JP5827558B2 - License management system, license management apparatus, license management method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a license management system, and more particularly to a license management system that can manage the use of a cross-sectional license among a plurality of organizations.

  In organizations such as corporations, the number and types of software used vary widely, and there is a problem that it is difficult to manage the number of licenses and the expiration date of software possessed. In order to solve such a problem, a software license management apparatus for managing software licenses is known. The main function of a conventional software license management apparatus is to manage the number of software licenses purchased by a department in a company and to understand which terminal is using the license. The usage form of the license assumed by the conventional software license management apparatus is a form of purchasing licenses for the number of PCs.

  In recent years, different software usage forms such as SaaS (Software as a Service) have come into use, and along with this, the number of license contracts that allow software licenses to be used more freely than before has increased. ing. For example, it is not a contract for using software only on a unique terminal, but a license contract that allows one license to be freely used for terminals in the company. There is a need for a license management system that can facilitate the system operation with a small number of licenses by grasping the usage status of the software license and reducing the idle time when the license is not used.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-222424 (Patent Document 1) describes management of the number of software licenses held by a company, a group, or an entire organization of a group, and inventory information including information on software actually installed on computers in the organization A software license management device that automatically collects licenses via a network is disclosed. In the invention of Patent Literature 1, the difference between the number of software licenses held by the entire organization and the number of software licenses actually used calculated based on inventory information is calculated to grasp the license usage status.

JP 2001-222424 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a license management system capable of managing the use of licenses across a plurality of organizations by managing the license usage scope and license usage status.

A license management system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a license management device and a software execution environment control device, wherein the license management device includes an authentication unit that authenticates a software user, software user information, Based on the user information and the license information, the user uses license information for managing a license usage range for each software, a storage unit for storing license usage information for managing license usage status, and the user information and the license information. Displays a list of possible software, accepts software selected by the user and reservation information including the use date and time of the selected software, and the selected software based on the license usage information and the reservation information And a reservation unit for determining whether the software can be used. The administrative environment control device controls whether or not the selected software can be used by the user based on the reservation information, and the storage unit manages information related to a company associated with the company holding the license. Further, the reservation unit extracts a list of software owned by the user's affiliated company as a first software group based on the license information, and the license information and the license information Based on company-related information, even if the software is owned by a company to which the user does not belong, a list of software that can be used by the user is extracted as a second software group, and the first A software group and the second software group are displayed .
A license management apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes an authentication unit that authenticates a software user, software user information, license information that manages a license usage range for each software, and a license A storage unit for storing license usage information for managing the usage status of the software, and a list of software available to the user based on the user information and the license information, and selected by the user A storage unit that receives software and reservation information including a use date and time of the selected software, and determines whether the selected software can be used based on the license use information and the reservation information; Provides company-related information for managing information related to the company that owns the license. The reservation unit extracts, based on the license information, a list of software owned by the user's company as a first software group, and based on the license information and the company relation information. Even if the software is owned by a company to which the user does not belong, a list of software that can be used by the user is extracted as a second software group, and the first software group and the first software group are extracted. 2 software groups are displayed.

