Aggregation and dissemination of hardware and software inventory data
First Claim
1. A system for collection and consolidation of information gathered from a plurality of remotely located data providers, the system comprising:
- a data gathering specification database that specifies the locations of data providers from which data is to be gathered and the data that is to be gathered;
an information retriever software coupled to the data gathering specification database and effective for establishing communication with the data providers and for retrieving from the data providers the data to be gathered;
a data collector coupled to the information retriever, the data collector including a facility for segregating data records retrieved by the information retriever into data records types and for correlating and consolidating data records received from different data providers according to the data record types;
an analyzer and report generator coupled to the data collector for categorizing information according to desired report formats and for creating report records; and
a report generator for creating and providing consolidated reports of data obtained from the data providers.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method that automates the task of collecting information from different locations on the Internet and converts it from a variety of downloaded formats to standardized or consolidated formats for easier presentation and understanding. The invention includes a Raw Information Retriever, which communicates with various data providers via the Internet or other types of data lines. The raw information is supplied to a data collector which standardizes, consolidates or correlates information gathered from different sources and supplies it to an analyzer and report generator that provides the information to a user in a format that is easier to use or analyze the significance of gathered data.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A system for collection and consolidation of information gathered from a plurality of remotely located data providers, the system comprising:
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a data gathering specification database that specifies the locations of data providers from which data is to be gathered and the data that is to be gathered;
an information retriever software coupled to the data gathering specification database and effective for establishing communication with the data providers and for retrieving from the data providers the data to be gathered;
a data collector coupled to the information retriever, the data collector including a facility for segregating data records retrieved by the information retriever into data records types and for correlating and consolidating data records received from different data providers according to the data record types;
an analyzer and report generator coupled to the data collector for categorizing information according to desired report formats and for creating report records; and
a report generator for creating and providing consolidated reports of data obtained from the data providers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification