JP7318326B2 - Information processing system and method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to information processing systems and methods.

Conventionally, cloud systems are known that provide information processing services to client devices such as personal computers and smartphones via networks such as the Internet. A cloud system adopts either a multi-tenant system (hereinafter also referred to as a multi-tenant system) or a single tenant system.

In a multi-tenant system, when receiving services from a cloud system, a user first establishes a service usage environment, also called a tenant, on a server. Subsequently, the user, for example, installs an application program to be used (hereinafter also referred to as application or app) to the opened tenant. As a result, the user can use the function of the application introduced to the tenant using the client device. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a configuration for sharing applications for creating and exchanging customized applications in a multi-tenant database environment.

Tenants have user management functions, and the first user of a tenant is an "administrator" who has administrative rights to manage the tenant, such as adding users. Users are classified into "administrators" who have administrator privileges and "general users" who do not have administrator privileges. In conventional multi-tenant systems, each tenant has at least one administrator, and the last administrator is prevented from being deleted so that all the administrators of each tenant are not deleted.

However, due to retirement or illness of the manager, the manager may not be able to perform the duties as the manager. In other words, although there are people who have been granted administrator privileges, they are not functioning as administrators, and there are no people who perform their duties as administrators (hereafter referred to as active administrators). I had a problem with it.

Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention, the object is to make the tenant have an administrator when there is no active administrator in the tenant.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-tenant system that manages administrators who are granted administrator privileges for tenants and general users who are not granted administrator privileges. , a client device, wherein data indicating a request to elect a new administrator and a user identifier are received from the client device, wherein the user identifier is the general user identifier. and a selection unit that selects a new administrator from among the general users belonging to the tenant of the user and grants administrator authority.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a tenant can be put into a state where there is an administrator when there are no active administrators.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a PC and each server according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of an MFP according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is a functional block diagram of an administrator selection server according to one embodiment of the present invention. It is an example of data stored in a tenant information storage unit according to one embodiment of the present invention. It is an example of data stored in a user information storage unit according to one embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a flowchart of manager selection processing <election example 1> according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a flowchart of manager selection processing <selection example 2> according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of manager selection processing <election example 3> according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is an example of a screen displayed on a client device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an example of a screen displayed on a client device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an example of a screen displayed on a client device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Each embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and drawings, constituent elements having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, thereby omitting redundant description.

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an information processing system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, an information processing system 1 includes a cloud system (multi-tenant system) 10 and a plurality of client devices 20a to 20f (hereinafter collectively referred to as client devices 20). The cloud system 10 and each client device 20 are communicably connected via an arbitrary network 30 . Each of these will be described below.

The cloud system 10 provides any information processing service to the client device 20 via the network 30 . The cloud system 10 includes an administrator selection server 11 and a service providing server 12 . In FIG. 1, the administrator selection server 11 and the service providing server 12 are described as separate devices, but the administrator selection server 11 and the service providing server 12 may be implemented in one device.

The administrator selection server 11 executes a process for making a tenant have an administrator when there is no longer an active administrator (that is, a person who performs duties as an administrator). The administrator selection server 11 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

Here, the tenant will be explained. A tenant is a group of users who use the information processing service provided by the cloud system (multi-tenant system) 10 . A user can use an information processing service provided by the cloud system (multi-tenant system) 10 that is permitted by the tenant to which the user belongs.

The service providing server 12 executes processing for providing any information processing service to the client device 20 via the network 30 .

The client device 20 can use information processing services provided by the cloud system 10 . In addition, the client device 20 can execute processing for making the tenant have an administrator when there is no active administrator in the tenant. It should be noted that the client device 20 that uses the information processing service provided by the cloud system 10 and the client device 20 that executes a process to make the tenant have an administrator when there is no active administrator are separate. device. For example, the client device 20 is a personal computer, a smart phone, an image forming device (for example, a multifunction peripheral (MFP)), or the like.

Users of each tenant (for example, ABC Corporation and XYZ Corporation in FIG. 1) use client devices 20 (for example, client devices 20a to 20d for ABC Corporation in FIG. 1, and client devices 20e for XYZ Corporation). 20f), the information processing service provided by the cloud system (multi-tenant system) 10 can be used. In addition, users of each tenant (for example, ABC Corporation and XYZ Corporation in FIG. 1) use client devices 20 (for example, client devices 20a to 20d for ABC Corporation in FIG. 1, client devices 20a to 20d for XYZ Corporation, Devices 20e-20f) can be used to perform processing to bring an administrator into existence when a tenant has no active administrator.

