JP6136192B2 - License management apparatus, license management system, and license management method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a license management apparatus, a license management system, and a license management method.

  License management is generally performed for services provided by software or the like. That is, when a user purchases a license for a service to be used, information indicating the contents of the license (hereinafter referred to as “license information”) is managed on the service provider side. When there is a service use request from a user, use of the service is permitted if the content of the use request is within the range of the content of the license given to the user.

  One of the parameters that define the contents of the license is the validity period. When the validity period expires, the user cannot continue to use the service. Therefore, a user who wishes to continue using the service even after the service validity period performs a procedure for updating the license validity period. Conventionally, updating of the validity period of a license has been realized by updating the end date of the validity period managed for the license.

  First, a license is given to a user when a service use contract is concluded between the service seller and the user. The usage contract is concluded not only when the user newly starts using the service, but also when the valid period of the license already owned is updated.

  However, as in the prior art, in the form in which the license validity period is updated by updating the end date of the license validity period, it is difficult to associate the license with each usage contract on a one-to-one basis. That is, when the validity period of license A is updated, two usage contracts are generated for license A: a usage contract for the initial purchase of license A and a usage contract for the renewal of the validity period of license A. To do. However, only one piece of license information is managed with respect to license A, and the validity period of license A is updated by updating the end date of the license period that constitutes the license information. On the other hand, two usage contracts are associated.

  In this case, for example, there is a problem that a complicated work is required to specify which usage contract is based on the current usage of the license A.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a new management form for a license whose validity period can be updated.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problem, the license management apparatus includes a first storage unit that stores contract information including a license period for each use contract related to a predetermined service, and a first storage unit that is stored in the first storage unit. A second storage unit that stores the first license information corresponding to the contract information of the first license information, and continues to the validity period of the first license information in response to receiving a request for updating the validity period of the first license information. The second license information having the license period included in the second contract information stored in the first storage unit separately from the first contract information as an effective period is started . A registration unit that registers in the storage unit, and a determination unit that determines whether to use the predetermined service based on license information stored in the second storage unit.

  A new management form can be provided for a license whose validity period can be updated.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the information processing system in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the service provision apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structural example of the service provision apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structural example of the contract information management apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the state transition of the license in this Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the process sequence performed at the time of the utilization start of a license. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a contract information storage part. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a license information storage part. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the process sequence performed at the time of the update procedure of a license. It is a figure which shows the example of the memory content of the license information storage part after the update of a license. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the process sequence performed according to expiration of a license period. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the process sequence performed according to the utilization request | requirement of a service.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1, the service providing environment E2, the user environment E1, and the like are communicable via a wide area network such as the Internet.

  The service providing environment E2 is a system environment in an organization that provides a cloud service via a network. In the present embodiment, a cloud service will be described as a specific example. However, the present embodiment relates to a service provided via a network, such as a service provided by an ASP (Application Service Provider) or a Web service. Forms may be applied.

  The service providing environment E2 includes a service providing device 20, a contract information management device 40, and the like. The service providing device 20 and the contract information management device 40 are communicably connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network).

  The service providing device 20 provides a predetermined service via a network. As a form of service provided by the service providing apparatus 20, there is a service realized by linking the device 10 in the user environment E1 and an application in the service providing apparatus 20. Hereinafter, this type of service is referred to as “device cooperation service”. As an example of the device cooperation service, a service in which image data scanned by the device 10 in the user environment E1 is stored in a preset storage destination by an application in the service providing apparatus 20 (hereinafter referred to as “scan To storage service”). ). Note that the device cooperation service may cooperate with online storage, other cloud services, and the like provided via a network by service providers other than the service providing environment E2.

  The service providing apparatus 20 also has a license management function for the device cooperation service. The device cooperation service license refers to the right to use the device cooperation service. That is, in order to use the device cooperation service, the user needs to purchase a license for the device cooperation service in advance. The license management function may be realized by using one or more computers different from the service providing apparatus 20.

  The contract information management apparatus 40 manages information (hereinafter referred to as “contract information”) related to the use contract of the device cooperation service, which is concluded between the user and the seller of the device cooperation service license. The use contract for the device cooperation service is concluded, for example, when license sales are performed. Although details will be described later, the contract information includes information indicating the contents of the license.

