ID inventory support system, ID inventory support method, and program

Abstract

To provide an art for supporting ID inventory.SOLUTION: A system for supporting ID inventory according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, for supporting the inventory of an ID to be utilized in a business system, comprises an extracting section that extracts an object ID indicative of an ID with which the inventory is concerned from an ID management table storing at least the ID and a business system in which the ID is to be utilized in association with each other, a query setting section that sets the object ID with a query about the inventory, an inventory requesting section that requests an answer to the query set for the object ID to a manager of the business system in which the object ID is to be utilized, and a providing section that provides information representative of a situation of the answer to a user who requested the query.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0004] , , , , , , , ,

[0005] , , , , ,

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an ID inventory support system, an ID inventory support method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Generally, in a company, various business systems (for example, a personnel system, a sales support system, a development system, an attendance management system, an accounting system, etc.) are used. Employees of the company, for example, can use these business systems by using an ID issued by a department that manages these business systems.

[0003] From the viewpoint of preventing unauthorized access to business systems, etc., appropriate management and regular inventory checks of the above IDs are required (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1). Note that an inventory check is an operation for confirming whether the ID has been correctly created, changed, or deleted, and whether there is no deviation from the actual usage situation. Such an inventory check is also called "ID inventory check" or "account inventory check".

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0004]

Non-Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, traditionally, when requesting an inventory of IDs from each department managing business systems, this was done by email with an attached ID list file created using spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel®. As a result, the person requesting the inventory had to identify the IDs managed by each department, as well as the administrators and email addresses of those departments, which resulted in significant labor costs for the inventory request process.

[0006] This disclosure is made in view of the above points and aims to provide technology that supports ID inventory management. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An ID inventory support system according to one aspect of the present disclosure is an ID inventory support system that supports inventorying IDs used in a business system, comprising: an extraction unit that extracts target IDs indicating IDs to be inventoryed from an ID management table in which at least the IDs and the business systems in which the IDs are used are stored in association; a question setting unit that sets questions related to the inventory for the target IDs; an inventory request unit that requests the administrator of the business system in which the target IDs are used to provide answers to the questions set for the target IDs; and a provision unit that provides information representing the status of the answers to the user who requested the questions. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] Technology to support ID inventory management will be provided. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the overall configuration of the ID inventory support system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of the functional configuration of the ID inventory support device and terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of an ID management table. [Figure 4]It is a diagram showing an example of a personnel information table. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing an example of an administrator table. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing an example of event information. [Figure 7] It is a flowchart showing an example of the overall processing flow of the ID inventory support system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing an example of a target selection screen. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing an example of a target ID list screen. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing an example of a warning screen. [Figure 11] It is a diagram showing an example of an event basic information setting screen. [Figure 12] It is a diagram showing an example of a question setting screen. [Figure 13] It is a diagram showing an example of an inventory request screen. [Figure 14] It is a diagram showing an example of an answer screen. [Figure 15] It is a diagram showing an example of an event status confirmation screen. [Figure 16] It is a diagram showing an example of an answer content confirmation screen. [Figure 17] It is a diagram showing an example of an answer delegation screen. [Figure 18] It is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a computer.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Hereinafter, an ID inventory support system 1 that supports the inventory of IDs for a business system used in a company will be described.

[0011] <Definition of Terms> · Business system: Any computer or computer system used for any business in an enterprise (including computers or computer systems that can be used as cloud services, etc.). Examples of business systems include personnel systems, sales support systems, development systems, attendance management systems, accounting systems, etc.

[0012] · ID: Information used to access a business system. An ID may also be referred to as, for example, an account or user ID. In addition to those assigned to users of a business system, there are also IDs that are shared and used by multiple users for the purpose of being used in certain businesses or operations (this is also called a "shared ID", etc.). While a normal ID is associated with a specific user, a shared ID is not associated with a specific user and is associated, for example, with a specific department or organization, the object of aggregation and management, the purpose of use, the application to be used, etc.

[0013] · ID inventory check: The operation of checking whether an ID has been correctly created, modified, deleted, or whether there is no discrepancy from the actual situation of use. Such an operation is also simply referred to as "inventory check". An ID inventory check may also be referred to as, for example, an account inventory check. An ID inventory check is generally often performed regularly, but may also be performed irregularly.

[0014] · Inventory requester: The person who requests the administrator to perform an inventory check on the ID to be inventoried. The inventory requester sets questions regarding the inventory check, such as whether to continue using the ID or delete it, and requests the administrator for the answers.

[0015] • Administrator: This includes the following two types of administrators. The first type of administrator is the person in charge of managing the business system within the department or organization that oversees the business system (hereinafter, departments and organizations are collectively referred to as "the organization"). For example, if the business system is a human resources system, the organization in charge is the "Human Resources Department," and the system administrator is the person in charge of managing the human resources system within the Human Resources Department. Similarly, for example, if the business system is a sales support system, the organization in charge is the "Sales Department," and the system administrator is the person in charge of managing the sales support system within the Sales Department. The second type of administrator is the person in charge of managing IDs for each business system (adding, updating, deleting IDs, etc.) and providing operational support for the business system so that users of the business system can use the system appropriately. For example, if the business system is a human resources system, the person in charge may be an employee of the Human Resources Department in each organization that uses the human resources system, or an employee of the organization that uses the human resources system may be the person in charge of using that organization. Furthermore, within a given organization, the administrators for multiple business systems (for example, a human resources system and a sales support system) may be different, or the same employee may be responsible for both.

[0016] Hereafter, the terms "administrator of the business system" or simply "administrator" may include the two types of administrators described above (system administrator and user administrator).

[0017] • Respondent: This refers to the person who answers the questions set by the inventory requester. Respondents are basically the managers mentioned above, but may also include those who are delegated by the manager to answer questions on their behalf (hereinafter also referred to as proxy respondents). Typical examples of proxy respondents include subordinates who have been ordered by the manager to perform inventory work, people who assist or act on behalf of the manager in the work of each organization that uses the business system, and managers of smaller organizations within each organization that uses the business system, or people who assist or act on behalf of the managers in the work of each smaller organization.

[0018] <Overall configuration example of the ID inventory support system 1> An overall configuration example of the ID inventory support system 1 according to this embodiment is shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the ID inventory support system 1 according to this embodiment includes an ID inventory support device 10 and a plurality of terminals 20. The ID inventory support device 10 and each terminal 20 are communicably connected via a communication network 30 including, for example, the Internet or the like.

[0019] The ID inventory support device 10 is a computer or a computer system such as a general-purpose server that supports ID inventory. The ID inventory support device 10 creates an event representing an inventory (hereinafter, also referred to as an "inventory event") in response to a request from an inventory requester, and requests an appropriate administrator for an answer to a question set in this inventory event. Further, the ID inventory support device 10 outputs the result of the ID inventory as a report (this is also called an audit report or the like).

[0020] The terminal 20 is various computers or computer systems used by employees of a company that uses a business system targeted for ID inventory. Examples of the terminal 20 include a PC (personal computer), a tablet terminal, a smartphone, a wearable device, and the like. Hereinafter, the terminal 20 used by the inventory requester is also referred to as the "requester terminal 20", the terminal 20 used by the administrator is also referred to as the "administrator terminal 20", and the terminal 20 used by the proxy respondent is also referred to as the "proxy respondent terminal 20". The inventory requester has an account (hereinafter, also referred to as an "ID inventory account") for logging in to the ID inventory support device 10, but the administrator and the proxy respondent do not necessarily have an ID inventory account (the administrator and the proxy respondent may have an ID inventory account or may not have an ID inventory account). Also, among the accounts registered in the ID inventory support device 10, only the "ID inventory account" having a special privilege to perform ID inventory may be allowed to create an inventory event.