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a PC and servers 11, 12, and 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, a PC (personal computer) and each of the servers 11, 12 and 20 are constructed by computers, and as shown in FIG. HDD (Hard Disk Drive) controller 105, display 106, external device connection I/F (Interface) 108, network I/F 109, data bus 110, keyboard 111, pointing device 112, DVD-RW (Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable) drive 114 , media I/F 116 .

Among them, the CPU 101 controls the operations of the PC and the servers 11, 12, and 20 as a whole. The ROM 102 stores programs used to drive the CPU 101 such as IPL. A RAM 103 is used as a work area for the CPU 101 . The HD 104 stores various data such as programs. The HDD controller 105 controls reading or writing of various data to/from the HD 104 under the control of the CPU 101 . The display 106 displays various information such as cursors, menus, windows, characters, and images. The external device connection I/F 108 is an interface for connecting various external devices. The external device in this case is, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a printer, or the like. A network I/F 109 is an interface for data communication using the communication network 30 . A bus line 110 is an address bus, a data bus, or the like for electrically connecting each component such as the CPU 101 shown in FIG.

Also, the keyboard 111 is a kind of input means having a plurality of keys for inputting characters, numerical values, various instructions, and the like. The pointing device 112 is a kind of input means for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting a processing target, moving a cursor, and the like. A DVD-RW drive 114 controls reading or writing of various data to a DVD-RW 113 as an example of a removable recording medium. It should be noted that not only DVD-RW but also DVD-R or the like may be used. A media I/F 116 controls reading or writing (storage) of data to a recording medium 115 such as a flash memory.

FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the MFP 20 according to one embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 3 , MFP (Multifunction Peripheral/Product/Printer) 20 includes controller 210 , short-range communication circuit 220 , engine control section 230 , operation panel 240 and network I/F 250 .

Among them, the controller 210 includes a CPU 201, a system memory (MEM-P) 202, a north bridge (NB) 203, a south bridge (SB) 204, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 206, a storage unit, which is the main part of the computer. , a local memory (MEM-C) 207 , an HDD controller 208 , and an HD 209 as a storage unit.

Among these, the CPU 201 is a control unit that performs overall control of the MFP 20 . The NB 203 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 201, the MEM-P 202, the SB 204, and the AGP bus 221. The NB 203 is a memory controller that controls reading and writing with respect to the MEM-P 202, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) master, and an AGP target. have

The MEM-P 202 is composed of a ROM 202a, which is a memory for storing programs and data for realizing each function of the controller 210, and a RAM 202b, which is used as a drawing memory for expanding the programs and data and for memory printing. The program stored in the RAM 202b is configured to be provided by being recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD, etc., in an installable or executable format. You may

The SB 204 is a bridge for connecting the NB 203 with PCI devices and peripheral devices. The ASIC 206 is an image processing IC (Integrated Circuit) having hardware elements for image processing, and serves as a bridge that connects the AGP bus 221, PCI bus 222, HDD 208 and MEM-C 207, respectively. This ASIC 206 includes a PCI target and AGP master, an arbiter (ARB) that forms the core of the ASIC 206, a memory controller that controls the MEM-C 207, and multiple DMACs (Direct Memory Access Controllers) that rotate image data using hardware logic. , and a PCI unit for transferring data between the scanner unit 231 and the printer unit 232 via the PCI bus 222 . Note that the ASIC 206 may be connected to a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface or an IEEE 1394 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394) interface.

MEM-C 207 is a local memory used as an image buffer for copying and an encoding buffer. The HD 209 is a storage for accumulating image data, accumulating font data used for printing, and accumulating forms. The HD 209 controls reading or writing data to or from the HD 209 under the control of the CPU 201 . The AGP bus 221 is a bus interface for graphics accelerator cards proposed to speed up graphics processing, and can speed up the graphics accelerator card by directly accessing the MEM-P 202 with high throughput. .

The near field communication circuit 220 also includes a near field communication circuit 220a. The short-range communication circuit 220 is a communication circuit for NFC, Bluetooth (registered trademark), or the like.

