Cloud Software License Elasticity and Compliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cloud-based computing deployments face challenges in managing software licenses due to resource elasticity, leading to cumbersome and cost-inefficient license acquisition and compliance issues, with current systems lacking centralized management and often resulting in inadvertent violations of licensing requirements.
Innovation Solution
Treat software licenses as deployable and elastic cloud resources, allowing for on-demand deployment and reservation with a discount, enabling efficient cost incorporation into hosting subscriptions, and providing on-demand instantiation based on usage, while allowing exchange of on-premise licenses for cloud credits to facilitate compliance and scalability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If customers purchase extra licenses to maintain a buffer for cloud resource elasticity, then license availability is improved, but cost efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges license management with cloud resource management by treating licenses as deployable cloud resources. This integration allows licenses to be dynamically allocated, reserved, and released alongside compute resources, eliminating the need for separate buffer license purchases while maintaining compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic license allocation where license availability automatically adjusts to match actual cloud resource deployment needs. Licenses can be instantiated on-demand and released when resources are deallocated, providing adaptability without requiring static buffer licenses that incur continuous costs.
2Adaptability or versatility
If customers self-report licenses for BYOL benefits, then license portability is improved, but compliance accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated feedback mechanisms where the cloud platform actively verifies license information against enterprise agreements and licensing details. This feedback loop ensures compliance accuracy by validating self-reported licenses against authoritative sources, preventing inadvertent violations while maintaining the portability benefits of BYOL.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary licensing management system that acts as a trusted mediator between customers and resource providers. This intermediary centralizes license records, verifies compliance automatically, and provides authoritative documentation, eliminating the reliability issues of direct self-reporting while preserving license portability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If licenses are scattered across many resources in different customer subscriptions, then resource flexibility is improved, but centralized management deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments license management into hierarchical layers: individual resource-level license assignments maintain flexibility, while a centralized licensing management system aggregates and coordinates these assignments. This segmentation allows resources to access licenses locally while the central system provides unified compliance tracking and reporting.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a universal licensing management platform that serves multiple functions simultaneously: it manages licenses across diverse resource types and subscriptions, provides centralized compliance reporting, enables automated verification, and supports BYOL benefits. This multi-functional approach consolidates scattered license management into a single coherent system.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method include association of a first plurality of software licenses of a first type with a first subscription associated with a first plurality of cloud-based resources, determination of a first number of the first plurality of software licenses to activate based on the types of the first plurality of resources, activation of the first number of the first plurality of software licenses, monitoring of usage of the first plurality of resources, determination, based on the monitored usage, of a second one or more resources to associate with the first subscription, determination, in response to determining the second resources, of a second number of the first plurality of software licenses to activate based on the types of the second one or more resources, activation of the second number of the first plurality of software licenses, and association of the second resources with the first subscription.