[0021] Note that the overall configuration example of the ID inventory support system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is just an example and is not limited thereto. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the ID inventory support device 10 is composed of one device, but it may also be composed of a plurality of devices connected to each other via a communication network.

[0022] <Functional configuration example of the ID inventory support device 10 and the terminal 20> A functional configuration example of the ID inventory support device 10 and the terminal 20 according to this embodiment is shown in FIG. 2.

[0023] ≪ID inventory support device 10≫ As shown in FIG. 2, the ID inventory support device 10 according to this embodiment has an ID inventory support processing unit 101 and a report output unit 102. Each of these units is realized, for example, by a process in which one or more programs installed in the ID inventory support device 10 are executed by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Further, the ID inventory support device 10 according to this embodiment has an ID management table storage unit 103, a personnel information table storage unit 104, a manager table storage unit 105, and an event information storage unit 106. Each of these storage units is realized, for example, by a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a flash memory. However, a part of these storage units may be realized by a storage device such as a database server connected to the ID inventory support device 10 via a communication network.

[0024] The ID inventory support processing unit 101 executes various processes for supporting ID inventory. The ID inventory support processing unit 101 includes an inventory event creation unit 111, a target ID extraction unit 112, a UI providing unit 113, and an inventory event management unit 114.

[0025] The inventory event creation unit 111 creates information representing an inventory event (hereinafter referred to as "event information") in response to a request from the requester terminal 20. The inventory event creation unit 111 also requests the administrator of the business system in which the IDs used are used to conduct an inventory of the IDs targeted for inventory in this inventory event.

[0026] The target ID extraction unit 112 extracts the IDs to be inventoryed in the inventory event when the inventory event creation unit 111 creates event information. At this time, the target ID extraction unit 112 refers to the personnel information table stored in the personnel information table storage unit 104 and the administrator table stored in the administrator table storage unit 105 as needed, and extracts the IDs to be inventoryed from the ID management table stored in the ID management table storage unit 103. Details of the ID management table stored in the ID management table storage unit 103, the personnel information table stored in the personnel information table storage unit 104, and the administrator table stored in the administrator table storage unit 105 will be described later.

[0027] The UI provision unit 113 provides various screens as a UI (user interface) to the terminal 20 when event information is created by the inventory event creation unit 111.

[0028] The inventory event management unit 114 stores the event information created by the inventory event creation unit 111 in the event information storage unit 106. The inventory event management unit 114 also updates the event information stored in the event information storage unit 106 in response to requests from the requester terminal 20, administrator terminal 20, proxy respondent terminal 20, etc. Details of the event information stored in the event information storage unit 106 will be described later.

[0029] The report output unit 102 outputs a report representing the results of the ID inventory to a predetermined output destination.

[0030] Terminal 20 As shown in Figure 2, the terminal 20 according to this embodiment has a UI processing unit 201. The UI processing unit 201 is realized, for example, by having one or more programs, such as a web browser installed on the terminal 20, execute processes on a processor such as a CPU.

[0031] The UI processing unit 201 displays the UI provided by the ID inventory support device 10 on a display device such as a display on the terminal 20. The UI processing unit 201 also accepts various operations on the UI.

[0032] ≪ID Management Table≫ Figure 3 shows an example of an ID management table stored in the ID management table storage unit 103. The ID management table 1100 shown in Figure 3 consists of one or more records (hereinafter, these records are also referred to as "ID management records"). Each ID management record represents the ID of the business system and the person (employee) or organization associated with that ID, and includes employee information and ID information. Employee information includes, for example, employee number, name, company name, and organization name. ID information includes the ID (business system ID) associated with the object (employee or organization, etc.) represented by that employee information.

[0033] For example, the first row of the ID management table 1100 shown in Figure 3 contains employee information such as employee number "001", name "Ichiro Tanaka", company name "A", and organization name "Human Resources Department", as well as ID information such as human resources system "h001" and attendance management system "a001". This indicates that the human resources system ID "h001" and the attendance management system ID "a001" are linked to "Ichiro Tanaka" (employee number: 001), who belongs to the Human Resources Department of Company A.

[0034] Similarly, for example, the second row of the ID management record in the ID management table 1100 shown in Figure 3 contains employee information such as employee number "002", name "Jiro Suzuki", company name "A", and organization name "Sales Department", and also contains ID information such as sales support system "s001" and attendance management system "a002". This indicates that the ID "s001" of the sales support system and the ID "a002" of the attendance management system are linked to "Jiro Suzuki" (employee number: 002), who belongs to the Human Resources Department of Company A.

[0035] On the other hand, for example, the ID management record in row 6 of the ID management table 1100 shown in Figure 3 does not contain employee number or name as employee information, but only the company name "A" and organization name "Development Department", and the development support system "d900" is included as ID information. This indicates that the development support system ID "d900" is not linked to a specific employee, but is a shared ID used by employees in the development department.

[0036] In the example shown in Figure 3, when the employee number and name are not included in the employee information, the ID included in the ID information corresponding to that employee information is treated as a shared ID. However, this is just one example and is not limited to this. For example, a flag indicating whether or not an ID is a shared ID may be included in the ID management record, and this flag may indicate whether or not an ID included in the ID information is a shared ID.

[0037] Furthermore, the ID information in the ID management record may include, for example, the last usage date and time for each ID, which indicates the date and time when that ID was last used.

[0038] ≪Personnel Information Table≫ Figure 4 shows an example of a personnel information table stored in the personnel information table storage unit 104. The personnel information table 1200 shown in Figure 4 consists of one or more records (hereinafter, these records are also referred to as "personnel information records"). Each personnel information record represents the organization to which the employee currently belongs (the most recent organization) and whether or not the employee has retired, and includes, for example, employee number, name, company name, organization name, retirement flag, etc. The retirement flag is a flag that indicates whether or not the employee has retired; for example, "1" is set if the employee has retired, and a blank is set otherwise. Each personnel information record included in the personnel information table is synchronized with personnel information managed in the personnel system (employee's name, organization to which the employee belongs, whether or not the employee has retired, etc.) and is assumed to represent the latest personnel information.

[0039] For example, the first row of the personnel information table 1200 shown in Figure 4 contains employee number "001", name "Ichiro Tanaka", company name "A", organization name "Human Resources Department", etc. This indicates that "Ichiro Tanaka" (employee number: 001) currently belongs to the Human Resources Department of Company A.

[0040] Furthermore, for example, the personnel information record in the 5th row of the personnel information table 1200 shown in Figure 4 contains employee number "005", name "Aiko Saito", company name "A", and organization name "Development Department". This indicates that "Aiko Saito" (employee number: 005) has already left company A. It also indicates that the organization to which "Aiko Saito" (employee number: 005) belonged at company A at the time of her resignation was the "Development Department".

[0041] Here, each personnel information record included in the personnel information table represents the organization to which the employee currently belongs, provided the employee has not yet left the company. For example, the employee information in the fourth row of the ID management record in the ID management table 1100 shown in Figure 3 includes employee number "004", name "Sato Saburo", company name "A", and organization name "Human Resources Department". On the other hand, for example, the personnel information record in the fourth row of the personnel information table 1200 shown in Figure 4 includes employee number "004", name "Sato Saburo", company name "A", and organization name "Development Department". Therefore, it can be seen that "Sato Saburo" (employee number: 004) is currently affiliated with the "Development Department", but before transferring to the "Development Department", he belonged to the "Human Resources Department". Furthermore, it can be seen that the development system ID "d001" and the attendance management system ID "a004" remain linked to "Sato Saburo" (employee number: 004) when he belonged to the "Human Resources Department".