Further, in the license management method according to still another aspect of the present invention, the authentication unit of the license management apparatus authenticates the software user, the reservation unit of the license management apparatus includes the software user information, A step of displaying a list of software that can be used by the user based on license information for managing a license usage range for each software; and a software that the reservation unit of the license management apparatus selects by the user Receiving the reservation information including the use date and time of the selected software, and the reservation unit of the license management device determines the selected software based on the license use information for managing the license use status and the reservation information. A step of determining whether it can be used and a software execution environment control device Controlling the availability of the selected software by the user based on the reservation information, wherein the step of displaying a list of the software is performed by a reservation unit of a license management device based on the license information. A step of extracting a list of software owned by the user's affiliated company as a first software group, and a reservation unit of a license management device including the license information, the company holding the license, Based on company-related information that manages information about related companies, a list of software that can be used by the user, even if the software is owned by a company to which the user does not belong, is defined as a second software group. An extracting step; and a reservation unit of the license management device includes the first software , And a step of displaying the second software group.
A license management method according to still another aspect of the present invention is a license management method by a license management apparatus, comprising: a step of authenticating a software user; software user information; and a license for each software. Reservation information including a step of displaying a list of software that can be used by the user based on license information for managing a use permission range, software selected by the user, and use date and time of the selected software And a step of determining whether the selected software can be used based on the license usage information for managing the usage status of the license and the reservation information, and displaying the list of the software, The user's affiliation based on the license information Extracting a list of software owned by the company as a first software group, based on the license information and company relation information for managing information related to the company holding the license, Even if the software is owned by a company to which the user does not belong, a step of extracting a list of software that can be used by the user as a second software group, the first software group, and the first software group Displaying two software groups.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the license management system which can manage the utilization of the cross-cutting license between several organizations by managing the use permission range of a license and the utilization condition of a license can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a license management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the user information 31 in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the license information 32 in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the license use information 33 in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the company relation information 34 in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a license reservation registration method by software list display of the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a license reservation registration method by inputting a software name in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the software execution environment control method in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  A license management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Description of configuration]
First, the configuration of the license management system 1 in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a license management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The license management system 1 of the present invention includes a software execution environment control device 10 and a license management device 20. The software execution environment control apparatus 10 controls whether or not the software can be used with respect to the software execution environment 40 of the user.

  As shown in the software execution environment 40, the software execution environment may be a form in which software is downloaded to the user terminal 42 and executed, or the software provided on the server device 41 is downloaded to the user terminal 42. 42 may be connected to the server device 41 and executed.

  The license management apparatus 20 includes an authentication unit 21, a reservation unit 22, a notification unit 23, and a storage unit 30. The authentication unit 21 authenticates the user of the software using the user ID, password, and the like. The reservation unit 22 refers to the user information 31, the license information 32, and the company relation information 34, and displays a list of software that can be used by the user authenticated by the authentication unit 21. The reservation unit 22 receives reservation information including the software selected by the user and the use date and time of the selected software. The reservation unit 22 refers to the license usage information 33 and determines whether the user can use the software selected based on the reservation information. The notification unit 23 notifies the usage history information to the software owner and user based on the license usage information 33. The usage record information may be used as billing information or a trail audit record.

  The storage unit 30 stores user information 31, license information 32, license usage information 33, and company relationship information 34.

  The license management system 1 of the present embodiment is realized by the software execution environment control device 10 and the license management device 20, but the control of the software execution environment 40 and the license management are realized by one device. Also good.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the user information 31 in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the user information 31 of FIG. 2, ID, name, e-mail address, affiliated company (secondary destination), and information of seconding source are recorded. Note that the user information 31 is not limited to these pieces of information, and may appropriately manage information necessary for identifying the user.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the license information 32 in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The license information 32 in FIG. 3 stores information on a management number, software name, usage, number of licenses, owned company, license manager ID, and usage permission range. Note that the license information 32 is not limited to such information, and information necessary for managing licenses may be appropriately managed.

  In the example of FIG. 3, the usage permission range information includes “no restriction”, “owner company only”, “capital relationship ratio”, “secondary employees from the owner company”, and “composition ratio of officers belonging to the owner company”. It is included. When “Unrestricted” is checked, it indicates that the software can be used without limitation if the number of licenses is limited. When “owned company only” is checked, it indicates that employees other than the owned company cannot use the software even if the software is not used up to the number of licenses owned. When the ratio is set in the “capital relationship ratio”, it indicates that the software can be used by employees of a company having a capital relationship equal to or higher than the set ratio. If the “secondary employee from the owning company” is checked, it indicates that if the seconding company owns the license, employees of the seconding company can use the software at the seconding company. . If the ratio of officers belonging to the “owner company” is set, the officers of the company holding the license, even if the company is different from the company holding the license However, if the director of another company also serves as an executive and the ratio of directors exceeds the set ratio, it indicates that even the employee of the other company can use the software.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the license use information 33 in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of this invention. In the example of FIG. 4, the reservation date and time are managed for each software, and columns for setting user reservations are displayed for the number of licenses owned. For example, the software (1) is reserved by a user whose user ID is 0003 between 10:00 and 19:00 on August 19, 2011.

