TWI904868B - Cloud budget management system and operation method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A cloud budget management system and operation method thereof are provided. The operation method includes: storing a plurality of approved information through a budget control module; receiving an application form and a supporting file corresponding to a public cloud service and generating a form image based on the application form through the budget control module; outputting an application approval notification based on the application form through an approval module; in response to receiving an application permission notification corresponding to the application approval notification and an application item in the application form is a new application, using the application form and the supporting file as a first approved information through the approval module; periodically establishing a budget check list based on the plurality of approved information and performing a budget check operation based on the budget check list through a resource allocation module; and in response to the budget check operation being abnormal, generating and outputting a budget overrun notification through the resource allocation module.

Description

Cloud-based budget management system and its operation method

This invention relates to a budget management technology, and more particularly to a cloud-based budget management system and its operation method.

Hybrid cloud computing combines private cloud infrastructure (e.g., an enterprise's internal computing infrastructure) with public cloud infrastructure. Public cloud infrastructure provides fast, reliable, and scalable computing services via public internet provided by third-party vendors. Hybrid cloud infrastructure allows an enterprise to extend its internal computing infrastructure to the public cloud to adjust computing resources. To further clarify, unlike private cloud infrastructure, when an enterprise purchases public cloud services from a third-party vendor, it only needs to pay for the usage of memory, bandwidth, or processing cycles, and does not need to pay for the maintenance and development of the public cloud infrastructure. Therefore, how to effectively monitor the budget for public cloud services is a key concern for those in this field.

In view of this, the present invention provides a cloud budget management system and its operation method, which can integrate the application process of public cloud services with budget monitoring to save network resources, avoid budget overruns and improve data security.

This invention discloses a cloud-based budget management system, including a processor and storage media. The processor is coupled to the storage media. The storage media stores multiple modules. The processor accesses and executes the multiple modules. The multiple modules include a budget control module, an approval module, and a resource allocation module. The budget control module stores multiple approved information records. The budget control module is used to receive application forms and supporting documents corresponding to public cloud services, and generate form images based on the application forms. The approval module is used to output application approval notifications based on the application forms. Upon receiving an application approval notice corresponding to the application approval notification, and if the application item on the application form is a new application, the approval module treats the application form and supporting documents as the first approved information and stores this first approved information in the budget control module. The resource allocation module is used to periodically create a budget checklist based on multiple approved information and perform budget check operations based on the budget checklist. In response to an anomaly in the budget check operation, the resource allocation module generates and outputs a budget overrun notification.

The present invention provides an operating method for a cloud-based budget management system. The operation method includes: the budget control module storing multiple approved information records; the budget control module receiving application forms and supporting documents corresponding to public cloud services, and generating form images based on the application forms; the approval module outputting an application approval notification based on the application forms; in response to receiving an application permission notification corresponding to the application approval notification and the application items on the application form being new applications, the approval module treating the application forms and supporting documents as the first approved information and storing the first approved information in the budget control module; the resource allocation module periodically creating a budget checklist based on multiple approved information records and performing budget check operations based on the budget checklist; and in response to budget check operations being abnormal, the resource allocation module generating and outputting a budget overrun notification.

Based on the above, the cloud budget management system and its operation method of this invention can integrate the application process and budget monitoring of public cloud services. When the budget of public cloud services is exceeded, the applicant and/or relevant responsible persons can be notified according to the information when applying for public cloud services, so as to deal with the over-budget public cloud services in a timely manner, which can save network resources, avoid budget overruns and improve data security.

Some embodiments of this invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Component symbols referenced in the following description will be considered as the same or similar components when the same component symbol appears in different accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a cloud-based budget management system, terminal devices, and a public cloud according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to Figure 1. The cloud-based budget management system 100 includes a processor 110, storage media 120, and a transceiver 130. The cloud-based budget management system 100 and the terminal devices 200-1 to 200-N may belong to, for example, an enterprise or a telecommunications company.