[0042] Thus, each personnel information record in the personnel information table represents the current organization to which the employee belongs (the most recent organization) or whether the employee has left the company. However, the organization to which an employee belongs, as represented by the employee information in the ID management record in the ID management table mentioned above, is not necessarily the most recent, and there may also be ID management records for employees who have already left the company. For example, "Aiko Saito" (employee number: 005) has left Company A, but in row 5 of ID management table 1100 shown in Figure 3, there is an ID management record for "Aiko Saito" (employee number: 005).

[0043] In the example shown in Figure 4, the personnel information record is assumed to include the organization to which the employee currently belongs (most recent organization) and whether or not the employee has left the company. However, it may also include the history of organizations the employee has belonged to in the past (i.e., transfer history). Furthermore, the personnel information record may include various other information besides those mentioned above (e.g., email address, extension number, various flags other than the "retired" flag). Examples of flags other than the "retired" flag include a flag indicating whether or not the employee is seconded, a flag indicating whether or not the employee holds positions in multiple organizations, a flag indicating whether or not the employee has been transferred from the relevant organization, a flag indicating whether or not the employee is on leave, and a flag indicating whether or not the employee is temporarily stationed (non-resident).

[0044] ≪Administrator Table≫ An example of an administrator table stored in the administrator table storage unit 105 is shown in Figure 5. The administrator table 1310 shown in Figure 5(a) is a table composed of one or more records representing system administrators (hereinafter, these records will also be called "system administrator records"). On the other hand, the administrator table 1320 shown in Figure 5(b) is a table composed of one or more records representing user administrators (hereinafter, these records will also be called "user administrator records"). Hereinafter, a table composed of system administrator records will be called a "system administrator table," a table composed of user administrator records will be called a "user administrator table," and when referring to either or both, it will simply be called an "administrator table."

[0045] As shown in Figure 5(a), each system administrator record includes, for example, employee number, name, company name, organization name, email address, etc.

[0046] For example, the first row of the system administrator record in the system administrator table 1310 shown in Figure 5(a) contains employee number "101", name "Hanako Kobayashi", company name "A", organization name "Human Resources Department", etc. This indicates that "Hanako Kobayashi" (employee number: 101) is the system administrator for the business system (for example, the human resources system) managed by the Human Resources Department of Company A.

[0047] Similarly, for example, the second row of the system administrator record in the system administrator table 1310 shown in Figure 5(a) contains employee number "111", name "Taro Sato", company name "A", organization name "Sales Department", etc. This indicates that "Taro Sato" (employee number: 111) is the system administrator for the business system (for example, the sales support system) managed by the sales department of company A.

[0048] For example, if a business system managed by a certain organization does not have a system administrator, the system administrator table may contain a system administrator record that only includes the name of that organization, or it may not contain a system administrator record for that organization at all. Furthermore, an organization may manage multiple business systems, and each system may have a different system administrator. In such cases, the system administrator record may include a "target system" field where the system name and other details of the business system managed by that system administrator are set.

[0049] On the other hand, as shown in Figure 5(b), each user administrator record includes, for example, employee number, name, company name, organization name, target system, email address, etc.

[0050] For example, the first row of the user administrator record in the user administrator table 1320 shown in Figure 5(b) contains employee number "334", name "Tanaka Toru", company name "A", organization name "Development Department", target system "XX System", etc. This indicates that "Tanaka Toru" (employee number: 334) is the user administrator for "XX System" in the Development Department of Company A.

[0051] Similarly, the user administrator record in the second row of the user administrator table 1320 shown in Figure 5(b) contains employee number "236", name "Yamada Satoshi", company name "A", organization name "Development Department", target system "XX System", etc. This indicates that "Yamada Satoshi" (employee number: 236) is the user administrator for the "XX System" in the Development Department of Company A.

[0052] Similarly, for example, the third row of the user administrator record in the user administrator table 1320 shown in Figure 5(b) contains employee number "022", name "Hanako Suzuki", company name "A", organization name "General Affairs Department", target system "○○ System", etc. This indicates that "Hanako Suzuki" (employee number: 022) is the user administrator for "○○ System" in the General Affairs Department of Company A.

[0053] Here, from the user administrator records in the first and third rows of the user administrator table 1320 shown in Figure 5(b), we can see that the "○○ system" is used by both the development department and the general affairs department of Company A, and the user administrator for the development department is "Yamada Satoshi" (employee number: 236), and the user administrator for the general affairs department is "Suzuki Hanako" (employee number: 022). Thus, the user administrator may differ depending on the organization using the business system.

[0054] For example, if a business system used by a certain organization does not have a user administrator, the user administrator table may contain a user administrator record that includes only the organization name and the system name of that business system, or it may not contain any user administrator records related to that organization and business system at all.

[0055] Event Information Figure 6 shows an example of event information stored in the event information storage unit 106. The event information 1400 shown in Figure 6 represents an inventory event and includes, for example, event ID, event name, event status, creator, response deadline, target system, conditions, target ID, response status, response content, respondent, etc.

[0056] The event ID is identification information that uniquely identifies the inventory event. The event name is the name of the inventory event. The event status is the status of the inventory event. Examples of the event status include "In progress" indicating that the inventory event is being created, "Answer receiving" indicating that the inventory event has been created and answers to questions are being accepted, "Deadline" indicating that the acceptance of answers to questions has closed, "Completed" indicating that the inventory event has been completed, etc. The creator is the employee number, name, etc. of the creator (i.e., the inventory requester) who created the inventory event. The answer deadline is the deadline for answering questions in the inventory event. The target system is the business system that is the target of the inventory in the inventory event. The conditions are the conditions (extraction conditions) used when extracting the IDs of the inventory targets in the inventory event. The target ID is the ID of the inventory target. The answer status is the answer status of the questions set for each ID of the inventory target. Examples of the answer status include "Answered" indicating that an answer has been given to the question, "Unanswered" indicating that an answer to the question has not yet been given, etc. The answer content is the content of the answer to the questions set for each ID of the inventory target. The answerer is the employee number, name, etc. of the person who can answer the questions set for each ID of the inventory target (e.g., the administrator (system administrator, user administrator) of the business system in which that ID is used, etc.). Note that the answer status, answer content, and answerer exist for each ID of the inventory target.

[0057] <Overall processing flow of the ID inventory support system 1> The overall processing flow of the ID inventory support system 1 according to this embodiment will be described below while referring to FIG. 7.

[0058] Step S101: The ID inventory support system 1 creates an inventory event. Here, the inventory event is created, for example, according to the following procedures 1-1 to 1-22.

[0059] Procedure 1-1) The UI processing unit 201 of the requester terminal 20 sends an inventory event creation start request to the ID inventory support device 10 in response to the inventory requester's operation to start creating an inventory event. Examples of the inventory event creation start device include accessing a web page for creating an inventory event.

[0060] Procedure 1-2) The ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 transmits the target selection screen to the requester terminal 20 via the UI provision unit 113. The target selection screen is one of the screens used to create an inventory event, and is a screen in which information for extracting IDs to be inventoryed is selected or specified.

[0061] Step 1-3) The UI processing unit 201 of the client terminal 20 displays the target selection screen received from the ID inventory support device 10 and accepts various operations on the target selection screen.

[0062] Here, an example of a target selection screen is shown in Figure 8. The target selection screen 2100 shown in Figure 8 includes a system selection field 2110 for extraction, an extraction condition selection field 2120, a next button 2130, and a cancel button 2140.

[0063] The extraction target system selection field 2110 is a UI component for selecting the business system from which to extract IDs for inventory. The extraction target system selection field 2110 includes checkboxes 2111. By selecting one or more checkboxes 2111, the inventory requester can select the business systems corresponding to the checkboxes 2111 they have selected as the systems from which to extract IDs. The example shown in Figure 8 shows the case where the checkbox 2111 corresponding to the development support system is selected. The inventory requester can also select all business systems by selecting the topmost checkbox 2111. The extraction target system selection field 2110 shown in Figure 8 also includes "Number of Registered IDs," which represents the number of IDs registered in the business system, "Inventory Status," which represents the inventory status if the IDs of the business system are already subject to inventory, and "Inventory Completion Date," which represents the completion date if the inventory has already been completed.

[0064] The extraction criteria selection field 2120 is a UI component for selecting the conditions (extraction criteria) for extracting IDs to be inventoryed. The extraction criteria selection field 2120 contains checkboxes 2121. By selecting one or more checkboxes 2121, the inventory requester can select the extraction criteria corresponding to the checkboxes 2121 they have selected. In the example shown in Figure 8, the checkbox 2121 corresponding to the extraction criterion "Unused for a long period of time" is selected. The inventory requester can also select all extraction criteria by selecting the topmost checkbox 2121.

[0065] In the example shown in Figure 8, the extraction criteria include "Not used for a long period," "No administrator set," "Shared ID," and "Former employee ID / Transferred employee ID." "Not used for a long period" is a condition for extracting IDs that have not been used for a predetermined period of time. "No administrator set" is a condition for extracting IDs of business systems where no administrator exists, or IDs that are not shared IDs and are not linked to a specific employee (i.e., IDs that are not shared IDs and have no owner), or both. "Shared ID" is a condition for extracting shared IDs. "Former employee ID / Transferred employee ID" is a condition for extracting IDs used by former employees, or IDs of people who have transferred from one organization to another, and whose IDs are for business systems managed by the organization before the transfer. However, these extraction criteria are just examples, and the extraction criteria are not limited to these.

[0066] The Next button 2130 is a UI component for transitioning to the next screen. On the other hand, the Cancel button 2140 is a UI component for canceling the creation of an inventory event. In the following, it is assumed that the Next button 2130 is pressed after the inventory requester has selected at least one of the business system for extracting the IDs of the items to be inventoryed (extraction target system) and the extraction conditions.

[0067] Furthermore, if one business system is selected in the system selection field 2110, it is not necessary to select any extraction conditions in the extraction conditions selection field 2120. Also, if one or more extraction conditions are selected in the extraction conditions selection field 2120, it is not necessary to select any business systems in the system selection field 2110. In other words, it is sufficient for one or more items to be selected from both the system selection field 2110 and the extraction conditions selection field 2120.

[0068] Step 1-4) The UI processing unit 201 of the client terminal 20 transmits information regarding the system to be extracted and the extraction conditions selected in Step 1-3 above (hereinafter referred to as "extraction target information") to the ID inventory support device 10.

[0069] Step 1-5) When the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 receives information to be extracted from the requester terminal 20, the target ID extraction unit 112 extracts the IDs to be inventoryed (and their corresponding employee information). The target ID extraction unit 112 extracts the IDs to be inventoryed (and their corresponding employee information) according to (A), (B), or (C) below.

[0070] (A) When only the system to be extracted is included in the information to be extracted. In this case, the target ID extraction unit 112 extracts the ID of the target system from the IDs stored in the ID management table, and also extracts the employee information associated with that ID.

[0071] For example, if the ID management table 1100 shown in Figure 3 is targeted and the system to be extracted is the "Sales Support System", then ID "s001" and its corresponding employee information (employee number "002", name "Jiro Suzuki", company name "A", organization name "Sales Department", etc.) and ID "s002" and its corresponding employee information (employee number "003", name "Hanako Yamada", company name "A", organization name "Sales Department", etc.) will be extracted.

[0072] (B) When only the extraction criteria are included in the information to be extracted. In this case, the target ID extraction unit 112 refers to the personnel information table, administrator table, etc., as needed, to extract IDs that satisfy the extraction conditions from the IDs stored in the ID management table, and also extracts the employee information associated with those IDs. The extraction method when the extraction conditions are "not used for a long period of time," "administrator not set," "shared ID," or "retired employee ID / transferred employee ID" will be explained below. If multiple extraction conditions are included in the information to be extracted, the extraction methods described below can be combined.

[0073] • When the extraction condition is "unused for a long period of time" The ID information in the ID management records that make up the ID management table includes the last usage date and time for each ID. In this case, the target ID extraction unit 112 extracts IDs from the ID management table whose last usage date and time is more than a predetermined period in advance, and also extracts the employee information associated with those IDs.

[0074] • When the extraction criteria is "Administrator not set" When extracting IDs for business systems that do not have administrators, the target ID extraction unit 112 first refers to the administrator table to identify organizations that do not have administrators. That is, it identifies organizations that manage business systems that do not have system administrators, or organizations that use business systems that do not have user administrators, or both. Then, the target ID extraction unit 112 extracts the IDs of the business systems in question from the ID management table, along with employee information that includes the organization name of the identified organization and the IDs associated with them. Note that this is just one example, and in addition, if some kind of administrator is associated with an ID, that ID may be extracted individually.

[0075] When extracting IDs that are not shared IDs and are not associated with a specific employee (i.e., IDs that are not shared IDs and have no owner), the target ID extraction unit 112 extracts from the ID management table, for example, IDs where only the ID exists in the ID management table and no employee information exists (or the employee information is an empty value). Alternatively, for example, if the ID management record includes a flag indicating whether or not it is a shared ID, the target ID extraction unit 112 extracts from the ID management table IDs that are associated with a flag that has a value indicating that it is not a shared ID, and that are associated with employee information that does not include at least an employee number and name.

[0076] • When the extraction condition is "shared ID" The target ID extraction unit 112 extracts the shared ID from the ID management table.

[0077] • When the extraction criteria are "Retired Employee ID / Transferred Employee ID" When extracting IDs used by former employees, the target ID extraction unit 112 first refers to the personnel information table to identify the employee numbers of former employees. For example, this can be done by identifying the employee numbers included in personnel information records where the retirement flag is "1". Then, the target ID extraction unit 112 extracts the IDs associated with the employee numbers of former employees from the ID management table.

[0078] When extracting the ID of an employee who has transferred from one organization to another, and the ID of a business system managed by the previous organization, the target ID extraction unit 112 first identifies an ID management record that contains the same employee number as the employee information record in the personnel information table, but contains a different organization name, for each employee information record in the personnel information table whose retirement flag is not "1". Then, the target ID extraction unit 112 extracts the employee information contained in the identified ID management record and the ID associated with it from the ID management table.

[0079] (C) When both the system to be extracted and the extraction conditions are included in the information to be extracted. In this case, the target ID extraction unit 112 can extract the IDs to be inventoryed by combining (A) and (B) above.

[0080] Step 1-6) The ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 sends the target ID list screen to the requester terminal 20 via the UI provision unit 113. The target ID list screen is the screen that displays the list of IDs extracted in Step 1-5 above. However, sending the target ID list screen to the requester terminal 20 is not mandatory, and this step does not have to be performed. If this step is not performed, Step 1-7 will also not be performed.

[0081] Step 1-7) The UI processing unit 201 of the client terminal 20 displays the target ID list screen received from the ID inventory support device 10 and accepts various operations on the said target ID list screen.

[0082] Here, an example of the target ID list screen is shown in Figure 9. The target ID list screen 2200 shown in Figure 9 includes an ID list display field 2210, a next button 2220, and a back button 2230.

