Patent ID: 8782192

Claim:
A method comprising: accessing, by a processor, a set of subscription parameters comprising a resource consumption limit for a set of resources consumed by a set of virtual machines; accessing, by the processor, a set of usage history data comprising at least a set of subscription events for the set of virtual machines; generating, by the processor, a set of translatable time periods to which the set of subscription events can be assigned, wherein each of the set of translatable time periods is temporally shifted from others of the set of translatable time periods and each of the set of subscription events is assigned to one or more corresponding translatable time periods of the set of translatable time periods; generating, by the processor, a set of translation outcomes for a user of the set of virtual machines for each of the translatable time periods in view of assigned subscription events, wherein the set of translation outcomes comprises at least an identified change in the set of subscription costs of the user over the set of translatable time periods; identifying, by the processor, a translated base period from the set of translatable time periods for which the set of subscription parameters will be applied to the usage history in view of applying selection criteria to the set of translation outcomes; and tracking, by the processor, resource usage of the user in view of the identified translated base period to determine a corresponding set of subscription costs.