Processor 110 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), or other programmable general-purpose or special-purpose microcontroller (MCU), microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), programmable controller, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), graphics processing unit (GPU), image signal processor (ISP), image processing unit (IPU), arithmetic logic unit (ALU), complex programmable logic device (CPLD), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other similar components or combinations thereof. The processor 110 is coupled to the storage medium 120 and the transceiver 130.

Storage medium 120 may be any type of fixed or removable random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD), solid-state drive (SSD), or similar components or combinations thereof, used to store multiple modules executable by processor 110 to implement the operation method of cloud budget management system 100 of the present invention. The multiple modules include a budget control module 121, an approval module 122, and a resource allocation module 123. Budget control module 121 stores multiple pieces of information corresponding to all approved (i.e., current) public cloud services (i.e., multiple approved records).

Transceiver 130 transmits and receives signals wirelessly or via wire. Transceiver 130 can also perform operations such as low-noise amplification, impedance matching, mixing, up or down frequency conversion, filtering, amplification, and similar functions.

Terminal devices 200-1 to 200-N may include, but are not limited to, electronic devices such as desktop computers, laptop computers, network computers, workstations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and personal computers (PCs).

Public cloud services 300 can include, for example, public cloud service platforms such as Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

Figure 2 illustrates a flowchart of a service application operation according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the service application operation can be implemented by the cloud budget management system 100 shown in Figure 1. Please refer to Figures 1 and 2. When an employee of an enterprise or telecommunications company wants to apply for public cloud services from public cloud 300, the employee can, for example, fill out an application form on terminal device 200-1 and upload the application form and supporting documents to cloud budget management system 100 through terminal device 200-1, so that cloud budget management system 100 executes the service application operation as shown in Figure 2.

In step S201, the budget control module 121 can receive the application form and supporting documents corresponding to the public cloud service. Specifically, the budget control module 121 can receive the application form and supporting documents corresponding to the public cloud service from the terminal device 200-1 via transceiver 130. In one embodiment, the application form may include, but is not limited to, form number, application item, applicant information, public cloud name characteristics, public cloud service identifier, and service budget quota. For example, the application item can be a new application or an adjustment application. For example, a new application is for adding a new public cloud service. For example, an adjustment application is for updating the budget quota of an existing public cloud service. For example, the applicant information is the name and/or employee number of the employee instructing the completion of the application form. For example, public cloud name characteristics can be used to indicate the type of public cloud 300. For example, a public cloud service identifier can be a unique identifier used to indicate the public cloud service to be requested. For example, the service budget is the budget amount required for the public cloud service to be requested. In one embodiment, supporting documentation can be, for example, reference data used when preparing the service budget.

In step S202, the budget control module 121 can generate a form image based on the application form. In one embodiment, the budget control module 121 can, for example, perform a screenshot operation on the application form to generate a form image.

In step S203, the approval module 122 can output an application approval notification based on the application form. Specifically, the approval module 122 can output the application approval notification to terminal devices 200-2 to 200-N via transceiver 130 based on the applicant information in the application form. Further, the applicant information can be used to indicate the name and/or employee number of the employee applying for public cloud services 300, and the approval module 122 can output the application approval notification to the terminal devices 200-2 to 200-N belonging to the employee's supervisor and/or relevant responsible person based on the applicant information in the application form. In one embodiment, the application approval notification includes, but is not limited to, form images and supporting documents. The supervisor and/or relevant personnel may decide whether to approve the application for this public cloud service based on the form image and supporting documents. If the supervisor and/or relevant personnel decide to approve the application for this public cloud service, they may output the application permission notification to the cloud budget management system 100 through terminal devices 200-2~200-N.

Therefore, in step S204, the approval module 122 can determine whether it has received the application for permission. If no application for permission has been received, proceed to step S205; otherwise, proceed to step S206.

In step S205, the approval module 122 can output an application failure notification. Specifically, the approval module 122 can output the application failure notification to the terminal device 200-1 via transceiver 130 to notify the employee who wants to apply for public cloud services.

On the other hand, in step S206, the approval module 122 can further determine whether the application item in the application form is a new application. If so, proceed to step S207; otherwise, if not (meaning the application item is a change application), proceed to step S208.