[0083] The ID list display field 2210 is a UI component that displays the IDs extracted in steps 1-5 above (i.e., the IDs to be inventoryed) and their corresponding employee information. By referring to the ID list display field 2210, the inventory requester can confirm the IDs extracted as inventory items and the corresponding employee information for those IDs.

[0084] The "Next" button 2220 is a UI component used to transition to the next screen. On the other hand, the "Back" button 2230 is a UI component used to transition to the previous screen. In the following, we will assume that the "Next" button 2220 has been pressed.

[0085] For example, if IDs are extracted using the extraction condition "Administrator not set," IDs linked to employees in organizations where no administrator exists, or IDs associated with employee information that does not include the organization name, may be extracted. If these IDs are extracted, since no administrator to whom the inventory request should be made is associated with these IDs, the inventory requester can set the administrator (or the organization where an administrator exists) to whom the inventory request should be made for these IDs on the target ID list screen 2200.

[0086] Furthermore, the person requesting the inventory may, for example, select IDs to be excluded from the inventory from the ID list display field 2210 of the target ID list screen 2200, or add IDs to be included in the inventory to the ID list display field 2210.

[0087] Furthermore, the inventory requester may customize the information that respondents can see when answering questions, for example, on the ID list display field 2210 of the target ID list screen 2200. For example, in the example shown in Figure 9, employee information includes employee number, name, company name, and organization name, but if the inventory requester and respondent are from the same company, the company name is considered unnecessary. Therefore, the inventory requester may delete the company name and make the employee information that respondents can see when answering questions employee number, name, and organization name. In addition, the inventory requester may be able to preview the screen that will be displayed when respondents answer questions.

[0088] Step 1-8) The UI processing unit 201 of the client terminal 20 sends a request to the ID inventory support device 10 to transition to the next screen.

[0089] Step 1-9) When the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 receives a request from the client terminal 20 to transition to the next screen, the UI provision unit 113 determines whether or not there are any IDs that should be warned among the IDs displayed on the target ID list screen. For example, the UI provision unit 113 only needs to determine whether or not there are any IDs that meet the pre-set warning conditions among the IDs displayed on the target ID list screen. Examples of warning conditions include the existence of IDs that are not shared IDs and are not associated with a specific employee (i.e., IDs that are not shared IDs and have no owner), and the existence of IDs for business systems that do not have an administrator. In the following, it will be assumed that the IDs that should be warned are determined to exist in this procedure. If the IDs that should be warned are not determined to exist in this procedure, steps 1-10 to 1-11 below will not be executed.

[0090] Step 1-10) If the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 determines in Step 1-9 above that there are IDs that are subject to a warning, the UI provision unit 113 sends a warning screen to the requester terminal 20. The warning screen is, for example, a screen that displays a list of IDs that meet the warning conditions.

[0091] Step 1-11) The UI processing unit 201 of the client terminal 20 displays the warning screen received from the ID inventory support device 10 and accepts various operations on the warning screen. The warning screen is displayed as a pop-up, for example, on the target ID list screen.

[0092] Here, an example of a warning screen is shown in Figure 10. The warning screen 2300 shown in Figure 10 includes a first warning ID display field 2310, a second warning ID display field 2320, a next button 2330, and a cancel button 2340.

[0093] The first warning ID display field 2310 is a UI component that displays a list of IDs that are not shared IDs and are not associated with a specific employee. The second warning ID display field 2320 is a UI component that displays a list of IDs for business systems for which no administrator exists. The Next button 2330 is a UI component that closes the warning screen and moves to the next screen. On the other hand, the Cancel button 2340 is a UI component that closes the warning screen. In the following, it will be assumed that the Next button 2330 was pressed by the inventory requester.

[0094] Step 1-12) The UI processing unit 201 of the client terminal 20 sends a request to the ID inventory support device 10 to transition to the next screen.

[0095] Procedure 1-13) When the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 receives a request from the requester terminal 20 to transition to the next screen, the UI provision unit 113 sends the event basic information setting screen to the requester terminal 20. The event basic information setting screen is a screen for setting basic information about an event, such as the event name.

[0096] Step 1-14) The UI processing unit 201 of the client terminal 20 displays the event basic information setting screen received from the ID inventory support device 10, and accepts various operations on the event basic information setting screen.

[0097] Here, an example of the event basic information setting screen is shown in Figure 11. The event basic information setting screen 2400 shown in Figure 11 includes an event name setting field 2411, an event ID display field 2412, a target system display field 2413, a condition display field 2414, a request details setting field 2415, a recipient display field 2416, a sender display field 2417, a reply destination setting field 2418, a response deadline setting field 2419, a request source setting field 2420, a next button 2430, and a back button 2440.

[0098] The Event Name Setting field 2411 is a UI component where the inventory requester can enter an arbitrary event name. The Event ID Display field 2412 is a UI component that displays an event ID that uniquely identifies the inventory event. The event ID is determined by the Inventory Event Creation Unit 111. The Target System Display field 2413 is a UI component that displays the business system (in other words, the business system being inventoryed) in which the IDs being inventoryed are used. The Condition Display field 2414 is a UI component that displays the extraction conditions used when extracting the IDs being inventoryed. The Request Details Setting field 2415 is a UI component where the inventory requester can enter arbitrary request details. The Destination Display field 2416 is a UI component where the destination of the inventory request is set. In the example shown in Figure 11, the Destination Display field 2416 displays "Administrator of each organization," indicating that the destination is the administrator of the business system in which the IDs being inventoryed are used. The Sender Display field 2417 is a UI component that displays the sender (in the example shown in Figure 11, the sender's email address) when making an inventory request. The Reply Address Setting field 2418 is a UI component that allows the inventory requester to optionally enter the recipient of the reply to the inventory request (e.g., the email address to which the reply will be sent). The Response Deadline Setting field 2419 is a UI component that allows the inventory requester to optionally enter or select an optional date as the response deadline. The Requester Setting field 2420 is a UI component that allows the inventory requester to optionally enter information about the requester (e.g., name, extension number, etc.). Note that the Response Deadline Setting field 2419 may be automatically set to, for example, a date a predetermined period in the future from the present.

[0099] The Next button 2430 is a UI component for transitioning to the next screen. On the other hand, the Back button 2440 is a UI component for transitioning to the previous screen. In the following, we will assume that the inventory requester has entered the necessary information on the Event Basic Information Settings screen 2400 and then pressed the Next button 2430.

[0100] In the example shown in Figure 11, inventory requests are notified to the administrators of each organization via email. However, this is just one example, and inventory requests may be notified by methods other than email; the system is not limited to a specific notification method. Examples of notification methods other than email include notifying inventory requests on a web page or via messaging applications such as business chat.

[0101] Step 1-15) The UI processing unit 201 of the client terminal 20 sends a request to the ID inventory support device 10 to transition to the next screen.

[0102] Procedure 1-16) When the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 receives a request from the requester terminal 20 to transition to the next screen, the UI provision unit 113 sends the question setting screen to the requester terminal 20. The question setting screen is a screen for setting questions related to inventory for the IDs to be inventoryed.

[0103] Step 1-17) The UI processing unit 201 of the client terminal 20 displays the question setting screen received from the ID inventory support device 10 and accepts various operations on the question setting screen.

[0104] Here, an example of a question setting screen is shown in Figure 12. The question setting screen 2500 shown in Figure 12 includes a new button 2510, a question setting field 2520, a next button 2530, and a back button 2540.

[0105] The "Add New" button 2510 is a UI component used to add a row to the question settings field 2520. When the "Add New" button 2510 is pressed by the inventory requester, a row is added to the question settings field 2520. Note that the question settings field 2520 can have up to a predetermined maximum number of rows (for example, up to 4 rows).

