Patent ID: 8473376

Claim:
A method for accounting for data processing system service usage, comprising: metering, with a data processing system, network usage in network usage bits per unit time; integrating, with the data processing system, network usage over a billing period to determine a total number of network usage bits; metering, with the data processing system, storage usage in storage usage bits per unit time; integrating, with the data processing system, storage usage over the billing period to determine a total number of storage usage bits; metering, with the data processing system, processor usage in processor usage bits per unit time; integrating, with the data processing system, processor usage over the billing period to determine a total number of processor usage bits; converting, with the data processing system, the total number of network usage bits into a first number of information value units; converting, with the data processing system, the total number of storage usage bits into a second number of the information value units; converting, with the data processing system, the total number of processor usage bits into a third number of the information value units; summing, with the data processing system, the first number and the second number and the third number of the information value units to determine a total number of the information value units; multiplying, with the data processing system, the total number of the information value units by an amount of money per information value unit to provide a total customer bill, wherein the amount of money per information value unit is adjusted based on customer usage patterns of network usage, storage usage, and processor usage and the relative value of network usage, storage usage, and processor usage; and storing, with the data processing system, the total customer bill.