  The license device 20 and the contract information management device 40 may be realized using the same computer.

  The user environment E1 is a system environment in an organization such as a user company of the device 10. In the user environment E1, one or more devices 10 and the administrator terminal 30 are connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The device 10 is a device or apparatus that is a candidate for cooperation with respect to the device cooperation service. The administrator terminal 30 is a terminal used by the administrator of the device 10 in the user environment E1. Examples of the administrator terminal 30 include a PC (Personal Computer), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), a tablet terminal, a smartphone, or a mobile phone.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the service providing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 2 includes a drive device 200, an auxiliary storage device 202, a memory device 203, a CPU 204, and an interface device 205, which are mutually connected by a bus B.

  A program for realizing processing in the service providing apparatus 20 is provided by a recording medium 201 such as a CD-ROM. When the recording medium 201 storing the program is set in the drive device 200, the program is installed from the recording medium 201 to the auxiliary storage device 202 via the drive device 200. However, it is not always necessary to install the program from the recording medium 201, and the program may be downloaded from another computer via a network. The auxiliary storage device 202 stores the installed program and stores necessary files and data.

  The memory device 203 reads the program from the auxiliary storage device 202 and stores it when there is an instruction to start the program. The CPU 204 executes functions related to the service providing apparatus 20 in accordance with a program stored in the memory device 203. The interface device 205 is used as an interface for connecting to a network.

  The service providing apparatus 20 may be configured by a plurality of computers having hardware as shown in FIG. That is, the process executed by the service providing apparatus 20 in the later description may be executed by being distributed to a plurality of computers. The hardware of the contract information management device 40 may also be configured by one or more computers as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the service providing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the service providing apparatus 20 includes software such as a server application 210 and a platform 220. These are constituted by one or more programs installed in the service providing apparatus 20, and cause the CPU 204 to execute predetermined processing.

  The service providing apparatus 20 also uses a user information storage unit 231, a device information storage unit 232, a license information storage unit 233, and the like. Each of these storage units can be realized using a storage device connected to the auxiliary storage device 202 or the service providing device 20 via a network.

  The server application 210 is an application program that realizes a device cooperation service provided by the service providing apparatus 20. Basically, one server application 210 corresponds to one device cooperation service. Therefore, the license of the device cooperation service can also be referred to as a license of the server application 210 related to the device cooperation service.

  In FIG. 3, a scan server application 211 is illustrated as an example of the server application 210. The scan server application 211 is a server application 210 that executes processing related to the scan To storage service.

  The platform 220 includes functions common to the plurality of server applications 210 or basic functions used from the plurality of server applications 210. 3, the platform 220 includes a setting registration unit 221, a device communication unit 222, an authentication processing unit 223, a session management unit 224, a license management unit 225, and the like. The functions of these units are disclosed to the server application 210 via the platform API 240. In other words, the server application 210 can use the functions of these units within the range disclosed by the platform API 240.

  The setting registration unit 221 executes setting registration processing of information related to the user environment E1 that is required prior to use of the device cooperation service. The setting registration unit 221 registers information in the user information storage unit 231 and the device information storage unit 232.

  The user information storage unit 231 stores information related to users of services provided by the service providing apparatus 20. The device information storage unit 232 stores information regarding the device 10 to be linked with the service provided by the service providing apparatus 20 in the system environment (that is, the user environment E1) of the user.

  The device communication unit 222 controls communication with the device 10. The authentication processing unit 223 authenticates the user of the administrator terminal 30 or the user of the device 10. The session management unit 224 manages a communication session between the service providing apparatus 20 and the device 10 when they are linked.

  The license management unit 225 registers license information in the license information storage unit 233 or updates the license information stored in the license information storage unit 233 according to the use of the license by the user. The license information is license attribute information, and in particular, is an example of information indicating license contents (license valid range) and license status. The license management unit 225 registers or updates license information so that the correspondence between the contract information related to the license and the license can be clearly understood.

  The license information storage unit 233 stores license information of a license whose use has been started in the device cooperation service. The “license that has started to be used” includes licenses that have been used (the license validity period has expired).