[0106] The Question Setting Field 2520 is a UI component for setting questions for the IDs being inventoryed. When a row is added to the Question Setting Field 2520 by pressing the Add New button 2510, the question is set for the ID being inventoryed by setting the question name, the required status (whether an answer is mandatory or not), and the answer format (whether multiple-choice or written). If the answer format is "multiple-choice," the options are also set. Options can be set, for example, separated by commas. Each row is associated with a UI component for deleting that row, and the inventory requester can delete the row corresponding to that UI component from the Question Setting Field 2520 by pressing it.

[0107] In the example shown in Figure 12, the first row of the question setting field 2520 has the question name "ID continuation required / not required", the required status "required", the answer format "multiple choice", and the options "continue, not required". This represents a question that asks respondents whether they will continue to use the ID being inventoryed or whether it is no longer needed.

[0108] Furthermore, in the example shown in Figure 12, the second row of the question setting field 2520 has the question name "Scheduled Deletion Date", the required status "Not Required", and the answer format "Open-ended". This represents a question that asks respondents to provide the scheduled deletion date for the IDs to be inventoryed.

[0109] It goes without saying that various questions can be set in addition to the questions explained in the example shown in Figure 12. For example, if you want to suspend an ID rather than delete it, you can set a question asking whether or not to suspend the ID.

[0110] The Next button 2530 is a UI component for transitioning to the next screen. On the other hand, the Back button 2540 is a UI component for transitioning to the previous screen. In the following, we will assume that the inventory requester has set a question for the ID of the inventory target on the question setting screen 2500, and then pressed the Next button 2530.

[0111] Step 1-18) The UI processing unit 201 of the client terminal 20 sends a request to the ID inventory support device 10 to transition to the next screen.

[0112] Procedure 1-19) When the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 receives a request from the requester terminal 20 to transition to the next screen, the UI provision unit 113 sends the inventory request screen to the requester terminal 20. The inventory request screen is a screen used to request an inventory of the IDs to be inventoryed from the administrator of the business system in which the IDs to be inventoryed are used.

[0113] Step 1-20) The UI processing unit 201 of the requester terminal 20 displays the inventory request screen received from the ID inventory support device 10 and accepts various operations on the inventory request screen.

[0114] Here, an example of an inventory request screen is shown in Figure 13. The inventory request screen 2600 shown in Figure 13 includes a recipient list display field 2610, a request details display field 2620, a request submission button 2630, and a back button 2640.

[0115] The recipient list display field 2610 is a UI component that displays a list of recipients to whom inventory requests will be notified. The request details display field 2620 is a UI component that displays the request details, etc., set on the event basic information settings screen. In the example shown in Figure 13, the recipient, sender, reply-to, and body of the email are displayed in the request details display field 2620.

[0116] The Request Execution button 2630 is a UI component for executing an inventory request. On the other hand, the Back button 2640 is a UI component for transitioning to the previous screen. When the Request Execution button 2630 is pressed by the inventory requester, the inventory event creation unit 111 creates event information representing the inventory event. In the following, it is assumed that the Request Execution button 2630 was pressed by the inventory requester on the inventory request screen 2600.

[0117] Procedure 1-21) The ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 creates event information representing an inventory event using the inventory event creation unit 111. This event information includes at least the event ID determined by the inventory event creation unit 111, the event name and response deadline set on the event basic information setting screen, the creator (represented by the employee number and name of the inventory creator), the IDs to be inventoryed, and the business system in which those IDs are used. If extraction conditions are used when extracting the IDs to be inventoryed, those extraction conditions are also included in the event information. The event status included in the event information should be "Accepting Responses," the response status for each ID to be inventoryed should be "Not Response," and the respondent for each ID to be inventoryed should be the employee number and name of the administrator of the business system in which that ID is used.

[0118] Step 1-22) Finally, the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 stores the event information created in Step 1-21 above in the event information storage unit 106, via the inventory event management unit 114.

[0119] Regarding the screen transitions displayed on the client terminal 20 as described in steps 1-1 to 1-22 above, the order from the target selection screen to the warning screen and the event basic information setting screen are not significant. In other words, the event basic information setting screen may be displayed first, followed by the target selection screen and the warning screen.

[0120] Furthermore, the inventory requester may, for example, save the inventory event while it is still being created. In this case, event information representing the inventory event in progress is created by the inventory event creation unit 111, and this event information is stored in the event information storage unit 106 by the inventory event management unit 114. At this time, the event status of the event information representing the inventory event in progress is set to "In progress".

[0121] Step S102: The ID inventory support system 1 requests an inventory. That is, the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 notifies each recipient (i.e., the administrator of the business system in which the IDs to be inventoryed are used) of the inventory request via the inventory event creation unit 111.

[0122] Step S103: The ID inventory support system 1 answers the questions set for the IDs to be inventoryed. Here, the answers to the questions are provided according to the following steps 2-1 to 2-5.

[0123] Procedure 2-1) The administrator terminal 20 used by the administrator who received the inventory request sends a request to the ID inventory support device 10 to transition to the response screen for this inventory request. This transition request includes, for example, the administrator's employee number and name.

[0124] Procedure 2-2) When the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 receives a request to transition to the answer screen from the administrator terminal 20, the UI provision unit 113 sends the answer screen to the administrator terminal 20. The answer screen is a screen on which the respondent answers questions set for the IDs to be inventoryed.

[0125] Step 2-3) The UI processing unit 201 of the administrator terminal 20 displays the response screen received from the ID inventory support device 10 and accepts various operations on the response screen.

[0126] Here, an example of an answer screen is shown in Figure 14. The answer screen 3100 shown in Figure 14 includes a field 3110 for displaying the target ID, an answer button 3120, and a cancel button 3130. Note that the example shown in Figure 14 is an example of an answer screen 3100 for answering a question regarding whether or not to continue using the ID.

[0127] The ID display field 3110 is a UI component that displays the IDs of the IDs subject to inventory that have been set as respondents, including employee numbers and names included in the request to transition to the response screen, along with related information (name, company name, organization name, system name of the business system), and allows the user to set a response for that ID. In the example shown in Figure 14, a response field is associated with the IDs subject to inventory, and the respondent can select the desired response from the pull-down list 3111 included in this response field. Note that the example shown in Figure 14 shows the case where the response format for the question set for the IDs subject to inventory is "multiple choice". For example, if the response format is "written response", the response field will include an input form where the respondent can enter the response content.

[0128] The answer button 3120 is a UI component for submitting the answer submitted in the answer field included in the answer target ID display field 3110. On the other hand, the cancel button 3130 is a UI component for canceling the answer. In the following, we will assume that the respondent has submitted an answer to the question set for the inventory target ID on the answer screen 3100, and then pressed the answer button 3120.

[0129] Step 2-4) The UI processing unit 201 of the administrator terminal 20 sends response result information to the ID inventory support device 10, which includes the ID set on the response screen displayed in Step 2-3 above and the content of that response. The response result information also includes, for example, the event ID of the inventory event, the respondent's name, employee number, etc., which are also sent to the ID inventory support device 10.

[0130] Step 2-5) When the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 receives the response result information, the inventory event management unit 114 updates the corresponding event information with the response result information. Specifically, the inventory event management unit 114 identifies the event information of the event ID included in the response result information from the event information stored in the event information storage unit 106, and then updates the response content and respondent corresponding to that ID among the respondents included in the identified event information using the ID, response content, and the respondent's name or employee number included in the response result information. At this time, the inventory event management unit 114 also updates the response status corresponding to that ID among the response status included in the identified event information to "Answered".