  The license usage information 33 may manage not only the fact that the license is reserved, but also whether it is actually used. The license management system 1 can confirm whether or not the software is actually used by using a software usage log, an authentication log to the software execution environment control device 10 at the start of software usage, or the like.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the company relation information 34 in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The company relationship information 34 in FIG. 5 stores information on management numbers, company names, capital ratios, and officer composition ratios. The company-related information 34 is not limited to such information, and information necessary for managing a company related to the company holding the license may be appropriately managed.

[Description of operation method]
Next, the license management method in the license management system 1 in the present embodiment will be described.

  First, the license usage reservation method of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a license reservation registration method by software list display of the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

(Step S1)
The authentication unit 21 of the license management apparatus 20 receives a login from the user terminal 42 based on the user ID and the like.

(Step S2)
The reservation unit 22 of the license management device 20 specifies the affiliation of the user from the user information 31 based on the ID acquired at the time of login. The reservation unit 22 of the license management apparatus 20 refers to the license information 32 and displays a list of software that can be used by the logged-in user.

  The user information 31 may be registered in advance in the license management apparatus 20 by the administrator of the license management system 1 or may be registered when the user first accesses the license management apparatus 20. .

  The license information 32 is registered in the license management apparatus 20 in advance by the software license manager after confirming the usage permission range and usage conditions based on the contract. At the time of registration of the license information 32, the license management apparatus 20 is based on information of software to be registered (software name, usage, license fee, usage permission range, usage conditions, etc.), user information 31, and company relation information 34. Individual information (ID, name, etc.) of users who can use the registered software and the range of users (affiliation company, department name, project name, etc.) may be specified. Further, the license management apparatus 20 may allow the license manager to select whether to confirm the information of the registered software based on the display content.

  When the reservation unit 22 displays a list of software that can be used by the logged-in user, first, a list of software owned by the company to which the user belongs is extracted from the license information 32 (first information). Software group). Specifically, first, the reservation unit 22 specifies the “affiliation company” of the logged-in user from the user information 31. Next, the reservation unit 22 compares the “affiliated company” with the “owning company” in the license information 32, and determines the “software name” of the record in which the “affiliated company” and the “owned company” match. Extracted as the first software group.

  Next, the reservation unit 22 refers to the license information 32 and the company relation information 34 and uses the software even if the software is owned by a company to which the user does not belong, based on the usage permission range. A list of software that can be used is extracted (second software group). Specific examples of extracting the second software group by the reservation unit 22 include the following example.

  The first example is a case where “no restriction” is set in the “use permission range” of the license information 32. In this case, even if the “affiliation company” of the logged-in user and the “owning company” of the license information 32 are different, the “software name” of the record is extracted as the second software group.

  In the second example, “secondee” is set in the user information 31 of the logged-in user, the “secondary agent” and “owning company” match, and “secondary employee from owning company” This is a case where there is a record of the license information 32 that has been set. In this case, even if the “affiliation company” of the logged-in user and the “owning company” of the license information 32 are different, the “software name” of the record is extracted as the second software group.

  In the third example, the “affiliated company” in the user information 31 of the logged-in user and the “company name” in the company relation information 34 are used in the “capital ratio” and “director composition ratio” related companies. Is the case where In this case, if the license condition is satisfied in the “capital relationship ratio” of the “use permission range” of the license information 32 or the “committee constituent ratio belonging to the owning company”, the “affiliated company” of the logged-in user is satisfied. Even if the “owning company” of the license information 32 is different, the “software name” of the record is extracted as the second software group.