Further, the engine control section 230 is composed of a scanner section 231 and a printer section 232 . The operation panel 240 displays current setting values, a selection screen, and the like, and also includes a panel display unit 240a such as a touch panel for receiving input from the operator, and setting values for image forming conditions such as density setting conditions. An operation panel 240b is provided, which includes a numeric keypad for accepting a copy start instruction, a start key for accepting a copy start instruction, and the like. The controller 210 controls the entire MFP 20, such as drawing, communication, input from the operation panel 240, and the like. The scanner unit 231 or printer unit 232 includes an image processing section such as error diffusion and gamma conversion.

Note that the MFP 20 can switch and select the document box function, the copy function, the printer function, and the facsimile function in sequence using the application switching key on the operation panel 240 . The document box mode is set when the document box function is selected, the copy mode is set when the copy function is selected, the printer mode is set when the printer function is selected, and the facsimile mode is set when the facsimile mode is selected.

Network I/F 250 is an interface for data communication using communication network 30 . The short-range communication circuit 220 and network I/F 250 are electrically connected to the ASIC 206 via the PCI bus 222 .

<Functional block>
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the administrator selection server 11 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the administrator selection server 11 includes a tenant management unit 301, a user management unit 302, a request acquisition unit 303, a determination unit 304, a selection unit 305, a tenant information storage unit 306, and a user information storage unit 307. be prepared. Further, the administrator election server 11 can function as a tenant management unit 301, a user management unit 302, a request acquisition unit 303, a determination unit 304, and a selection unit 305 by executing programs. Each of these will be described below.

The tenant management unit 301 manages information of tenants who use information processing services provided by the cloud system (multi-tenant system) 10 . Specifically, the tenant management unit 301 stores tenant information in the tenant information storage unit 306 .

Tenant information is stored in the tenant information storage unit 306 . Data stored in the tenant information storage unit 306 will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is an example of data stored in the tenant information storage unit 306 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, an identifier (eg, tenant ID) assigned to each tenant and the name of the tenant (eg, company name) are associated and stored.

Return to FIG. The user management unit 302 manages information of users belonging to each tenant (that is, users who use information processing services provided by the cloud system (multi-tenant system) 10). Specifically, the user management unit 302 causes the user information storage unit 307 to store information on users belonging to each tenant.

The user information storage unit 307 stores information of users belonging to each tenant. Data stored in the user information storage unit 307 will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is an example of data stored in the user information storage unit 307 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, tenant IDs, user IDs, contact information (e-mail addresses), roles, first and last names, and usage statuses (number of usages) are associated and stored. Each of these will be described below.

“Tenant ID” is an identifier (for example, tenant ID) assigned to each tenant. Note that the tenant ID can also include the tenant name.

“User ID” is an identifier (for example, user ID) assigned to each user belonging to the tenant. Note that the user ID can also include a user name.

"Contact" is the contact information (e.g., email address) for the user.

"Role" is the role of the user (for example, role of administrator, general user, etc.). An administrator is a person who has been granted administrator authority to manage tenants, such as adding users. A general user is a person who has not been given administrative privileges.

"Last Name" and "First Name" are the full name of the user.

"Usage status" is the usage status (for example, the number of times of use, the frequency of use) of the information processing service provided by the cloud system (multi-tenant system) 10 in a predetermined period of time of the user.

Return to FIG. The request acquisition unit 303 receives data indicating a request to select a new administrator from the client device 20 operated by a general user. The request acquisition unit 303 receives the "tenant ID" and "user ID" of the general user operating the client device 20 from the client device 20, thereby identifying which user of which tenant the request is from. can do. Note that the request acquisition unit 303 receives the “user ID” of the general user who is operating the client device 20 from the client device 20, and stores the “tenant ID” linked to the “user ID” as user information. By referring in the section 307, it is also possible to specify which user of which tenant the request is from. The request acquisition unit 303 stores the data received from the client device 20 in a memory such as the manager selection server 11 so that the determination unit 304 can refer to the data.

The determining unit 304 determines whether or not the person registered as the "administrator" of the tenant when the request acquiring unit 303 receives the request is an active administrator. Specifically, the determination unit 304 refers to the user information storage unit 307 and stores the "administrator" of the tenant to which the user who sent the request to select a new administrator belongs and the "contact information" of the administrator. to identify The determination unit 304 also requests a response from the administrator of the tenant to which the user who sent the request to select a new administrator belongs. Also, the determination unit 304 determines whether or not the administrator is active, depending on whether or not there is a response within a certain period of time.

