Patent ID: 8610923

Claim:
An information processing apparatus comprising: a first change unit that changes a setting of a provided function based on a setting change request received from a first external device; a second change unit that changes a setting of a provided function based on a setting change request inputted from an operation part of the apparatus; a storage unit that stores necessity information indicating whether exclusive processing is necessary, the necessity information being set for each function respectively, the exclusive processing indicating: when the first change unit receives a setting change request from the first external device, the first change unit does not receive a setting change request from a second external device different from the first external device and the second change unit does not receive a setting change request from the operation part of the apparatus; and when the second change unit receives a setting change request from the operation part of the apparatus, the first change unit does not receive a setting change request from either the first external device or the second external device; a determination unit that determines whether exclusive processing is necessary based on the necessity information set for function of which the setting change is requested, the necessity information being stored in the storage unit; and a controller that, when the determination unit determines that the exclusive processing is necessary, controls the first change unit not to receive a setting change request from the second external device and the second change unit not to receive a setting change request from the operation part of the apparatus when the first change unit receives a setting change request from the first external device, and controls the first change unit not to receive a setting change request from either the first external device or the second external device when the second change receives a setting change request from the operation part of the apparatus, the exclusive processing being executed until the setting change request has been executed.