Cloud Billing System Using Tagged Service Requests for Accurate Cost Allocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional techniques fail to accurately calculate charges for cloud services based on usage by individual organizations within a group, leading to inappropriate billing and lack of discount reflection in collective cloud contracts.
Innovation Solution
An information processing system comprising a user tag addition apparatus, a service execution apparatus, and a charge calculation apparatus that adds organization codes and unit price codes to service use requests, executes services, and calculates charges based on usage and unit prices, enabling accurate billing and discount reflection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a group of companies makes a comprehensive cloud contract to receive higher discount rates, then the overall cost reduction is improved, but the ability to accurately calculate and allocate charges to individual organizations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the comprehensive cloud contract charges by introducing organization codes and unit price codes as identifiers. Each service use request is tagged with the specific organization's code, allowing the system to divide the collective charge into allocable portions for each organization based on their individual resource usage, thereby enabling accurate charge allocation while maintaining the comprehensive contract structure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a charge calculation apparatus as an intermediary between the cloud service provider and multiple organizations. This intermediary receives service use requests, adds organization codes and unit price codes, calculates charges based on usage and predetermined unit prices, and generates billing information, thereby bridging the gap between collective contracting and individual billing accuracy
2Ease of operation
If conventional billing techniques are used for cloud services, then the billing process is simplified, but the accuracy of charge calculation based on individual organization usage deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by predetermining unit prices for different cloud resources before service delivery. The charge calculation apparatus stores unit price information in advance and uses this predetermined pricing information to automatically calculate charges when service use requests are received, eliminating the need for complex post-service negotiations and simplifying the billing process while ensuring accurate usage-based charging
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback by creating a closed-loop billing system where service use requests are tracked, charges are calculated based on actual usage and unit prices, and billing information is generated and communicated back to organizations. This feedback mechanism ensures that charges accurately reflect individual organization usage while maintaining operational simplicity through automated calculation
Data Source
AI summary
A user tag addition apparatus adds user tags, each of which includes an organization code and a unit price code, to respective service use requests. A service execution apparatus executes provision services based on service use requests, associates the usages of a resource used for the execution of the provision services with the corresponding user tags, and registers the associated information in use result information. A charge calculation apparatus calculates charges for the provision services for each organization based on unit price information corresponding to the unit price codes indicated in the user tags registered in the use result information and the usages of the resource associated with the user tags.