  In FIG. 3, as an example of the device 10, an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral, a copier, a facsimile, or a printer, a portable terminal, a PC, a conference system, an image projection apparatus, an IC recorder, and other new devices Is illustrated.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the contract information management apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the contract information management device 40 includes a contract information access unit 41, a contract information storage unit 42, and the like.

  The contract information storage unit 42 stores contract information. The contract information storage unit 42 can be realized by using, for example, an auxiliary storage device included in the contract information management device 40 or a storage device connected to the contract information management device 40 via a network. The contract information access unit 41 provides an access means to the contract information storage unit 42.

  Note that the contract information stored in the contract information storage unit 42 is generated in accordance with the conclusion of the use contract for the device cooperation service (purchase of a license). The license information stored in the license information storage unit 223 is generated in response to the start of use of the purchased license.

  Next, state transition related to the license of the device cooperation service in the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a state transition of a license according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 shows an example of state transitions for three licenses of license L1, license L2, and license L3. Here, the licenses L1 to L3 are licenses purchased for the same device cooperation service (here, “service A”). In other words, contract information is managed in the contract information management apparatus 40 for each of the licenses L1 to L3. The user who purchased the licenses L1 to L3 is hereinafter referred to as “user A”.

  When the user A starts using the license L1, the state of the license L1 transitions from the initial state st11 to the in-use (unupdated) state st12. The initial state st11 refers to a state in which the contract information related to the license is managed by the contract information management apparatus 40, but the use of the license has not been started. That is, in the present embodiment, the license validity period is included in the contract information, but the license use start time (that is, the validity period start time) can be arbitrarily determined by the user. The start of use of a license means that a device cooperation service to which use authority is given by the license is made available.

  Further, “not updated” in the in-use (not updated) state st12 means that there is no update record for the license. The license renewal refers to renewal of the license validity period, and more specifically, substantially extends the license validity period.

  When the user A wants to continue using the service A to which the usage authority is granted by the license L1 beyond the validity period of the license L1, the user A performs an update procedure for the license L1 during the validity period of the license L1. be able to. In the renewal procedure, the user A designates a license to be applied to the service A after the validity period of the license L1 expires. FIG. 5 shows an example in which the license L2 is designated. The license L2 is a license purchased independently from the license L1, and is a license that can be used separately from the license L1, but can also be used as a license after the license L1 is updated. That is, in this embodiment, each license can be used as a license after updating another license for the same device cooperation service as the license. Therefore, it is possible to designate the license L3 instead of the license L2 as the updated license of the license L1. In the relationship between the license L1 and the license L2, the license corresponding to the position of the license L1 is referred to as “pre-update license”, and the license corresponding to the position of the license L2 is referred to as “updated license”.

  Note that the license L2 can be used separately from the license L1, for example, not as an updated license of the license L1, but in a period in which at least a part of the validity period of the license L1 overlaps, or the validity of the license L1 It means that the license L2 can be used to receive the provision of the service A after a while after the expiration of the period. For example, for each license, if the number of users who can use the service A at the same time is one, the license L2 is used in a period overlapping with the validity period of the license L1 in order to enable two users to use at the same time. It is also conceivable.

  In accordance with the update procedure, the license L1, which is the pre-update license, transitions to the in-use (updated) state st13. The in-use (updated) state st13 is a state in which the license can be used in the same manner as the in-use (unupdated) state st12, but is in use (unupdated) in that an update procedure has been performed. This is different from the state st12. The reason why the in-use (updated) state st13 and the in-use (unupdated) state st12 are distinguished is that, in the present embodiment, the number of possible update procedures for one license is limited to one. is there. The benefits obtained by limiting the number of update procedures to one will be described later.

  On the other hand, according to the update procedure, the state of the license L2 that is the updated license of the license L1 transitions to the pre-use state st21. The license in the pre-use state st21 means a state in which use has been reserved, but use has been reserved in accordance with the expiration of the validity period of the pre-update license corresponding to the license.

  When the validity period of the license L1 expires, the license L1 transitions to the use end state st14. Further, in response to the expiration of the valid period of the license L1, the license L2 transitions to the in-use (unupdated) state st22. As a result, the user can continue to use the service A based on the license L2.