[0131] Step S104: Finally, when the inventory event is completed (for example, when answers to questions have been obtained for all IDs subject to inventory), the ID inventory support system 1 outputs a report representing the results of the inventory. That is, the report output unit 102 of the ID inventory support device 10 outputs a report of event information stored in the event information storage unit 106 whose event status is "completed" to a predetermined output destination. Here, the predetermined output destination may be, for example, an auxiliary storage device, display, or other devices, equipment, or terminals connected via a communication network to the ID inventory support device 10.

[0132] The report can include various types of information, such as the inventory completion date, the business systems and IDs subject to inventory, the questions and answers assigned to each ID, the inventory requester, and the respondents. However, the specific information included in the report may vary depending on, for example, the standards required for the inventory audit.

[0133] <Checking event status and response status> Here, the person requesting the inventory can check the status of the inventory event they created and the response status of that inventory event. For example, the status of the inventory event and the response status of that inventory event can be checked by following steps 3-1 to 3-6 below.

[0134] Step 3-1) The UI processing unit 201 of the requester terminal 20 sends a request to the ID inventory support device 10 to transition to the event status confirmation screen to check the status of the inventory event created by itself (the inventory requester). This transition request includes, for example, the employee number and name of the inventory requester.

[0135] Procedure 3-2) When the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 receives a request from the requester terminal 20 to transition to the event status confirmation screen, the UI provision unit 113 sends the event status confirmation screen to the administrator terminal 20. The event status confirmation screen is a screen for checking the status of inventory events created by inventory requesters.

[0136] Step 3-3) The UI processing unit 201 of the client terminal 20 displays the event status confirmation screen received from the ID inventory support device 10 and accepts various operations on the event status confirmation screen.

[0137] Here, an example of an event status confirmation screen is shown in Figure 15. The event status confirmation screen 4100 shown in Figure 15 includes an inventory event list display field 4110.

[0138] The inventory event list display field 4110 is a UI component that displays the event ID, event name, event status, response deadline, progress, and creator of inventory events, specifically those where the employee number and name included in the request to transition to the event status confirmation screen are set as the creator. The progress refers to the number of questions that have been answered among the questions set for the inventory target ID.

[0139] Furthermore, the person requesting the inventory may, for example, extend the response deadline or change the event status on the event status confirmation screen 4100. An example of changing the event status would be to change the status of an event that has been "closed" back to "accepting responses".

[0140] Here, for example, the event names of the inventory events displayed in the inventory event list display field 4110 are in link format, and the inventory requester can click on the event name to display a confirmation screen of the response content for that inventory event. In the following, we will assume that the inventory requester clicked on the event name "XX System Inventory".

[0141] Step 3-4) The UI processing unit 201 of the requester terminal 20 sends a request to the ID inventory support device 10 to transition to the screen for confirming the response content related to the inventory event for the event name selected on the event status confirmation screen.

[0142] Step 3-5) When the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 receives a request from the requester terminal 20 to transition to the response content confirmation screen, the UI provision unit 113 sends the response content confirmation screen to the administrator terminal 20. The response content confirmation screen is a screen for checking the detailed response status of the inventory event (the response status for each ID subject to inventory).

[0143] Step 3-6) The UI processing unit 201 of the requester terminal 20 displays a confirmation screen of the response received from the ID inventory support device 10, and accepts various operations on the said confirmation screen.

[0144] Here, an example of a response confirmation screen is shown in Figure 16. The response confirmation screen 4200 shown in Figure 16 includes a response list display field 4210.

[0145] The response list display field 4210 is a UI component that displays the ID of the inventory target and the response status (whether or not it has been answered, and if so, the content of the answer) associated with that ID. In the example shown in Figure 16, the ID of the inventory target and its response status for the inventory event named "XX System Inventory" are displayed. This allows the inventory requester to check the response status of the inventory event they created.

[0146] Furthermore, the person requesting the inventory count may edit the response status displayed in the response list display section 4210.

[0147] <Reply delegation> Here, the manager who receives notification of an inventory request can delegate the answering of the questions they are supposed to answer in that inventory request to a substitute respondent (for example, their subordinate). For example, the answering of the questions can be delegated to a substitute respondent by following steps 4-1 to 4-3 below.

[0148] Procedure 4-1) The UI processing unit 201 of the administrator terminal 20 sends a request to the ID inventory support device 10 to transition to the answer delegation screen for delegating the answer to a substitute respondent. This transition request includes, for example, the event ID of the inventory event to which the answer will be delegated to the substitute respondent, the respondent's own employee number and name, etc.

[0149] Procedure 4-2) When the ID inventory support processing unit 101 of the ID inventory support device 10 receives a request from the administrator terminal 20 to transition to the answer delegation screen, the UI provision unit 113 sends the answer delegation screen to the administrator terminal 20. At this time, the UI provision unit 113 generates an event URL to transition to a web page where the proxy respondent can answer the question, and then sends the answer delegation screen containing this event URL to the administrator terminal 20. By presenting this event URL to the proxy respondent, the proxy respondent can use the proxy respondent terminal 20 to answer the questions set for the IDs to be inventoryed, even if they do not have an ID inventory account. If the question is answered by the proxy respondent, the same process as in step S103 above is executed, with the administrator being read as the proxy respondent and the administrator terminal 20 as the proxy respondent terminal 20.

[0150] Here, the UI provider 113 can generate an event URL that includes the output value when one or more pieces of information are input to a predetermined function (e.g., a hash function) that is difficult to collide with one or more of the following pieces of information.

[0151] Event ID • Administrator ID inventory account • Email address of the substitute respondent • Employee number of the substitute respondent • Name of the substitute respondent • Deadline for responses • IDs to be included in inventory However, the information above is just one example, and various other types of information can be used.

[0152] Furthermore, by using the IDs of the IDs to be inventoryed when generating the event URL, it becomes possible to control, for example, which IDs are delegated to answerers. For example, if the IDs to be inventoryed are "z001", "z002", and "z003", and you want to select IDs "z001" and "z002" for answerer A and delegate them to answer the questions associated with IDs "z001" and "z002", and select ID "z003" for answering the questions associated with ID "z003", then you should use "z001" and "z002" when generating the event URL to present to answerer A, and use "z003" when generating the event URL to present to answerer B. This generates a URL for proxy respondent A to access a webpage where they can only answer questions set as "z001" and "z002" as the event URL to be presented to them, and similarly generates a URL for proxy respondent B to access a webpage where they can only answer questions set as "z003" as the event URL to be presented to them.

[0153] Step 4-3) The UI processing unit 201 of the administrator terminal 20 displays the response delegation screen received from the ID inventory support device 10 and accepts various operations on the response delegation screen.

[0154] Here, an example of a response delegation screen is shown in Figure 17. The response delegation screen 5100 shown in Figure 17 includes an inventory information display field 5110 and a close button 5120.

[0155] The inventory information display column 5110 is a UI component on which information regarding an inventory event (event name, event ID, target system, conditions, request details, response deadline, requester, etc.) and the event URL are displayed. The inventory information display column 5110 also includes a copy button 5111 for copying the event URL to the clipboard. For example, the administrator can press the copy button 5111 to copy the event URL to the clipboard and then paste this event URL into an email or the like to notify the proxy responder. The close button 5120 is a UI component for closing the response delegation screen 5100.

[0156] <Hardware Configuration Example of Inventory Support Device 10 and Terminal 20> The ID inventory support device 10 and the terminal 20 according to this embodiment can be realized, for example, by the hardware configuration of a computer 500 shown in FIG. 18. The computer 500 shown in FIG. 18 includes an input device 501, a display device 502, an external I / F 503, a communication I / F 504, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 505, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 506, an auxiliary storage device 507, and a processor 508. Further, these hardware components are communicably connected to each other via a bus 509.