In step S207, the approval module 122 can use the form image and supporting documents as the first approved information. In an example embodiment, the budget control module 121 stores multiple approved information corresponding to all approved public cloud services. Since this public cloud service is approved, the approval module 122 can use the form image and supporting documents corresponding to this public cloud service as the first approved information and store the first approved information in the budget control module 121.

In step S208, the approval module 122 can update the second approved information corresponding to the public cloud service. In one example embodiment, the multiple approved information stored in the budget control module 121 includes multiple approved form images and multiple approved supporting documents. The approval module 122 can update the second approved information corresponding to this public cloud service from among the multiple approved information. For example, the approval module 122 can update the approved form images and/or approved supporting documents of the second approved information.

Based on the above, the cloud budget management system 100 can store the approved information of all public cloud services successfully applied for by the enterprise or telecommunications company through the budget management module 121, and update the approved information in real time through the approval module 122 after the public cloud services are adjusted, so as to effectively manage the data on successfully applied public cloud services. In addition, the cloud budget management system 100 can take a screenshot of the application form through the budget management module 121 to generate a form image, thus visualizing the application form to avoid data loss during transmission.

Figure 3 illustrates a flowchart of a budget check operation according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the budget check operation can be implemented by the cloud budget management system 100 shown in Figure 1. Please refer to Figures 1 and 3. The resource allocation module 123 can perform the budget check operation periodically (e.g., daily) to ensure that the actual usage of all public cloud services belonging to the enterprise or telecommunications company is not over-specified.

In step S301, the resource allocation module 123 can periodically create a budget checklist based on multiple approved information. Specifically, the resource allocation module 123 can periodically obtain multiple approved information corresponding to all approved public cloud services from the budget control module 121, and create a budget checklist based on the multiple approved information to perform budget check operations based on the budget checklist.

In step S302, resource allocation module 123 can obtain the actual usage amount based on a budget checklist. In an example embodiment, the budget checklist may include, but is not limited to, multiple form numbers, multiple public cloud name characteristics, multiple public cloud service identifiers, and multiple service budget amounts corresponding to all approved public cloud services. Resource allocation module 123 can check one by one whether the actual usage amount of all approved public cloud services has exceeded the budget. Specifically, resource allocation module 123 can obtain the actual usage amount one by one from the corresponding public cloud (e.g., public cloud 300) based on the multiple public cloud name characteristics and multiple public cloud service identifiers in the budget checklist.

In step S303, the resource allocation module 123 can determine whether the actual usage amount exceeds the service budget. In one embodiment, the resource allocation module 123 can determine whether the actual usage amount of a public cloud service exceeds its corresponding service budget. If the actual usage amount exceeds its corresponding service budget, the resource allocation module 123 can determine that the budget check operation for this public cloud service is abnormal and proceed to step S304; conversely, if the actual usage amount is not greater than its corresponding service budget, the resource allocation module 123 can determine that the budget check operation for this public cloud service is normal and proceed to step S305.

In step S304, the resource allocation module 123 can output a budget overrun notification. Specifically, when the actual usage amount of a public cloud service exceeds its corresponding service budget (i.e., the budget of a public cloud service is overrun), the resource allocation module 123 can obtain the corresponding form information from the budget control module 121 based on the form number corresponding to this public cloud service, and obtain the applicant information corresponding to this public cloud service based on the form information. Based on the applicant information, the module outputs a budget overrun notification through transceiver 130 to notify the applicant and/or relevant person in charge of this public cloud service to adjust the service budget of this public cloud service (for example, by executing an change request for the service application operation as shown in Figure 2).

In step S305, resource allocation module 123 can determine whether the actual consumption amount is the last one. Specifically, resource allocation module 123 checks one by one whether the actual usage amount of all approved public cloud services has exceeded the budget. That is, resource allocation module 123 obtains the actual usage amount one by one based on the budget checklist to check whether the actual usage amount has exceeded the budget. Therefore, if the actual consumption amount is the last one, it means that the actual usage amount of all approved public cloud services has been checked and the budget check operation can be completed; otherwise, if the actual consumption amount is not the last one, steps S302 to S305 are repeated until the actual usage amount of all approved public cloud services has been checked and the budget check operation is completed.

