Management of dynamic assembly and licensing of appliances

Abstract

Methods and arrangements for assembly and licensing of appliances. A base image is created, the base image corresponding to a combination of an operating system and hardware. A purchasing medium client is embedded into the base image, and a provisioning request for a pay-per-use license is developed. A provisioned instance is started, and a product bundle plan is executed. The license is requested from a purchasing medium.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 creating a base image, the base image corresponding to a combination of an operating system and hardware;   embedding a purchasing medium client into the base image;   developing a provisioning request for a pay-per-use license;   starting a provisioned instance;   executing a product bundle plan; and   requesting the license from a purchasing medium.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said developing comprises composing the product bundle plan. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein said executing comprises employing the purchasing medium client. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the purchasing medium comprises an enterprise app store and the purchasing medium client comprises an enterprise app store client. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said requesting is performed dynamically. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein said requesting is performed responsive to a managed product being employed in the provisioned instance. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising monitoring time of use of the license. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the purchasing medium comprises an enterprise app store and the purchasing medium client comprises an enterprise app store client. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising providing a license manager which undertakes procurement, management, and pricing of licenses for at least one managed product and at least one product bundle. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising providing a license manager which undertakes procurement, distribution and pricing for at least one supported managed product. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising providing a license manager which:
 purchases a license and recovers cost based on a period of client usage, thus enabling pay-per-use pricing; and   reuses a license across different projects, wherein software usages are separated in time.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the license manager further:
 amortizes license cost recovery across different instances when a license is reused; and   manages procurement of a licenses based on forecasted demand for a project.