Token licensing mapping costs to enabled software tool features

• US 8,589,265 B2
• Filed: 03/05/2012
• Issued: 11/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Clemm, Geoffrey M., Col, Catherine G., Goddin, William, Zetie, Carl P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gart, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Goyea, Olusegun
• Application Number:
  US13/411,746
• Publication Number:
  US 20120166258A1
• Time in Patent Office: 624 Days
• Field of Search: 705/59, 705/52, 705/37, 705/26.1, 705/7.13, 705/56, 709/226, 709/206, 709/207, 1/1, 707/999.107, 707/999.003
• US Class Current: 705/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0621 Item configuration or customization
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99939 Privileged access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A request to activate a software tool can be received, where activation requires a quantity of tokens of a token license model. An entity, project, user-set, user, or combination thereof corresponding to the request can be ascertained. A feature-set to be enabled can be determined by querying preexisting indexed records. The preexisting indexed records can associate different feature-sets to different entities, projects, user-sets, users, or combinations thereof. A token cost can be computed for activating the software tool with the feature-set enabled for the request. Token costs for utilizing the software tool can vary depending upon the enabled feature-set. The computed token cost can be the quantity of tokens required to activate the software tool responsive to the request.

Claims

1. A method for incurring varying token costs for activating software tools depending upon enabled feature-sets comprising:

at least one of one or more computing devices receiving a request to activate a software tool, where activation requires a quantity of tokens of a token license model;

at least one of the one or more computing devices ascertaining an entity, project, user-set, user, or combination thereof corresponding to the request;

at least one of the one or more computing devices determining by querying preexisting indexed records, a feature-set to enable for the software tool for the request, wherein said preexisting indexed records associate different feature-sets to different entities, projects, user-sets, users, or combinations thereof;

at least one of the one or more computing devices computing a token cost for activating the software tool with the feature-set enabled for the request, wherein the token cost for utilizing the software tool varies depending upon the enabled feature-set, wherein said computed token cost is the quantity of tokens required to activate the software tool responsive to the request;

at least one of the one or more computing devices, purchasing a quantity of tokens for a token pool, wherein at a time of the purchasing, the preexisting indexed records are not configured for a purchaser or for any users having access to the token pool;

at least one of the one or more computing devices, a significant time, which is greater than one day, after purchasing the quantity of tokens, changing content of the preexisting indexed records so that changed indexed records comprise data of the preexisting indexed records;

at least one of the one or more computing devices, after the changing of content, receiving the request;

at least one of the one or more computing devices examining an available quantity of tokens in the token pool;

at least one of the one or more computing devices, when the available quantity of tokens in the token pool exceeds or is equal to the computed token cost, removing the computed cost of tokens from the token pool;

at least one of the one or more computing devices conveying the removed tokens to a computing device executing the software tool of the request; and

at least one of the one or more computing devices activating the software tool utilizing the conveyed tokens.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one of the one or more computing devices examining an available quantity of tokens in the token pool; and

at least one of the one or more computing devices, when the available quantity of tokens in the token pool is less than the computed token cost, firing an message or error event that indicates the request is unable to be satisfied due to an insufficient quantity of available tokens being present in the token pool.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the parameters of the request is for a persistent data object, said method further comprising:

at least one of the one or more computing devices querying a data store of records to determine a project indexed against the persistent data object;

at least one of the one or more computing devices querying the preexisting indexed records by the determined project to determine a project specific feature-set, wherein said pre-existing indexed records associated a plurality of different feature-sets for the software tool, wherein the different feature-sets are indexed against different projects; and

at least one of the one or more computing devices computing the token cost for activating the software tool with the project specific feature-set.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one of the one or more computing devices determining from the request, a user identity of a user who submitted the request;

at least one of the one or more computing devices querying the preexisting indexed records by the determined user identity to determine a user specific feature-set, wherein said pre-existing indexed records associated a plurality of different feature-sets for the software tool, wherein the different feature-sets are indexed against different projects; and

computing the token cost for activating the software tool with the user specific feature set.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said software tool comprises a plurality of sub-tools, wherein activation of each sub-tool requires a quantity of tokens of the token license model, said method further comprising:

at least one of the one or more computing devices determining that one of said plurality of sub-tools has already been activated by a requisite quantity of tokens computed for said one sub-tool; and