  The reservation unit 22 displays the first software group and the second software group together. The second software group is not limited to the above three specific examples, and arbitrary software that satisfies the use permission range of the license information 32 is extracted.

  Note that the use permission condition included in the license information 32 is not limited to the condition related to the affiliated company. For example, when the software for managing the license is a product evaluation tool or the like, the use permission condition may be determined depending on whether the employee who uses the software belongs to a predetermined development project.

(Step S3)
The reservation unit 22 of the license management apparatus 20 receives reservation information including software selected by the user and the use date and time of the selected software.

(Step S4)
The reservation unit 22 of the license management apparatus 20 refers to the license usage information 33 and determines whether the user can use the software selected based on the reservation information. For example, in the license usage information 33 in FIG. 4, when the software (1) is “WebXX” in the license information 32 in FIG. 3, from 13:00 to 18:00 on August 19, 2011, the user 0001, user 0002, and user 0003 are using licenses. Further, in the license information 32 of FIG. 3, “Web XX” has “License Count” of 3. Therefore, when the reservation unit 22 newly receives reservation information from the user, and there is a reservation date / time included in 19:00 to 18:00 on August 19, 2011, “WebXX” It is determined that it cannot be used. The reservation unit 22 proceeds to the process of step S5 when the selected software can be used, and proceeds to the process of step S3 when it cannot be used.

  If the designated software cannot be used at the date and time designated in step S3, the reservation unit 22 displays the surrounding date and time of the unavailable date or the earliest available date and time as the available date and time. Good.

(Step S5)
The reservation unit 22 of the license management apparatus 20 registers the reservation information received in step S3 in the license usage information 33. Note that the reservation unit 22 may register the reservation information after confirming whether the user confirms the reservation without registering the reservation information in the license use information 33 immediately.

  In the license reservation registration method described above, in step S2, a list of software that can be used by the logged-in user is displayed. However, the user may input or select software that the user wants to use. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a license reservation registration method by inputting a software name in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

(Step S11)
The authentication unit 21 of the license management apparatus 20 receives a login from the user terminal 42 based on the user ID and the like.

(Step S12)
The reservation unit 22 of the license management apparatus 20 receives input of software that the logged-in user wants to use.

(Step S13)
The reservation unit 22 of the license management apparatus 20 includes user information 31 of the logged-in user (for example, affiliation and transferee), the software input in step S12, and license information 32 of the software (for example, a license agreement range). Based on the company relation information 34 (for example, company name, capital ratio, etc.), it is determined whether the software input in step S12 is available. The reservation unit 22 proceeds to the process of step S15 when the software input in step S12 can be used, and proceeds to the process of step S14 when it cannot be used.

(Step S14)
The notification unit 23 of the license management apparatus 20 notifies that the logged-in user has no right to use the software input in step S12. The process of the license management apparatus 20 returns to step S12, and again accepts input of software that the logged-in user wants to use.

(Step S15)
The reservation unit 22 of the license management apparatus 20 receives the use date and time of the software input in step S12.

(Step S16)
The reservation unit 22 of the license management apparatus 20 can use the software input in step S12 based on the use date and time input in step S15, the software input in step S12, and the license use information 33 of the software. Determine if it exists. Note that the reservation unit 22 also refers to the license information 32 when information about the license of the software cannot be acquired from the license usage information 33. For example, the reservation unit 22 acquires the number of licenses of the software from the license information 32 when the number of licenses is not managed by the license usage information 33. The reservation unit 22 proceeds to the process of step S18 when the software input in step S12 can be used, and proceeds to the process of step S17 when it cannot be used.

(Step S17)
The notification unit 23 of the license management apparatus 20 notifies that there is no right to use the software input in step S12 at the use date and time input in step S15 due to a lack of licenses. The process of the license management apparatus 20 returns to step S15 and accepts the input of the software use date / time again.