  When the user A wants to continue using the service A beyond the valid period of the license L2, the user A can perform an update procedure for the license L2 during the valid period of the license L2. FIG. 5 shows an example in which the license L3 is designated as the updated license of the license L2. The relationship between the license L2 and the license L3 is the same as the relationship between the license L1 and the license L2. That is, the license L2 is a license before update of the license L3, and the license L3 is a license after update of the license L2.

  In accordance with the update procedure, the state of the license L2 transitions to the in-use (updated) state st23. Further, the state of the license L3 transitions to the pre-use state st31. Thereafter, when the validity period of the license L2 expires, the license L2 transitions to the use end state st24. Also, the license L3 transitions to the in-use (unupdated) state st32.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, updating (extension) of the validity period of the license is substantially realized not by updating the end date of the validity period of the license but by a chain of independent licenses. By doing so, the correspondence between the license and the contract information can be made one-to-one. That is, it is possible to prevent the correspondence relationship between the licenses L1, L2, and L3 with the respective contract information from becoming unclear.

  Hereinafter, a processing procedure executed by the service providing apparatus 20 in order to realize the license state transition as illustrated in FIG. 5 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a processing procedure executed at the start of license use. The processing procedure shown in FIG. For example, the processing procedure is executed at the start of use of a license that is not an updated license of another license, such as the license L1 in FIG.

  In step S101, the license management unit 225 receives a license use start request. For example, the administrator terminal 30 may transmit the license use start request to the service providing apparatus 20 in response to an instruction input by the administrator. In the license use start request, a license ID that is identification information of a license to be used, a machine number of the device 10 that uses the license, and identification information of the user who uses the license are specified. In this embodiment, an organization ID that is identification information for an organization including the user environment E1 is used as identification information of a user who uses a license. The organization ID may be identification information for identifying a company or a department in the company, or may be identification information for a set of a plurality of users. Further, a user authentication process may be executed before a license use start request. In this case, if the organization ID is specified in the user authentication process, the organization ID may not be specified in the license use start request.

  The device number of the device 10 that uses the license is identification information of the device 10 that uses the device cooperation service based on the license. That is, in the present embodiment, the device cooperation service license is associated with the device 10. This means that the number of devices 10 that can use the device cooperation service with one license is limited to one. The machine number is not limited to predetermined information as long as it is information that can identify the machine body of each device 10 such as a manufacturing number or a MAC address of the device 10.

  Hereinafter, the license ID, machine number, and organization ID specified in the use start request are referred to as “target license ID”, “target machine number”, and “target organization ID”, respectively.

  Subsequently, the license management unit 225 determines the presence / absence of contract information corresponding to the target organization ID and the target license ID via the contract information access unit 41 of the contract information management apparatus 40 (S102). The presence or absence of contract information refers to whether or not the contract information is stored in the contract information storage unit 42.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the contract information storage unit. In FIG. 7, the contract information storage unit 42 stores a record indicating contract information for each use contract of the device cooperation service. The contract information includes an organization ID, license ID, service name, contract classification, license period, and the like.

  The organization ID is the organization ID of the user who has concluded the use contract. The license ID is a license ID of a license purchased according to the usage contract. The service name is an identification name for the type of device cooperation service that is the target of the usage contract. Note that, if a service name (service name) is desired to be changed for each unit that has the same type as a service but part of the function is different, for example, the “service name” in the present embodiment is “service type”. May be replaced.

  The contract classification is a classification of a method for renewing a license purchased according to the usage contract. In the present embodiment, the contract classification includes “annual contract” or “automatic renewal”. “Annual contract” is a contract category that requires renewal procedures for each contract year. “Automatic renewal” is a contract category in which the license validity period is automatically renewed. It can be said that “automatic renewal” is a contract category in which the validity period of the license is indefinite. The license period is an effective period of the license purchased by the usage contract.

  If there is contract information including both the target organization ID and the target license ID (hereinafter referred to as “target contract information”) (Yes in S102), the license management unit 225 has already used the license corresponding to the target contract information. It is determined whether it has been performed (S103). The determination is performed with reference to the license information storage unit 233, for example.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the license information storage unit. In FIG. 8, the license information storage unit 233 stores a record indicating license information for each license that has started to be used. The license information includes a license ID, an organization ID, a service name, a machine number, a contract classification, a use start date, a use end date, a status, an update application status, an updated ID, and the like.