at least one of the one or more computing devices discounting the token costs for activating the software tool with the feature-set enabled for the request by the cost of said one sub-tool.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one of the one or more computing devices receiving a configuration change from an authorized administrator, wherein said configuration change alters a feature-set to enable for the software tool;

at least one of the one or more computing devices responsive to the configuration change, adjusting the preexisting indexed records for the altered feature-set;

at least one of the one or more computing devices after the configuration change is processed to adjust the preexisting indexed records, receiving a subsequent request to activate the software tool from a requester from whom the received request was received, wherein the received request was received before the configuration change was received;

at least one of the one or more computing devices determining by querying preexisting indexed records, an adjusted feature-set to enable for the software tool for the subsequent request; and

at least one of the one or more computing devices computing a subsequent token cost for activating the software tool with the adjusted feature-set enabled for the subsequent request, wherein said computed subsequent token cost is the quantity of tokens required to activate the software tool responsive to the subsequent request, said subsequent token cost being a different token cost than the token cost computed for the received request that was received before the configuration change was received.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

at least one of the one or more computing devices receiving a confirmation before the configuration change is applied to the preexisting indexed records; and

at least one of the one or more computing devices maintaining the previous preexisting indexed records if the confirmation is not received.

8. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising:

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to establish different feature-set of a software tool for different user-sets;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to receive a request from a user to activate a software tool, where activation requires a quantity of tokens of a token license model;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to ascertain, corresponding to the request, an entity, project, a user-set, or combination thereof, associated with the user;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to determine by querying preexisting indexed records, a feature-set to enable for the software tool for the request, wherein said preexisting indexed records associate different feature-sets to different entities, projects, user-sets, users, or combinations thereof;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to automatically compute a token cost for activating the software tool with the customized feature-set enabled by the user for the request, wherein the token cost for utilizing the software tool varies depending upon the enabled feature-set, wherein said computed token cost is the quantity of tokens required to activate the software tool responsive to the request;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to purchase a quantity of tokens for a token pool, wherein at a time of the purchase, the preexisting indexed records are not configured for a purchaser or for any users having access to the token pool;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to change, a significant time, which is greater than one day, after purchasing the quantity of tokens, content of the preexisting indexed records so that changed indexed records comprise data of the preexisting indexed records;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to, after the changing of content, receive the request;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to examine an available quantity of tokens in the token pool;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to, when the available quantity of tokens in the token pool exceeds or is equal to the computed token cost, remove the computed cost of tokens from the token pool;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to convey the removed tokens to a computing device executing the software tool of the request; and

computer usable program code stored in a non-transitory storage medium operable to activate the software tool utilizing the conveyed tokens.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein one of the parameters of the request is for a persistent data object, said computer program product further comprising:

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to query a data store of records to determine a project indexed against the persistent data object;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to query the preexisting indexed records by the determined project to determine a project specific feature-set, wherein said pre-existing indexed records associated a plurality of different feature-sets for the software tool, wherein the different feature-sets are indexed against different projects; and

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to compute the token cost for activating the software tool with the project specific feature-set.

10. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 8, further comprising:

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to determine from the request, a user identity of a user who submitted the request;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to query the preexisting indexed records by the determined user identity to determine a user specific feature-set, wherein said pre-existing indexed records associated a plurality of different feature-sets for the software tool, wherein the different feature-sets are indexed against different projects; and

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to compute the token cost for activating the software tool with the user specific feature set.

11. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 8 wherein said software tool comprises a plurality of sub-tools, wherein activation of each sub-tool requires a quantity of tokens of the token license model, said computer program product further comprising:

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to determine that one of said plurality of sub-tools has already been activated by a requisite quantity of tokens computed for said one sub-tool; and

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium operable to discount the token costs for activating the software tool with the feature-set enabled for the request by the cost of said one sub-tool.

12. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 8, further comprising:

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium receiving a configuration change from an authorized administrator, wherein said configuration change alters a feature-set to enable for the software tool;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium responsive to the configuration change, adjusting the preexisting indexed records for the altered feature-set;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium after the configuration change is processed to adjust the preexisting indexed records, receiving a subsequent request to activate the software tool from a requester from whom the received request was received, wherein the received request was received before the configuration change was received;

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium determining by querying preexisting indexed records, an adjusted feature-set to enable for the software tool for the subsequent request; and

computer usable program code stored in the non-transitory storage medium computing a subsequent token cost for activating the software tool with the adjusted feature-set enabled for the subsequent request, wherein said computed subsequent token cost is the quantity of tokens required to activate the software tool responsive to the subsequent request, said subsequent token cost being a different token cost than the token cost computed for the received request that was received before the configuration change was received.

13. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more non-transitory storage mediums storing computer usable code, wherein the stored computer usable code is able to be executed by the one or more processors, said computer usable code comprising;

computer usable code operable to establish different feature-set of a software tool for different user-sets;

computer usable code operable to receive a request from a user to activate a software tool, where activation requires a quantity of tokens of a token license model;

computer usable code operable to ascertain, corresponding to the request, an entity, project, a user-set, or combination thereof, associated with the user;

computer usable code operable to determine by querying preexisting indexed records, a feature-set to enable for the software tool for the request, wherein said preexisting indexed records associate different feature-sets to different entities, projects, user-sets, users, or combinations thereof;

computer usable code operable to automatically compute a token cost for activating the software tool with the customized feature-set enabled by the user for the request, wherein the token cost for utilizing the software tool varies depending upon the enabled feature-set, wherein said computed token cost is the quantity of tokens required to activate the software tool responsive to the request;

computer usable code operable to purchase a quantity of tokens for a token pool, wherein at a time of the purchasing, the preexisting indexed records are not configured for a purchaser or for any users having access to the token pool;

computer usable code operable to after a significant time, which is greater than one day, and after purchasing the quantity of tokens, change content of the preexisting indexed records so that changed indexed records comprise data of the preexisting indexed records;

computer usable code operable to, after the changing of content, receive the request;

computer usable code operable to examine an available quantity of tokens in the token pool;

computer usable code operable to, remove the computed cost of tokens from the token pool when the available quantity of tokens in the token pool exceeds or is equal to the computed token cost;

computer usable code operable to convey the removed tokens to a computing device executing the software tool of the request; and

computer usable code operable to activate the software tool utilizing the conveyed tokens.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein one of the parameters of the request is for a persistent data object, said computer usable code of said system further comprising:

computer usable code operable to query a data store of records to determine a project indexed against the persistent data object;

computer usable code operable to query the preexisting indexed records by the determined project to determine a project specific feature-set, wherein said pre-existing indexed records associated a plurality of different feature-sets for the software tool, wherein the different feature-sets are indexed against different projects; and

computer usable code operable to compute the token cost for activating the software tool with the project specific feature-set.

15. The system of claim 13, said computer usable code of said system further comprising:

computer usable code operable to determine from the request, a user identity of a user who submitted the request;

computer usable code operable to query the preexisting indexed records by the determined user identity to determine a user specific feature-set, wherein said pre-existing indexed records associated a plurality of different feature-sets for the software tool, wherein the different feature-sets are indexed against different projects; and

computer usable code operable to compute the token cost for activating the software tool with the user specific feature set.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein said software tool comprises a plurality of sub- tools, wherein activation of each sub-tool requires a quantity of tokens of the token license model, said computer usable code of said system further comprising:

computer usable code operable to determine that one of said plurality of sub-tools has already been activated by a requisite quantity of tokens computed for said one sub-tool; and

computer usable code operable to discount the token costs for activating the software tool with the feature-set enabled for the request by the cost of said one sub-tool.

17. The system of claim 13, said computer usable code of said system further comprising:

computer usable code operable to receive a configuration change from an authorized administrator, wherein said configuration change alters a feature-set to enable for the software tool;

computer usable code operable to, adjust the preexisting indexed records for the altered feature-set responsive to the configuration change;

computer usable code operable to, after the configuration change is processed to adjust the preexisting indexed records, receive a subsequent request to activate the software tool from a requester from whom the received request was received, wherein the received request was received before the configuration change was received;

computer usable program code operable to determine by querying preexisting indexed records, an adjusted feature-set to enable for the software tool for the subsequent request; and

computer usable program code operable to compute a subsequent token cost for activating the software tool with the adjusted feature-set enabled for the subsequent request, wherein said computed subsequent token cost is the quantity of tokens required to activate the software tool responsive to the subsequent request, said subsequent token cost being a different token cost than the token cost computed for the received request that was received before the configuration change was received.