(Step S18)
The reservation unit 22 of the license management apparatus 20 registers the reservation information received in step S12 and step S15 in the license usage information 33. Note that the reservation unit 22 may register the reservation information after confirming whether the user confirms the reservation without registering the reservation information in the license use information 33 immediately.

  Next, the software execution environment control method of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the software execution environment control method in the license management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

(Step S21)
The notification unit 23 of the license management apparatus 20 refers to the license usage information 33 and confirms whether there is software that has a reserved date. When the reservation date / time has come, the process of the notification unit 23 proceeds to the process of step S22.

(Step S22)
The notification unit 23 of the license management device 20 requests the software execution environment control device 10 to make the execution environment of the software active. The software execution environment control device 10 sets the software execution environment of the server device 41 of the software execution environment 40 or the user terminal 42 to active according to the usage form of the software.

  Note that the method of making the software active may be realized by providing the function of the software as a virtual machine and starting and stopping the virtual machine in the case of software that operates on the server device 41. In addition, in the case of software that operates on the user terminal 42, a function that requires authentication of the software execution environment control device 10 may be provided at the start of use of the software. In this case, the software execution environment control device 10 permits authentication only during the reservation date and time. At the end of the reservation date and time, the software execution environment control device 10 or the notification unit 23 of the license management device 20 may send a notification to the user terminal 42 that the reservation date and time has ended.

(Step S23)
The notification unit 23 of the license management apparatus 20 creates usage record information. For example, in the license usage information 33 in FIG. 4, the software (1) is reserved from 0:00 to 7:00 on August 19, 2011 by the user 0001 and the user 0004. In this example, after the software execution environment 40 of the user 0001 is activated at 0:00 on August 19, 2011, the notification unit 23 sends the software (1) on August 19, 2011. Use result information including information indicating use from 0:00 to 7:00 is created. The notification unit 23 creates the usage record information of the user 0004 in the same manner.

(Step S24)
The notification unit 23 of the license management apparatus 20 refers to the license usage information 33 and confirms whether there is software whose reservation date / time ends. When the reservation date and time is completed, the process of the notification unit 23 proceeds to the process of step S25.

(Step S25)
The notification unit 23 of the license management apparatus 20 requests the software execution environment control apparatus 10 to make the execution environment of the software inactive. The software execution environment control device 10 sets the software execution environment of the server device 41 of the software execution environment 40 or the user terminal 42 to inactive according to the usage form of the software.

(Step S26)
The notification unit 23 of the license management apparatus 20 notifies the usage history information to the owner and user of the software. Note that the usage record information may be sent together at the end of the month without being sent every time the software reservation date and time ends.

  In this embodiment, the organization that uses the software license is a company, and company related information, affiliated company, owning company, etc. are exemplified. However, the organization is not limited to a company, and may be an organization or a department. Good. In addition, the organization that uses software is not limited to a hierarchical relationship in which a parent company has a software license and the parent company and its group companies. The license management system 1 according to the present embodiment can be applied to a plurality of organizations such as companies that are different from each other, if the use permission range and use conditions of the software permit.

  According to the present embodiment, the use of licenses across a plurality of organizations can be managed by managing the license usage permission range and the license usage status. As a result, the software license manager can grasp the optimum number of licenses held and reduce software loyalty.

  According to the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce the number of licenses procured by a group company and improve the use efficiency (that is, the return on investment) of the software while appropriately observing the software use rules.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, not only the organization that purchased the software license but also the organization that satisfies the license usage condition can be managed with the license-owning organization. Thereby, although the license is not directly owned, the license usage of the organization that satisfies the license usage condition can be promoted, so that the software loyalty can be reduced as a whole organization.

