Accounting for usage and usage-based pricing of runtime engine

In a computer network or standalone computer, a method of measuring usage of a virtual machine that supports a software platform independent of the type of operating system used, the method comprising:

• componentizing a computer application into a plurality of units of work processable by the virtual machine independent of the type of operating system used, each of the units of work being based on an abstract runtime unit of work, the computer application being a software or integration application associated with the software platform;
• assigning a cost value to each unit of work;
• receiving a request from a client to perform the computer application;
• in response to the request from the client, operating the computer application through the virtual machine, the virtual machine performing the following as the computer application is operating:
• intercepting a request from the computer application to perform an application component, the application component being equivalent to one or more of the units of work;
• and
• in response to the intercepted request, performing the equivalent one or more units of work instead of the application component;
• and
• determining a total cost value of the one or more performed units of work based on the cost value assigned to each unit of work, the total cost value being operating system independent.

A system that measures usage of a computer network or standalone computer, the system comprising:

• one or more computing devices;
• a virtual machine that runs on at least one of the one or more computing devices, the virtual machine supporting a software platform of a plurality of software or integration computer applications componentized into a plurality of units of work processable by the virtual machine independent of the type of operating system used, each unit of work being based on an abstract runtime unit of work, the runtime engine being configured to:
• receive a request from a client to perform a computer application, the computer application being a software or integration application associated with the software platform;
• and
• in response to the request from the client, operate the computer application and perform the following while operating the computer application:
• intercept a request from the computer application to perform an application component, the application component being equivalent to one or more of the units of work;
• and
• in response to the intercepted request, perform the equivalent one or more units of work instead of the application component;
• and
• a metering module that runs on at least one of the one or more computing devices, the metering module being configured to determine a total usage value based on the one or more units of work performed by the virtual machine to reflect a fundamentally non-time based and operating system independent amount of usage of the virtual machine.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed, measure usage of a virtual machine that supports a software platform independent of the type of operating system used by performing the following method:

• componentizing a computer application into a plurality of units of work processable by the virtual machine independent of the type of operating system used, wherein each of the units of work are based on an abstract runtime unit of work;
• receiving a request from a client to perform a computer application that is a software or integration application associated with the software platform;
• in response to the request from the client, operating the computer application through the virtual machine, wherein the virtual machine performs the following as the computer application is operating:
• intercepting a request from the computer application to perform an application component, the application component being equivalent to one or more of the units of work;
• and
• in response to the intercepted request, performing the equivalent one or more units of work instead of the application component;
• and
• determining a total usage value based on the one or more performed units of work to reflect a fundamentally non-time based and operating system independent amount of usage of the virtual machine.

In a computer network or standalone computer, a method of measuring usage of a virtual machine, the virtual machine comprising a service-oriented programming platform, the method comprising:

• componentizing a service-oriented computer application into a plurality of units of work processable by the virtual machine independent of the type of operating system used, each unit of work being a consumption or execution or invocation of a service;
• receiving a request from a client to perform the service-oriented computer application, the computer application being a software or integration application;
• in response to the request from the client, operating the service-oriented computer application through the virtual machine, the virtual machine performing the following as the computer application is operating:
• intercepting a request from the computer application to perform a composite service, the composite service comprising one or more nested services, each of the nested services being equivalent to one or more of the units of work;
• and
• in response to the intercepted request, performing the equivalent one or more units of work corresponding to the requested composite service instead of the requested composite service;
• and
• determining a total usage value based on the one or more performed units of work to reflect a fundamentally non-time based and operating system independent amount of usage of the virtual machine.