METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVISIONING SOFTWARE LICENSES

1 . A method for managing software licenses, comprising:

receiving, from a license pool manager, a cost analysis request comprising application license metadata and a set of user identifiers;

computing a cost analysis score based at least on the application license metadata and the set of user identifiers; and

delivering the cost analysis score to the license pool manager, to be used in a license provisioning assessment for a software license by the license pool manager.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the application license metadata comprises a software application name, a license pool cost, a number of total licenses, and a number of available licenses.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein computing the cost analysis score, comprises:

deriving a provisioned licenses cost using a cardinality of a subset of the set of user identifiers, the license pool cost, and the number of total licenses;

deriving a licensees cost based on at least one licensee client-side indicator history and at least one set of licensee database-side indicators;

making a determination that the number of available licenses reflects a non-zero value;

based on the determination:

deriving an available licenses cost using the number of available licenses, the license pool cost, and the number of total licenses; and

computing the cost analysis score based on the available licenses cost, the provisioned licenses cost, and the licensees cost.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the subset of the set of user identifiers comprises at least one licensee user identifier.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein deriving the licensees cost, comprises:

for each licensee user identifier of the at least one licensee user identifier:

generating a licensee user-application pair comprising the licensee user identifier and the software application name;

obtaining a licensee client-side indicator history associated with the licensee user-application pair;

obtaining a set of licensee database-side indicators associated with the licensee user-application pair;

deriving an individual licensee cost based on the licensee client-side indicator history and the set of licensee database-side indicators; and

combining the individual licensee cost, for each licensee user identifier of the at least one licensee user identifier, to derive the licensees cost.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the licensee client-side indicator history comprises a multivariate time-series reflecting multiple user productivity and resource utilization metrics.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the set of licensee database-side indicators comprises multiple user metadata and project metrics.

8 . The method of claim 2 , wherein computing the cost analysis score, comprises:

deriving a provisioned licenses cost using a cardinality of a first subset of the set of user identifiers, the license pool cost, and the number of total licenses;

deriving a licensees cost based on at least one licensee client-side indicator history and at least one set of licensee database-side indicators;

making a determination that the number of available licenses reflects a zero value;

based on the determination:

deriving a license requestor cost based a second subset of the set of user identifiers; and

computing the cost analysis score based on the license requestor cost, the provisioned licenses cost, and the licensees cost.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the second subset of the set of user identifiers comprises a license requestor user identifier.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein deriving the license requestor cost, comprises:

generating a license requestor user-application pair comprising the license requestor user identifier and the software application name;

obtaining a license requestor client-side indicator history associated with the license requestor user-application pair;

obtaining a set of license requestor database-side indicators associated with the license requestor user-application pair; and

deriving the license requestor cost based on the license requestor client-side indicator history and the set of license requestor database-side indicators.

11 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the software license is a floating software license of a plurality of floating software licenses for a software application associated with the software application name

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the license provisioning assessment, comprises:

making a determination that the cost analysis score satisfies a cost analysis score threshold; and

based on the determination:

approving a provision of the software license to a license requestor.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the license provisioning assessment, comprises:

making a determination that the cost analysis score fails to satisfy a cost analysis score threshold; and

based on the determination:

denying a provision of the software license to a license requestor.

14 . A system, comprising:

a first computer processor configured to:

receive, from a second computer processor, a cost analysis request comprising application license metadata and a set of user identifiers;

compute a cost analysis score based at least on the application license metadata and the set of user identifiers; and

deliver the cost analysis score to the second computer processor, to be used in a license provisioning assessment for a software license by the second computer processor.

15 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first computer processor resides in a first server and the second computer processor resides in a second server operatively connected to the first server.

16 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first computer processor and the second computer processor are co-located in a same server.

17 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a data repository operatively connected to the first computer processor, and comprising user-license mappings; and

a software license pool managed by the first computer processor, and comprising a plurality of software licenses.

18 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a data repository operatively connected to the second computer processor, and comprising user-application mappings; and

a license policy simulator executing on the second computer processor, and configured to perform simulations directed to optimizing a license provisioning policy.

19 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a third computer processor operatively connected to the first and second computer processors; and

a software application executing on the third computer processor,

wherein the software application requires the software license to unlock full functionality.

20 . A non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer processor, enables the computer processor to:

receive, from a license pool manager, a cost analysis request comprising application license metadata and a set of user identifiers;

compute a cost analysis score based at least on the application license metadata and the set of user identifiers; and

deliver the cost analysis score to the license pool manager, to be used in a license provisioning assessment for a software license by the license pool manager.