MONITORING ENTITLEMENT USAGE IN AN ON-DEMAND SYSTEM

• US 20130103641A1
• Filed: 08/20/2012
• Published: 04/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Rehman, Muhammad
• Granted Patent: US 8,924,361 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/609
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3003 Monitoring arrangements specially adapted to the computing system or computing system component being monitored
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3065 Monitoring arrangements determined by the means or processing involved in reporting the monitored data error or fault reporting or logging G06F11/0766
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1734 Details of monitoring file system events, e.g. by the use of hooks, filter drivers, logs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for on-demand entitlement monitoring. One exemplary method involves an on-demand application server obtaining, from a database, usage information for a resource associated with an entitlement offered by a resource provider to a user of a client device and generating a graphical representation of usage of the resource by the user based at least in part on the usage information obtained from the database. In exemplary embodiments, the on-demand application server provides the graphical representation to the resource provider for integration into a graphical user interface display associated with a virtual application provided to the client device over a network.

Claims

1. A method of managing entitlements, the method comprising:

obtaining, by an application server, usage information for a resource associated with an entitlement from a database, the entitlement being offered by a provider to a user of a client device; and

generating, by the application server, a graphical representation of usage of the resource by the user based at least in part on the usage information obtained from the database.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the graphical representation comprises generating code executable by the client device to present the graphical representation of a ratio of the usage of the resource to an allotted usage for the resource.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising providing the code to the provider via a network, wherein the code is integrated into a virtual application provided to the client device via the network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the graphical representation comprises generating an image file representative of the usage of the resource to an allotted usage for the resource.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising providing the image file to the provider via a network, wherein the image file is integrated into a virtual application provided to the client device via the network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the graphical representation comprises:

identifying a current usage of the resource based on the usage information;

determining an allotted usage of the resource based at least in part on the usage information; and

generating a graphical representation of a ratio of the current usage to the allotted usage.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

determining the allotted usage comprises;

identifying the allotted usage of the resource based on the usage information;

receiving indication of a modification to the allotted usage from the provider via a network; and

determining a modified allotted usage by adjusting the allotted usage based on the modification; and

generating the graphical representation comprises generating a graphical representation of a ratio of the current usage to the modified allotted usage.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving indication of a modification to the entitlement from the provider via a network, wherein generating the graphical representation comprises updating the graphical representation to reflect the modification.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving indication of a modification to the entitlement from the provider; and

generating a second graphical representation of an anticipated usage of the resource by the user based on the modification.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving indication of an estimated usage for the resource from the provider, wherein generating the graphical representation comprises:

identifying an allotted usage for the resource based on the usage information;

generating the graphical representation of a ratio of the estimated usage to the allotted usage.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving indication of a modified allotted usage for the resource, wherein generating the graphical representation comprises:

identifying a current usage of the resource based on the usage information; and

generating the graphical representation of a ratio of the current usage to the modified allotted usage.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the application server, a request for information pertaining to the entitlement associated with the user from the provider via a network, wherein the application server obtains the usage information and in response to the request; and

providing the graphical representation to the provider via the network.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, from the provider via a network, a user identifier associated with the user, wherein:

the database comprises a multi-tenant database supporting a plurality of tenants, the plurality of tenants including the provider; and

obtaining the usage information comprises querying the multi-tenant database using the user identifier and a tenant identifier associated with the provider.

14. A system comprising:

a database to maintain usage information for a resource of an entitlement associated with a user of a client device; and

an application server coupled to the database to obtain the usage information from the database and generate a graphical representation of usage of the resource based at least in part on the usage information.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a provider server coupled to the client device and the application server via a network to obtain the graphical representation from the application server and integrate the graphical representation into a virtual application provided to the client device via the network.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the graphical representation comprises code executable by the client device to present the graphical representation of a ratio of the usage of the resource to an allotted usage for the resource on the client device.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the graphical representation comprises an image file integrated into a display associated with the virtual application presented on the client device.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the database comprises a multi-tenant database supporting a plurality of tenants; and

the application server obtains the usage information by querying the multi-tenant database using a tenant identifier associated with a provider offering the entitlement.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the application server is coupled to the provider via a network to:

receive a request for at least a portion of the usage information for the user from the provider, the request including a user identifier associated with the user; and

obtain the usage information by querying the multi-tenant database using the tenant identifier and the user identifier.

20. A server comprising a processing system and a memory, wherein the memory comprises computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the server to:

receive, from a provider via a network, a request for information pertaining to an entitlement associated with a user of a client device;

obtain usage information for a resource associated with the entitlement from a database;

generate a graphical representation of usage of the resource by the user based at least in part on the usage information; and

provide the graphical representation to the provider via the network.