Patent ID: 8229858

Claim:
A method, comprising: creating, by a remote feature activation system including a processor, an enterprise record corresponding to an enterprise network and first, second, and third system records corresponding to first, second, and third computational components, respectively, in the enterprise network, the first, second, and third system records having first, second, and third system capacities, respectively, for an enterprise-level licensable feature and fifth, sixth, and seventh system capacities, respectively, for a non-enterprise-level licensable feature, wherein the first, second, and third capacities for the enterprise-level licensable feature are freely transferable, by a customer, to any of the first, second, and third computational components, and wherein the fifth, sixth, and seventh non-enterprise level licensable capacities are not freely transferable, by the customer, to another of the first, second, and third computational components; during a first time interval, associating, at a first request of the customer, with the enterprise record, and by the remote feature activation system, the first and second system records; during the first time interval, creating and delivering, by the remote feature activation system, a first master license to the enterprise network, the first master license governing and permitting a total capacity for the enterprise-level licensable feature in the enterprise network that is at least the sum of the first and second system capacities; during the first time interval, creating and delivering first and second standard licenses to the first and second computational components, respectively, the first and second standard licenses having respective ones of the first, second, fifth, and sixth system capacities, wherein the first and second standard licenses include feature and maximum feature capacity information; during a second time interval, associating, at a second request of the customer, with the enterprise record, and by the remote feature activation system, the first and third system records, but not the second system record; during the second time interval, creating and delivering, by the remote feature activation system, a second master license to the enterprise network, the second master license permitting a total capacity for the enterprise-level licensable feature in the enterprise network that is a sum of at least the first and third system capacities, the sum excluding the second system capacity, wherein at least one of the first and second master licenses replaces the other of the first and second master licenses; and during the second time interval, creating and delivering a third standard license to the third computational component, the third standard license including the third and seventh system capacities.