies the alternatives available for selection in each category following input of customer preference data, or on the basis of previously-selected commodities.

19. A computer program as claimed in claim 12, operable to determine the price of commoditized solution elements in the information technology industry.

20. A computer program as claimed in claim 19, wherein the categories of commodities include server storage capacity, server processing capability, and level of support service required.

21. A computer program as claimed in claim 19, wherein the data specifying the usage of the commodity by the customer is supplied from monitoring software or hardware installed on a server of the customer.

22. A computer program operable to determine a price at which a supplier provides a commodity to a customer, the computer program being stored on a data carrier and operable to:

(a) receive input characterising the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity;

(b) receive input specifying the commodity required by the customer;

(c) receive input comprising notification of the use of a quantity of the commodity by the customer; and

(d) determine a price for the commodity used, the determined price being dependent on the quantity of the commodity used, a level of commercial risk associated with the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity, and an industry average price for the commodity at the time.

23. A price determination device comprising a processor operable to implement a method of determining a price at which a supplier provides a commodity to a customer, the method comprising:

(a) characterising the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity;

(b) receiving information from the customer specifying the commodity required;

(c) receiving notification of the use of a quantity of the commodity by the customer; and

(d) determining a price for the commodity used, the determined price being dependent on the quantity of the commodity used, a level of commercial risk associated with the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity, and an industry average price for the commodity at the time of determination of the price.

24. A price determination device comprising a processor executing a program to determine a price at which a supplier provides a commodity to a customer, the program being operable to cause the processor to:

(a) receive input characterising the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity;

(b) receive input specifying the commodity required by the customer;

(c) receive input comprising notification of the use of a quantity of the commodity by the customer; and

(d) determine a price for the commodity used, the determined price being dependent on the quantity of the commodity used, a level of commercial risk associated with the nature of growth of the customer'"'"'s usage of the commodity, and an industry average price for the commodity at the time.