Based on the above, the cloud budget management system 100 of this invention can periodically check whether the budget of all approved public cloud services is over-specified, based on the approved information stored in the budget control module 121, through the resource allocation module 123. When a budget over-specification occurs, the system outputs a budget over-specification notification to the applicant and/or relevant responsible persons, so as to effectively control and adjust the budget of public cloud services.

Figure 4 illustrates a flowchart of a form retrieval operation according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the form retrieval operation can be implemented by the cloud budget management system 100 shown in Figure 1. Please refer to Figures 1 and 4. When an employee of an enterprise or telecommunications company wants to retrieve approved information (i.e., approved form images and their corresponding approved supporting documents) stored in the budget control module 121, the user can send a retrieval request to the cloud budget management system 100 via a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 200-3).

In step S401, the budget control module 121 can receive query requests. Specifically, the budget control module 121 can receive query requests through transceiver 130.

In step S402, the budget control module 121 can obtain a third approved information from multiple approved information records based on the form number to be queried. In one embodiment, the query request includes, but is not limited to, the queryer information and the form number to be queried. The budget control module 121 may, for example, obtain the third approved information having an image of an approved form corresponding to the form number to be queried.

In step S403, the budget control module 121 can determine whether the viewer information matches the third approved information. Specifically, the approved form image can be, for example, a screenshot of an application form (or generated from an application form). The budget control module 121 can obtain an applicant's information through the approved form image in the third approved information and determine whether this applicant information matches the viewer information. To further explain, the queryer information can be used to indicate the name and/or employee number of an employee who wants to query the third approved information. The budget control module 121 can determine whether the queryer information is consistent with the applicant information (that is, whether the employee is the applicant corresponding to the third approved information), or determine whether the employee is the supervisor and/or relevant person in charge of the applicant corresponding to the third approved information based on the applicant information and the queryer information.

If the employee is the applicant corresponding to the third approved information, or their supervisor and/or relevant person in charge, the budget control module 121 can determine that the queryer's information matches the third approved information and proceed to step S404. In step S404, the budget control module 121 can output the third approved information. The budget control module 121 can output the third approved information to the terminal device 200-3 via transceiver 130, so that the employee can query the third approved information.

On the other hand, if the employee is not the applicant corresponding to the third approved information, or their supervisor and/or relevant person in charge, the budget control module 121 can determine that the information of the person seeking access does not match the third approved information and proceed to step S405. In step S405, the budget control module 121 can output a search failure notification. Specifically, the budget control module 121 can output a search failure notification through transceiver 130 to notify the employee that they do not have the right to access the information.

Based on the above, the cloud budget management system 100 of this invention can manage the approved information of all successfully applied public cloud services through the budget control module 121, and manage the access permissions accordingly, so as to avoid the problem of permission crossing management and effectively ensure the security of data.

Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart of the operation method of a cloud budget management system according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the operation method can be implemented by a cloud budget management system 100 as shown in Figure 1. Please refer to Figures 1 and 5. In step S501, the budget control module 121 stores multiple approved information entries. In step S502, the budget control module 121 receives the application form and supporting documents corresponding to the public cloud service, and generates a form image based on the application form. In step S503, the approval module 122 outputs an application approval notification based on the application form. In step S504, in response to receiving an application approval notice corresponding to the application approval notification and the application item on the application form being a new application, the approval module 122 treats the application form and supporting documents as the first approved information and stores the first approved information in the budget control module 121. In step S505, the resource allocation module 123 creates a budget checklist based on multiple approved information and performs a budget check operation based on the budget checklist. In step S506, in response to an abnormal budget check operation, the resource allocation module 123 generates and outputs a budget overrun notification. The implementation details of steps S501 to S506 have been clearly explained in the aforementioned embodiments and will not be repeated here.

In summary, the cloud-based budget management system and its operating method of this invention can integrate the application process of public cloud services with budget monitoring and further manage access permissions, effectively saving network resources, avoiding budget overruns and improving data security.

