Method and system for correlating job accounting information with software license information

• US 7,194,439 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2001
• Issued: 03/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kassan, Peter, Youchnow, Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): Backer; Firmin
• Application Number:
  US09/845,611
• Publication Number:
  US 20020161717A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,150 Days
• Field of Search: 705/50, 719/222
• US Class Current: 705/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1085 involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A job accounting and chargeback system for software products is comprised of a software license manager in the form of a software product use monitoring subsystem that handles requests for and grants rights to use software products, in such a manner that chargeback data is developed, which is then referenced to entities that are charged for the use of the software products. To better correlate the chargeback data with the use of software products, the chargeback data is referenced to the actual amount and type of use of software products being used, rather than on the use of computer facilities.

Claims

1. A job accounting and chargeback system for software products, the system comprising:

a software license manager comprising a software product use monitoring subsystem that handles requests for and grants rights to use licensed software products, the use of which requires payment of specified license fees to one or more software product licensors, said software license manager further operable to develop software product use information;

a job accounting and chargeback (JACS) subsystem that develops chargeback data that is applicable to charged entities that are separate of and unrelated to the software product licensors and to the specified license fees, and said job accounting and chargeback system allocates the specified license fees in accordance with predefined criteria based on the charged entities utilization of software or computer facilities;

a job accounting and software use intercoupling facility that intercouples the software product use information provided by the software license manager with the chargeback data in a manner that provides software-product chargeback information; and

a process-data collector that develops process-related data and the job accounting and chargeback subsystem deriving identities of the charged entities from the process-related data.

2. The system of claim 1, in which the software-product chargeback information comprises cost information for the use of the software products and the manager is a license manager.

3. The system of claim 1, in which the software-product chargeback information is referenced to software product vendors.

4. The system of claim 1, in which the process-related data comprises process detail records.

5. The system of claim 4, in which the process detail records comprise links to event log records.

6. The system of claim 1, in which the software-product chargeback information comprises process-product-link records and each such record comprises at least two fields.

7. The system of claim 6, in which the at least two fields include a key field pointing to a process detail record and product key field.

8. The system of claim 7, in which the product key field comprises a vendor id or a product id.

9. The system of claim 7, further comprising a third field, which is a link to a particular licensing session.

10. The system of claim 1, further including a plurality of software clients operable with corresponding client exit routines, components of the job accounting and chargeback subsystem being present in the client exit routines.

11. The system of claim 1, in which the process-related data comprises system management facility (SMF) records.

12. The system of claim 1, including a process-to-product link table.

13. The system of claim 1, including a process-to-product vendor link table.

14. The system of claim 1, in which the intercoupling facility correlates the software-product chargeback information to specific product licensing sessions.

15. The system of claim 1, including a facility that develops the software-product chargeback information over selected time periods.

16. The system of claim 1, including a facility that compares chargeback data against budgeted charges relative to specific software products.

17. The system of claim 1, including a reporter that generates viewable reports, displaying selected portions of the software-product chargeback information.

18. The system of claim 17, the reporter including a data sorter.

19. The system of claim 1, including a facility that allocates to specific products a total cost, which cost is used by the job accounting and chargeback subsystem to develop the chargeback data.

20. The system of claim 1, including a facility that measures a parameter indicative of the extent of use of different ones of the software products and the parameter being selected from the parameter group consisting of:

CPU time;

elapsed time;

number of queries to a database;

number of records retrieved; and

use peripherals related to the use of software products.

21. The system of claim 1, in which the software products act in the system as software clients and the manager is a license manager that acts in the system as a server and including a plurality of license manager agents that execute client exit routines in response to being presented with license requests from the software clients, and further including a JACS client exit routine that interacts with the client exit routine of the license manager agents, in a manner such that the JACS client exit routine obtains the process-related data which is then returned to the client exit routine.