Patent ID: 9426034
Filing Date: 2016-08-23
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method for reducing usage costs incurred by a cloud service consumer through improved allocation and management of cloud service resources, the method comprising the steps of: determining, by one or more computer processors, a configured usage policy, wherein determining the configured usage policy includes receiving one or more responses to a set of configuration prompts, wherein the one or more responses include one or more usage parameters; validating, by one or more computer processors, the configured usage policy; determining, by one or more computer processors, one or more rules governing the configured usage policy, wherein the one or more rules governing the configured usage policy include at least a rule to optimize usage costs to the cloud service consumer based on an actual usage of one or more cloud service resources; executing, by one or more computer processors, the one or more rules governing the configured usage policy, wherein executing the one or more rules includes de-allocating the one or more cloud service resources to align usage costs with the actual usage of the one or more cloud service resources; and managing, by one or more computer processors, the one or more cloud service resources according to the configured usage policy, wherein managing includes negotiating with a cloud service provider for a new rate commensurate to the actual usage of the one or more cloud service resources.