  The license ID is the license ID of the license. The organization ID is the organization ID of the user who purchased the license. The service name is the service name of the device cooperation service that is the subject of the license. The machine number is the machine number of the device 10 that can use the device cooperation service. The contract category is the contract category of the license. The use start date is the start date of the validity period of the license. The use end date is the end date of the validity period of the license. The state is the state of the license whose transition is described in FIG. The update application status is information indicating the presence / absence of the update procedure. “1” indicates that there is a record of the update procedure. “0” indicates that there is no update procedure record. In other words, the update application state is an item for distinguishing between the in-use (unupdated) state and the in-use (updated) state in FIG. The post-update ID is the license ID of the post-update license for the license that has undergone the update procedure. In the example of FIG. 5, the updated ID for the license L1 is the license ID of the license L2. The updated ID for the license L2 is the license ID of the license L3.

  In step S <b> 103, it is determined whether or not a record including both the target license ID and the target organization ID is stored in the license information storage unit 233.

  When a record including both the target license ID and the target organization ID is not stored in the license information storage unit 233 (Yes in S103), the license management unit 225 generates license information related to the target license ID, and generates the license Information is registered in the license information storage unit 233 (S104). In the license information storage unit 233 shown in FIG. 8, the record in the first line is registered in step S104 when the contract information in the first line is the target contract information in the contract information storage unit 42 shown in FIG. Record.

  That is, the value included in the target contract information is transferred (transcribed) to the license ID, organization ID, service name, and contract classification of the record registered in step S104. As the use start date of the record, the date of the day when the license use start request is received is stored. However, the use start date may be specified in the license use start request. In this case, the use start date specified in the license use start request may be stored on the use start date of the record.

  In the use end date of the record, the last date of the license period included in the contract information when the use start date of the record is set as a starting point is stored. The target machine number is stored in the machine number of the record. “In use” is stored in the state of the record. “0” is stored in the update application state of the record. Nothing is stored in the updated ID of the record. This is because the update procedure for the license related to the record has not yet been performed.

  When the target contract information is not stored in the contract information storage unit 42 (No in S102), or the license information corresponding to the target contract information is stored in the license information storage unit 233 (No in S103). The license use start request is rejected.

  Next, a processing procedure executed by the license providing apparatus 20 when an update procedure is performed for a license in use will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a processing procedure executed during the license update procedure.

  In step S201, the license management unit 225 receives a license update request. For example, the administrator terminal 30 may transmit the license update request to the service providing apparatus 20 in response to an instruction input by the administrator, for example. In the license update request, the license ID of the license to be updated (the license corresponding to the pre-update license), the license ID of the post-update license, the organization ID of the update request source user, and the like are specified. Hereinafter, these parameters are sequentially referred to as “pre-update license ID”, “update license ID”, and “target organization ID”.

  Subsequently, the license management unit 225 performs the same determination as in steps S102 and S103 in FIG. 6 regarding the updated license (S202, S203). That is, in step S202, the license management unit 225 determines whether or not there is contract information including both the target organization ID and the updated license ID (hereinafter referred to as “updated contract information”). The determination is made via the access unit 41. When the corresponding contract information is stored in the contract information storage unit 42 (Yes in S202), the license management unit 225 stores the license information including both the updated license ID and the target organization ID in the license information storage unit 233. It is determined whether or not it is stored (S203).

  When the corresponding license information is not stored in the license information storage unit 233 (Yes in S203), the license management unit 225 determines the license information related to the pre-update license ID and the target organization ID (hereinafter referred to as “pre-update license information”). It is determined whether or not the value of the state of “.” Is “in use” (S204). That is, it is determined whether the pre-update license is within the valid period. Therefore, in step S204, it may be determined whether or not the current day is within the validity period defined by the use start date and use end date of the pre-update license information.

  If the status value of the license information is “in use” (Yes in S204), the license management unit 225 determines whether the value of the update application status of the pre-update license information is “0” ( S205). That is, it is confirmed that there is no update record in the pre-update license.