Although the present invention has been disclosed above by way of embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone with ordinary skill in the art may make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be determined by the appended patent application.

100: Cloud Budget Management System 110: Processor 120: Storage Media 121: Budget Control Module 122: Approval Module 123: Resource Allocation Module 130: Transceiver 200-1, 200-2, 200-3, 200-N: Terminal Equipment 300: Public Cloud S201, S202, S203, S204, S205, S206, S207, S208, S301, S302, S303, S304, S305, S401, S402, S403, S404, S405, S501, S502, S503, S504, S505, S506: Steps

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a cloud-based budget management system, terminal equipment, and a public cloud according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a flowchart of a service application operation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a flowchart of a budget check operation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a flowchart of a form viewing operation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a flowchart of the operation method of the cloud-based budget management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

100: Cloud-based Budget Management System

110: Processor

120: Storage Media

121: Budget Control Module

122: Approval Module

123: Resource Allocation Module

130: Transceiver

200-1, 200-2, 200-3, 200-N: terminal equipment

300: Public Cloud

Claims (12)

A cloud-based budget management system includes: a storage medium for storing multiple modules; and a processor coupled to the storage medium and for accessing and executing the modules, wherein the modules include: a budget control module for storing multiple approved information records and for receiving application forms and supporting documents corresponding to public cloud services, and generating a form image based on the application form; an approval module for outputting an application approval notification based on the application form, wherein in response to receiving an application approval notification corresponding to the application approval notification and the application item in the application form being a new application, the approval module uses the form image and the supporting documents as first approved information and stores the first approved information in the budget control module; and The resource allocation module periodically generates a budget checklist based on the approved information and performs budget checks based on the checklist. In response to an anomaly in the budget check, the resource allocation module generates and outputs a budget overrun notification. The cloud-based budget management system as described in claim 1, wherein the budget control module performs a screenshot operation on the application form to generate an image of the form. As described in claim 1, in response to receiving the application permission notification and the application item being a change application, the approval module updates the second approved information in the approved information corresponding to the form image. The cloud budget management system as described in Request 1, wherein the application form includes the application item, form number, applicant information, public cloud name feature value, public cloud service identifier and service budget amount. The cloud budget management system as described in claim 1, wherein the license application notification includes the public cloud service and the supporting documentation. The cloud budget management system as described in claim 1, wherein in response to not receiving a notification of application permission, the approval module outputs an application failure notification. The cloud-based budget management system as described in claim 1, wherein the approved information includes multiple approved form images and multiple approved supporting documents. The cloud-based budget management system as described in claim 1, wherein the budget control module is further configured to: receive a query request, wherein the query request includes queryer information and a form number to be queried; based on the form number to be queried, obtain third approved information from the approved information; determine whether the queryer information matches the third approved information; if yes, output the third approved information; and if no, output a query failure notification. The cloud budget management system as described in claim 1, wherein the budget checklist includes multiple form numbers, multiple public cloud name characteristics, multiple public cloud service identifiers, and multiple service budget amounts. The cloud-based budget management system as described in claim 1, wherein the resource allocation module is further configured to: obtain the actual usage amount based on the budget checklist; determine whether the actual usage amount exceeds the service budget limit; and in response to the actual usage amount exceeding the service budget limit, determine that the budget check operation is abnormal. The public cloud budget management system as described in claim 10 determines that the budget check operation is normal in response to the actual usage amount not exceeding the service budget amount. An operating method for a cloud-based budget management system includes: Storing multiple approved information records by a budget control module; Receiving application forms and supporting documents corresponding to public cloud services by the budget control module, and generating a form image based on the application form; Outputting an application approval notification by an approval module based on the application form; In response to receiving an application approval notification corresponding to the application approval notification and finding that the application item on the application form is a new application, the approval module treats the form image and the supporting documents as first approved information and stores the first approved information in the budget control module; Periodically building a budget checklist by a resource allocation module based on the approved information, and performing budget check operations based on the budget checklist; and In response to an anomaly in the budget check operation, the resource allocation module generates and outputs a budget overrun notification.