For example, the determination unit 304 notifies, by e-mail or the like, a predetermined URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to the administrator of the tenant to which the user who sent the request to select a new administrator belongs. The determination unit 304 can determine whether or not the administrator is an active administrator based on whether or not the URL described in the e-mail or the like is accessed within a certain period of time.

If the user is an active administrator (for example, the URL is accessed), the determination unit 304 notifies the user who sent the request of non-approval of the election of the new administrator by e-mail or the like.

If it was not an active administrator (eg, the URL was not accessed), decision unit 304 determines that a new administrator should be elected.

When the request acquisition unit 303 receives a request, if multiple persons are registered as "administrators" of the tenant to which the user who sent the request belongs, none of the administrators are active administrators. A new administrator may be elected when

The selection unit 305 selects a new administrator. Three selection examples will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. FIG.

<Selection example 1>
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of manager selection processing <election example 1> according to an embodiment of the present invention.

At step 101 (S101), the request acquisition unit 303 receives data indicating a request to elect a new administrator from the client device 20 operated by a general user. In addition, the request acquisition unit 303 receives from the client device 20 the “tenant ID” and “user ID” (or only the “user ID”) of the general user who is operating the client device 20, thereby determining which tenant to identify which user the request came from.

A general user who desires to elect a new administrator transmits data indicating a request for electing a new administrator to the administrator selection server 11 via a screen displayed on the client device 20 as shown in FIG. 10, for example. can do.

In step 102 (S102), the determination unit 304 notifies the administrator of the tenant to which the user who sent the request to select a new administrator in S101 belongs to a predetermined URL by e-mail or the like.

The administrator notified of the predetermined URL can access the predetermined URL via a screen displayed on the client device 20 as shown in FIG. 11, for example.

At step 103 (S103), the determination unit 304 determines whether or not the administrator is an active administrator based on whether or not the URL described in the e-mail or the like of S102 has been accessed. If not, proceed to step 105; otherwise, proceed to step 104;

At step 104 (S104), the determination unit 304 notifies the user who sent the request of the non-approval of the election of the new administrator (that is, the election of the new administrator is not performed) by e-mail or the like. , terminate the process.

In step 105 (S105), the selection unit 305 starts voting for a new administrator for all general users within the tenant to which the user who sent the request to elect a new administrator in S101 belongs. Notify by e-mail, etc.

In step 106 (S106), the selection unit 305 selects a general user within the tenant to which the user who sent the request to elect a new administrator in S101 belongs to, from among all general users within the tenant receive data indicating

A general user can vote for a new administrator from among all general users in the tenant, for example, via a screen displayed on the client device 20 as shown in FIG.

At step 107 (S107), the selection unit 305 determines the general user with the largest number of votes as a candidate for the new administrator based on the voting at S106.

At step 108 (S108), the selection unit 305 requests a response from the new administrator candidates determined at S107. For example, the selection unit 305 notifies the new administrator candidate determined in S107 of a predetermined URL by e-mail or the like.

At step 109 (S109), the selection unit 305 determines whether or not to select a new administrator based on whether or not there is a response within a certain period of time. For example, the selection unit 305 determines whether or not the administrator should be selected as a new administrator based on whether the URL described in the e-mail of S108 or the like is accessed within a certain period of time. If there is a response (eg, the URL is accessed), go to step 110 . If there is no response (for example, the URL has not been accessed), the process returns to step 106 and re-voting is performed among general users other than the new manager candidate determined in S107.

In step 110 (S110), the selection unit 305 grants administrator authority to the new administrator candidate who responded in S109 (for example, accessed the URL).

In step 111 (S111), the selection unit 305 notifies all users in the tenant by e-mail or the like that the person in S110 has been registered as a new administrator.

<Selection example 2>
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of manager selection processing <selection example 2> according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Steps 201 to 204 (S201 to S204) are the same as S101 to 104 in FIG. 7, so description thereof will be omitted.

In step 205 (S205), the selection unit 305 refers to the "usage status" of the user information storage unit 307, and the general user who most uses the information processing service provided by the cloud system (multi-tenant system) 10 ( For example, general users with the highest frequency of use) are extracted.

At step 206 (S206), the selection unit 305 grants administrator authority to the general users extracted at S205.

In step 207 (S207), the selection unit 305 notifies all users in the tenant by e-mail or the like that the person in S206 has been registered as a new administrator.