[0157] The input device 501 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, a physical button, or the like. The display device 502 is, for example, a display, a display panel, or the like. Note that the computer 500 may not have at least one of the input device 501 and the display device 502, for example.

[0158] External I / F 503 is an interface to external devices such as recording media 503a. Computer 500 can read from and write to the recording media 503a via external I / F 503. Examples of recording media 503a include flexible disks, CDs (Compact Discs), DVDs (Digital Versatile Disks), SD memory cards (Secure Digital memory cards), and USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory cards.

[0159] The communication interface 504 is an interface for the computer 500 to connect to a communication network, etc. The RAM 505 is a volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that temporarily holds programs and data. The ROM 506 is a non-volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that can retain programs and data even when the power is turned off. The auxiliary storage device 507 is a storage device (storage device) such as an HDD, SSD, or flash memory. The processor 508 is an arithmetic unit such as a CPU or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

[0160] The ID inventory support device 10 and terminal 20 according to this embodiment can realize the various processes described above by having, for example, the hardware configuration of the computer 500 shown in Figure 18. Note that the hardware configuration of the computer 500 shown in Figure 18 is just an example and is not limited thereto. For example, the computer 500 may have multiple auxiliary storage devices 507 and multiple processors 508, it may not have some of the hardware shown, or it may have various hardware other than the hardware shown.

[0161] <Variation> • Variation 1 In the above embodiment, steps 1-1 to 1-22 were described as an example of the procedure for creating an inventory event. However, it is not necessary to perform the steps in this order. Within the limits of maintaining consistency, screen transitions may be changed, or the order may be altered according to user input or selections.

[0162] • Variation 2 In the above embodiment, the system administrator and user administrators were asked to answer questions during the inventory event, but the system administrator may be asked to answer only, or the user administrator may be asked to answer only. Furthermore, a proxy answerer who has been delegated the task of answering questions by an administrator may further delegate the task to another person to set up a proxy answerer, or a proxy answerer may recursively set up other proxy answerers.

[0163] • Modification example 3 When respondents (including those responding on behalf of others) are notified of the request, the notification may be processed based on the information entered by the inventory requester or the person requesting the proxy response, and pre-established rules. For example, when the request is notified, the event name may be modified to include the response deadline before the notification is sent.

[0164] • Modification 4 In the inventory request screen (Figure 13) and response screen (Figure 14) displayed during the preview when creating an inventory event, and in the inventory request screen (Figure 13) and response screen (Figure 14) displayed to respondents, event-related information such as manuals, help, and FAQs, as well as content such as videos, may be displayed. Furthermore, in addition to answers to questions in the inventory event, various communication logs may be displayed, such as messages about the inventory event itself, questions and answers between the inventory requester and respondent (including proxy respondents), and posts for information sharing. Moreover, the display / hide settings and which of these pieces of information, content, messages, and communication logs are displayed may be configurable and changed by the inventory requester or respondent after the inventory event has been created.

[0165] • Variation 5 On the response delegation screen (Figure 17), the number of responses and unanswered responses relative to the number of IDs subject to inventory may be displayed as appropriate, as well as the number of respondents, the number of respondents including proxy respondents, and the number of unanswered responses. Additionally, it may be possible to filter and display unanswered IDs, respondents with unanswered responses, and respondents who are ultimately required to answer unanswered IDs, etc., based on the necessary information as appropriate.

[0166] Furthermore, the inventory requester, respondent, or proxy respondent may use the above filtering and search criteria to send reminder messages to respondents who have not yet responded, urging them to respond again.

[0167] • Modification 6 On the response screen (Figure 14), it may be possible to record who made the response when the respondent submits a response. For example, if the respondent has an account with the ID inventory support device 10, the account name and other information may be recorded along with the response. On the other hand, if the respondent does not have an account with the ID inventory support device 10, for example, the email address, name, or other identifiers used to identify the respondent may be recorded along with the response.

[0168] <Application Examples> In the above embodiment, a report was output when the inventory event was completed. However, if, for example, the ID to be inventoryed is deleted or suspended as an answer to a question set for that ID, the ID may be deleted or suspended. This can be achieved, for example, by requesting the business system that uses the ID to delete or suspend that ID.

[0169] <Summary> As described above, in the ID inventory support system 1 according to this embodiment, when an inventory requester creates an inventory event, they can easily extract the IDs to be inventoryed simply by selecting the business system and extraction conditions. Furthermore, the administrator of the organization responsible for the business system in which the ID is used is automatically identified, and the inventory request can be notified to this administrator. As a result, the labor costs required for inventory request work can be significantly reduced.

[0170] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments specifically disclosed above, and various modifications, changes, and combinations with known technologies are possible without departing from the scope of the claims. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0171] 1 ID Inventory Support System 10 ID Inventory Support Device 20 devices 30 Communication Networks 101 ID Inventory Support Processing Unit 102 Report Output Section 103 ID Management Table Storage Unit 104 Personnel Information Table Storage Unit 105 Administrator Table Storage Unit 106 Event Information Storage Unit 111 Inventory Event Creation Department 112 Target ID Extraction Unit 113 UI provision department 114 Inventory Event Management Department 201 UI Processing Unit 500 Computers 501 Input device 502 Display device 503 External I / F 503a Recording medium 504 Communication I / F 505 RAM 506 ROM 507 Auxiliary storage 508 Processors Bus 509

Claims

1. An ID inventory support system that assists in inventorying IDs used in business systems, An extraction unit extracts a target ID that indicates the ID to be inventoryed from an ID management table in which the aforementioned ID and the business system on which the ID is used are stored in at least in association with each other. A question setting unit sets questions related to the inventory for the aforementioned target ID, An inventory request unit requests the administrator of the business system in which the aforementioned target ID is used to provide answers to the questions set for the aforementioned target ID, A provision unit provides information representing the status of the aforementioned response to the user who requested the aforementioned question, An ID inventory support system.

2. An ID inventory support system that assists in inventorying IDs used in business systems, An extraction unit extracts a target ID that indicates the ID to be inventoryed from an ID management table in which the aforementioned ID and the business system on which the ID is used are stored in at least in association with each other. A question setting unit sets questions related to the inventory for the aforementioned target ID, An inventory request unit requests the administrator of the business system in which the aforementioned target ID is used to provide answers to the questions set for the aforementioned target ID, An output unit that outputs information including the target ID, the question set for the target ID, and the answer to the question to a predetermined output destination, An ID inventory support system.

3. An ID inventory support system that assists in inventorying IDs used in business systems, An extraction procedure for extracting a target ID that indicates the ID to be inventoryed from an ID management table in which the aforementioned ID and the business system on which the ID is used are stored in at least one correspondence; A question setting procedure for setting questions related to inventory for the aforementioned target ID, A procedure for requesting an inventory from the administrator of the business system used by the aforementioned target ID, which provides answers to questions set for the aforementioned target ID. A procedure for providing information representing the status of the aforementioned response to the user who requested the aforementioned question, A method to support ID inventory management.

4. An ID inventory support system that assists in inventorying IDs used in business systems, An extraction procedure for extracting a target ID that indicates the ID to be inventoryed from an ID management table in which the aforementioned ID and the business system on which the ID is used are stored in at least one correspondence; A question setting procedure for setting questions related to inventory for the aforementioned target ID, A procedure for requesting an inventory from the administrator of the business system used by the aforementioned target ID, which provides answers to questions set for the aforementioned target ID. An output procedure for outputting information including the target ID, the question set for the target ID, and the answer to the question to a predetermined output destination, A method to support ID inventory management.

5. A program that causes a computer to function as the ID inventory support system described in claim 1 or 2.

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