  In addition, a software sales company that sells software in the SaaS format manages licenses of software sold by the license management system 1 of the present embodiment, thereby preventing license violations of users.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately changed by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

1: License management system 10: Software execution environment control device 20: License management device 21: Authentication unit 22: Reservation unit 23: Notification unit 30: Storage unit 31: User information 32: License information 33: License use information 34: Company Related information 40: Software execution environment 41: Server device 42: User terminal

Claims (8)

A license management device and a software execution environment control device;
The license management device includes:
An authentication unit for authenticating the user of the software;
A storage unit for storing software user information, license information for managing a license usage range for each software, and license usage information for managing a license usage status;
Based on the user information and the license information, a list of software usable by the user is displayed, and reservation information including the software selected by the user and the use date and time of the selected software is received. A reservation unit for determining whether the selected software can be used based on the license use information and the reservation information,
The software execution environment control device controls whether or not the user can use the selected software based on the reservation information ,
The storage unit further includes company relation information for managing information related to a company associated with a company holding a license,
The reservation unit extracts, as a first software group, a list of software owned by the user's affiliated company based on the license information, and based on the license information and the company relation information, Even if the software is owned by a company to which the user does not belong, a list of software that can be used by the user is extracted as a second software group, and the first software group and the second software group are extracted. A license management system that displays software groups . The license management device includes:
The license management system according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit that notifies the owner and user of the software of the usage record information. The software is provided by a virtual machine on a server device,
The license management system according to claim 1, wherein the software execution environment control device controls availability of the software by controlling an operation of the virtual machine based on the reservation information. The software is provided to the user's terminal, and at the start of using the software, the software execution environment control device needs to be authenticated,
The license management system according to claim 1, wherein the software execution environment control device controls whether or not the software can be used by performing permission control of the authentication based on the reservation information.   An authentication unit for authenticating the user of the software;
  A storage unit for storing software user information, license information for managing a license usage range for each software, and license usage information for managing a license usage status;
  Based on the user information and the license information, a list of software usable by the user is displayed, and reservation information including the software selected by the user and the use date and time of the selected software is received. A reservation unit for determining whether the selected software can be used based on the license use information and the reservation information,
  The storage unit further includes company relation information for managing information related to a company associated with a company holding a license,
  The reservation unit extracts, as a first software group, a list of software owned by the user's affiliated company based on the license information, and based on the license information and the company relation information, Even if the software is owned by a company to which the user does not belong, a list of software that can be used by the user is extracted as a second software group, and the first software group and the second software group are extracted. Display software group
  License management device. An authentication unit of the license management device authenticates a user of the software;
A step of displaying a list of software that can be used by the user based on license information for managing software user information and a license usage range for each software;
A step of accepting reservation information including a software selected by the user and a use date and time of the selected software;
The reservation unit of the license management device determines whether the selected software can be used based on the license usage information for managing the usage status of the license and the reservation information;
Software execution environment control device, on the basis of the reservation information, see containing and controlling the availability of the selected software by the user,
The step of displaying a list of the software includes:
A step of extracting a list of software owned by the user's affiliated company as a first software group based on the license information;
The reservation unit of the license management device is software owned by a company to which the user does not belong based on the license information and company-related information that manages information related to the company that owns the license. A list of software that can be used by the user as a second software group,
The reservation unit of the license management apparatus displaying the first software group and the second software group;
<br/> license management methods, including.   A license management method by a license management device,
  Authenticating the user of the software;
  Displaying a list of software that can be used by the user based on software user information and license information for managing a license usage range for each software;
  Receiving reservation information including software selected by the user and a use date and time of the selected software;
  Determining whether the selected software can be used based on the license usage information for managing the usage status of the license and the reservation information;
  Including
  The step of displaying a list of the software includes:
  Extracting a list of software owned by the user's company as a first software group based on the license information;
  Even if the software is owned by a company to which the user does not belong, based on the license information and company-related information that manages information related to the company that owns the license, the user Extracting a list of available software as a second software group;
  Displaying the first software group and the second software group;
  including
License management method. Program for executing a license management method according to CPU to claim 6 or 7.

Images