  When the value of the update application status value of the pre-update license information is “0” (Yes in S205), the license management unit 225 determines the service name value of the pre-update license information and the service of the contract information related to the post-update license ID. It is determined whether the name value is the same (S206). This is because the post-update license needs to be a license for the same service as the pre-update license. In addition, when the value of the update application state is not “0”, the number of updates of each license can be limited to one by not updating the license.

  If the compared service names match (Yes in S206), the license management unit 225 registers the license information of the updated license in the license information storage unit 233 (S207). Subsequently, the license management unit 225 sets the updated license ID to the updated ID of the pre-update license information (S208). As a result, the pre-update license and the post-update license are associated with each other. Subsequently, the license management unit 225 sets “1” as the update application state of the pre-update license information (S209).

  As a result of the execution of steps S207 to S209, the license information storage unit 233 is in a state as shown in FIG. 10, for example.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents stored in the license information storage unit after the license is updated. FIG. 10 shows an example in which, in the contract information shown in FIG. 7, the license related to the contract information whose license ID is “bbb” is an updated license for the pre-update license whose license ID is “aaa”. Has been.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the machine number of the pre-update license is stored in the machine number of the updated license record registered in step S207. In addition, the day after the use end date of the pre-update license is stored as the use start date of the record. In other words, the validity period of the updated license continues to the validity period of the pre-update license. As the use end date of the record, the last date of the license period included in the contract information of the updated license when starting from the use start date of the updated license is stored. Further, “before use” is stored in the state of the record. “0” is stored in the update application state of the record.

  In step S208, the license application state of the pre-update license record is updated to “1”. In step S209, “bbb” that is the license ID of the updated license is stored in the updated ID of the record.

  When the state of each license shown in FIG. 10 is applied to the state described with reference to FIG. 5, the license whose license ID is “aaa” corresponds to the in-use (after update) state. The license whose license ID is “bbb” corresponds to the pre-use state.

  If the updated contract information is not stored in the contract information storage unit 42 (No in S202), the license information corresponding to the updated contract information is stored in the license information storage unit 233 (No in S203). ) If the status of the pre-update license information is not “in use” (No in S204), if the value of the update application status of the pre-update license information is “1” (No in S205), or If the service name value is different from the service name value of the contract information related to the updated license ID (No in S206), the license update request is rejected.

  Next, a processing procedure executed by the service providing apparatus 20 when a license period of a certain license expires will be described.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a processing procedure executed in response to the expiration of the license period.

  The license management unit 225 uses the end date of use before the previous day among any of the licenses in the license information storage unit 233 whose status is “in use” (hereinafter referred to as “end license”). When the presence of a license is detected (Yes in S301), the value of the state stored in the license information storage unit 233 for the end license is updated to “use end” (S302). The detection of the presence of a license whose use end date is before the previous day may be performed by periodically comparing the use end date and the current date, for example, once a day. 6 or 9 may be performed, or when a service use request based on a license is received.

  Subsequently, the license management unit 225 determines whether the license ID of another license is stored in the update ID of the license information of the end license (S303). When the license ID of another license is stored in the update ID (Yes in S303), the license management unit 225 updates the value of the status of the license information related to the license ID to “in use” (S304). ). As a result, when an updated license exists in the license whose license period has expired, the service that has been made available by the license whose license period has expired is made available by the updated license.

  Next, a license management method based on license information will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a processing procedure executed in response to a service use request.

  When the service use request is received by the service providing apparatus 20 (S401), the license management unit 225 converts the license information including the organization ID, the machine number, and the service name specified in the use request into the license information. A search is performed from the storage unit 233 (S402). The service use request is transmitted from the device 10 to the service providing apparatus 20 in response to an instruction input from the user, for example. The organization ID specified in the service use request is the organization ID of the organization to which the device 10 belongs. The machine number specified in the service use request is the machine number of the device 10. The service name specified in the service use request is the service name of the service that is the target of the use request.

  When one or more corresponding license information is retrieved (Yes in S403), the license management unit 225 determines whether there is license information whose status value is “in use” in the retrieved license information. Determine (S404). If there is corresponding license information (Yes in S404), the license management unit 225 permits the use of the service related to the designated service name (S405).