<Selection example 3>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart of manager selection processing <election example 3> according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Steps 301 to 304 (S301 to S304) are the same as S101 to 104 in FIG. 7, so description thereof will be omitted.

At step 305 (S305), the selection unit 305 grants administrator authority to the general user who sent the request at S301.

In step 306 (S306), the selection unit 305 notifies all users in the tenant by e-mail or the like that the person in S305 has been registered as a new administrator.

In <election example 1> above, administrator authority can be granted to the most trusted user. Also, in <selection example 2>, administrator authority can be given to the user who uses the service the most. In addition, in <Election Example 3>, by granting administrator authority to a user who needs an operation by an administrator, the user can quickly perform an administrator operation by himself/herself.

In addition, in <election example 1> to <election example 3>, when a request for election of a new administrator is made, the current administrator is notified and, if there is a response, a request for election of a new administrator is sent. is revoked, it is possible to prevent inadvertent granting of administrator privileges to general users. In addition, in <election example 1>, if a notification is sent to the new administrator candidate and there is no response, a re-vote is conducted, so administrator authority is given to a person who cannot perform duties as an administrator. can be prevented.

As described above, in one embodiment of the present invention, a request for a new administrator by a general user who is not an administrator is used as a trigger to select a user suitable for an administrator from among general users who are not administrators. Users can be granted administrator privileges.

Each function of the embodiments described above may be implemented by one or more processing circuits. Here, the "processing circuit" in this specification means a processor programmed by software to perform each function, such as a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, or a processor designed to perform each function described above. ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), DSPs (digital signal processors), FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) and devices such as conventional circuit modules.

The devices described in the examples are merely representative of one of several computing environments for implementing the embodiments disclosed herein. In some embodiments, administrator election server 11 includes multiple computing devices, such as a server cluster. Multiple computing devices are configured to communicate with each other over any type of communication link, including a network, shared memory, etc., to perform the processes disclosed herein.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the configurations shown here, such as combinations with other elements, etc., in the configurations described in the above embodiments. These points can be changed without departing from the gist of the present invention, and can be determined appropriately according to the application form.

1 Information processing system 10 Cloud system (multi-tenant system)
11 Administrator selection server 12 Service providing server 20 Client device 30 Network 301 Tenant management unit 302 User management unit 303 Request acquisition unit 304 Judgment unit 305 Selection unit 306 Tenant information storage unit 307 User information storage unit

Japanese Patent No. 5323246

Claims (9)

An information processing system including a multi-tenant system that manages an administrator who is granted administrator authority of a tenant and general users who are not granted administrator authority, and a client device,
a request acquisition unit that receives data indicating a request to elect a new administrator and a user identifier from the client device, wherein the user identifier is the general user identifier;
an information processing system comprising: a selection unit that selects a new administrator from the general users belonging to the tenant of the user and grants administrator authority. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein said election unit elects said new administrator based on votes by said general users belonging to said user's tenant. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein said selection unit selects said new administrator based on the usage status of services provided by said multi-tenant system. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein said selection unit selects, as said new administrator, a user who has transmitted data indicating a request to elect said new administrator. 5. Any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a determination unit that does not approve the election of the new administrator if there is a response from the administrator of the tenant when the request acquisition unit receives the request. or the information processing system according to item 1. 3. The information processing system according to claim 2, wherein said election section performs a re-vote when there is no response from said new administrator who has been elected. A method executed by an information processing system including a client device and a multi-tenant system that manages an administrator who has been granted administrator authority for a tenant and general users who have not been granted administrator authority, ,
said client device sending data indicating a request to elect a new administrator and a user's identifier to said multi-tenant system, said user's identifier being said general user's identifier;
said multi-tenant system electing a new administrator from said general users belonging to said user's tenant and granting administrator authority. A multi-tenant system that manages administrators who are granted administrator privileges for tenants and general users who are not granted administrator privileges,
a request acquisition unit that receives data indicating a request to elect a new administrator and a user identifier, wherein the user identifier is the general user identifier;
a selection unit that selects a new administrator from among the general users belonging to the tenant of the user and grants administrator authority. A method executed by a multi-tenant system that manages administrators who are granted administrator privileges for tenants and general users who are not granted administrator privileges,
receiving data indicating a request to elect a new administrator and a user identifier, wherein said user identifier is said general user identifier;
and selecting a new administrator from among said general users belonging to said user's tenant and granting administrator authority.

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