Hosted system monitoring service

• US 8,566,246 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2007
• Issued: 10/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Karandikar, Anirudha S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nigh, James D
• Application Number:
  US11/809,266
• Publication Number:
  US 20080298568A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,337 Days
• Field of Search: 705 50- 52
• US Class Current: 705/52
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing a system monitoring service to customers. The method may include identifying a new customer based on data received from a reseller, storing data pertaining to this customer in a database, and registering the customer with a system monitoring service. The method may further include tracking the usage of the system monitoring service by the customer, calculating a fee for the usage of the system monitoring service by the customer over a predefined time interval, and then generating a bill for the calculated fee that covers the predefined time interval, where interactions between the customer and the reseller terminate once the customer is registered with the system monitoring service.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a computer system of a service provider, customer data identifying a new customer from a computer system of a reseller of a system monitoring service, the new customer having purchased the system monitoring service from the reseller for a customer network to be monitored by the system monitoring service hosted by the computer system of the service provider, the reseller system being coupled to the system monitoring service via a communications network;

storing, by the computer system of the service provider, the customer data received from the computer system of the reseller in a database;

registering, by the computer system of the service provider, the customer with the system monitoring service based on the customer data received from the computer system of the reseller to allow the customer network to be monitored by the system monitoring service;

monitoring, by the computer system of the service provider, the customer network, wherein monitoring includes providing a set of features of the system monitoring service to the customer;

tracking, by the computer system of the service provider, a usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer;

calculating, by the computer system of the service provider, a fee for the usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over a predefined time interval;

generating, by the computer system of the service provider, a bill for the calculated fee covering the predefined time interval; and

calculating, by the computer system of the service provider, a commission to be paid to the reseller based on the tracked usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over the predefined time interval.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the system monitoring service is a hosted service accessible to a user via a website.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein:

the customer is an organization;

the customer data comprises information concerning a plurality of information technology (IT) assets of the organization; and

the user is a system administrator within the organization.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the plurality of IT assets comprises one or more of platforms, applications, devices, or web sites.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein:

the customer data identifies a service level agreement of the customer; and

the system monitoring service provides monitoring of the plurality of IT assets according to the service level agreement.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the system monitoring service provides at least one of alert notifications and reports to the customer based on the monitoring.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the predefined time interval comprises one month; and

the fee is generated on a monthly basis.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, by the computer system of the service provider, data identifying a service level contract signed by the new customer from the reseller.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating the commission to be paid to the reseller comprises:

calculating, by the computer system of the service provider, the commission to be paid to the reseller for the predefined time period based directly on the usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over the predefined time interval, or based on payments received from the customer, the payments being based on the tracked usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over the predefined time interval.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein tracking, by the computer system of the service provider, a usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer includes tracking which monitoring, notification and reporting features are provided to the customer.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions which when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform the operations of:

receiving, by the computer, customer data identifying a new customer from a computer system of a reseller of a system monitoring service, the new customer having purchased the system monitoring service from the reseller for a customer network to be monitored by the system monitoring service hosted by the computer system of the service provider, the reseller system being coupled to the system monitoring service via a communications network;

storing, by the computer, the customer data received from the computer system of the reseller in a database;

registering, by the computer, the customer with the system monitoring service based on the data received from the computer system of the reseller to allow the customer network to be monitored by the system monitoring service;

monitoring, by the computer, the customer network, wherein monitoring includes a providing a set of features of the system monitoring service to the customer;

tracking, by the computer, a usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer;

calculating, by the computer, a fee for the usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over a predefined time interval;

generating, by the computer, a bill for the calculated fee covering the predefined time interval; and

calculating, by the computer, a commission to be paid to the reseller based on the tracked usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over the predefined time interval.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 wherein the system monitoring service is a hosted service accessible to a user via a website.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 wherein:

the customer is an organization;

the customer data comprises information concerning a plurality of information technology (IT) assets of the organization; and

the user is a system administrator within the organization.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein:

the customer data identifies a service level agreement of the customer; and

the system monitoring service provides monitoring of the plurality of IT assets according to the service level agreement.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 wherein calculating the commission to be paid to the reseller comprises:

calculating, by the computer, the commission to be paid to the reseller for the predefined time period based directly on the usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over the predefined time interval, or based on payments received from the customer, the payments being based on the tracked usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over the predefined time interval.

15. A computer system, comprising:

a memory having a database to store data pertaining to a customer; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, to cause;

a customer registration module to receive customer data identifying a new customer from a computer system of a reseller of a system monitoring service, the new customer having purchased the system monitoring service from the reseller for a customer network to be monitored by the system monitoring service hosted by the computer system of the service provider, the reseller system being coupled to the system monitoring service via a communications network, and to register the customer with the system monitoring service based on the customer data received from the computer system of the reseller to allow the customer network to be monitored by the system monitoring service;

a monitoring module, coupled to the database, to monitor the customer network, wherein monitoring includes a providing a set of features of the system monitoring service to the customer;

a usage tracking module, coupled to the database, to track a usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer;

a billing module, coupled to the usage tracking module, to calculate a fee for the usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over a predefined time interval, and to generate a bill for the calculated fee covering the predefined time interval; and

a reseller commission module, coupled to the usage tracking module, to calculate a commission to be paid to the reseller based on the tracked usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over the predefined time interval.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the system monitoring service is a hosted service accessible to a user via a website.

17. The system of claim 15 further comprising:

a monitoring module, coupled to the database, to provide monitoring of a plurality of information technology (IT) assets, and to provide at least one of alert notifications and reports to the customer based on the monitoring.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the reseller commission module is to calculate the commission based directly on the tracked usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over the predefined time interval.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the reseller commission module is to calculate the commission based on a payment received from the customer for the predefined time period, the payment being based on the tracked usage of the set of features of the system monitoring service by the customer over the predefined time interval.