  On the other hand, when the license information including the organization ID, the machine number, and the service name specified in the license request is not searched (No in S403), the status value is “in use” in the searched license information. When there is no license information “No” in S404, the license management unit 225 rejects the use of the service associated with the designated service name (S406). Therefore, in this case, the user cannot receive provision of service using the device 10 associated with the machine number.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a new management form for a license whose validity period can be updated. Specifically, even when the license is updated, the license information in the license information storage unit 233 and the contract information in the contract information storage unit 42 can be associated one-to-one. As a result, for example, it is possible to specify which usage contract the currently used license is based on.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the update of one license is limited to one time. As a result, for example, it is possible to prevent the generation of a plurality of licenses having the same valid period and the same machine number for the same service. That is, when there are a plurality of licenses that can be used only at the same time in the same device 10, the licenses except for one of them are wasted. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a disadvantage that the user receives due to the occurrence of such waste.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, updatable licenses are limited to licenses that are in use (during the validity period). Therefore, it is possible to prevent an unlimited number of license update chains. For example, in the example of FIG. 5, when the license L1 is updated, the number of licenses that can be chained to the license L1 is limited to one of the licenses L2, and a license L3 chain cannot be formed simultaneously with the license L2. As a result, it is possible to prevent the license from being updated so as to exceed the warranty period of the service subject to the license.

  In the present embodiment, the service providing apparatus 20 is an example of a license management apparatus or a license management system. The license information storage unit 233 is an example of a storage unit. The license management unit 225 is an example of a registration unit and a determination unit.

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited to such specific embodiment, In the range of the summary of this invention described in the claim, various deformation | transformation・ Change is possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing system 10 Apparatus 20 Service provision apparatus 30 Administrator terminal 40 Contract information management apparatus 41 Contract information access part 42 Contract information storage part 200 Drive apparatus 201 Recording medium 202 Auxiliary storage apparatus 203 Memory apparatus 204 CPU
205 interface device 210 server application 220 platform 211 scan server application 221 setting registration unit 222 device communication unit 223 authentication processing unit 224 session management unit 225 license management unit 231 user information storage unit 232 device information storage unit 233 license information storage unit 240 platform API
B bus

JP 2005-327196 A

Claims (6)

A first storage unit that stores contract information including a license period for each use contract related to a predetermined service;
A second storage unit for storing first license information corresponding to the first contract information stored in the first storage unit;
In response to receiving the update request for the validity period of the first license information, the first storage unit starts separately from the validity period of the first license information, separately from the first contract information. A registration unit that registers, in the second storage unit, second license information having a license period included in the stored second contract information as an effective period ;
A license management apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines whether or not to use the predetermined service based on license information stored in the second storage unit.   When the registration unit receives the update request for the validity period of the first license information again after the registration of the second license information, the registration unit has a validity period that continues to the validity period of the first license information. The license management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the license information is not registered. The registration unit when the update request of the validity period of the first license information has been received, the case where the valid period outside the second license according to claim 1 or 2, wherein do not license information Management device.   The registration unit registers the second license information and information indicating that the first license information has been updated in the second storage unit in association with the first license information. The license management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A license management system including one or more computers,
A first storage unit that stores contract information including a license period for each use contract related to a predetermined service;
A second storage unit for storing first license information corresponding to the first contract information stored in the first storage unit;
In response to receiving the update request for the validity period of the first license information, the first storage unit starts separately from the validity period of the first license information, separately from the first contract information. A registration unit that registers, in the second storage unit, second license information having a license period included in the stored second contract information as an effective period ;
A license management system comprising: a determination unit that determines whether or not to use the predetermined service based on license information stored in the second storage unit. A first storage unit that stores contract information including a license period for each use contract related to a predetermined service;
With reference to the second storage unit that stores the first license information corresponding to the first contract information stored in the first storage unit,
Upon receiving the update request before Symbol lifetime of the first license information, the continuously starts validity period of the first license information, and the first contract information separately from the first storage unit A registration procedure for registering, in the second storage unit, second license information having a license period included in the second contract information stored in
A license management method in which a computer executes a determination procedure for determining whether or not to use the predetermined service based on license information stored in the second storage unit.

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