System and method for provisioning resources to users based on roles, organizational information, attributes and third-party information or authorizations

• US 20020156904A1
• Filed: 01/29/2001
• Published: 10/24/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bohren, Jeffrey S., Gullotta, Tony J., Chen, Liangtong, Curie, Jeffrey C.
• Granted Patent: US 6,985,955 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A method for provisioning users with resources is disclosed. The method includes the steps of establishing a set of attributes, organizational information, and user roles and defining a plurality of resource provisioning policies based on selected attributes, organizational information, and user roles. The method also includes the steps of receiving attribute information and user role information for a particular user or resource, determining which resource provisioning policies are applicable to the user based on the received user role information, organizational information, and attribute information, seeking additional information or authorizations from third parties in accordance with the applicable resource provisioning policies, and provisioning the user with the resources specified by the applicable resource provisioning policies if all necessary additional information or authorizations have been received from the third parties. The resources to be provisioned include “hard” resources as well as “soft” resources. “Soft” resources may include e-mail and voice mail accounts, application programs, databases, files, folders, the Internet, Web pages, organizational Intranets, messages to third parties, digital certificates for enabling the user to access encrypted resources, the capability to order products over the Internet, the ability to order a corporate credit card, access to financial services providers, and the like. In addition, users may be provisioned with “hard” resources such as telephones, computers, cellular telephones, pagers, personal digital assistants, desks, chairs, file cabinets, other physical components, and the like. In addition, a user may be provisioned with resource bundles.

Claims

1. A method for provisioning users with resources, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing a set of attributes, organizational information, and user roles;

defining a plurality of resource provisioning policies based on selected attributes, organizational information, and user roles;

receiving attribute information, organizational information, and user role information for a particular user, resource, or database;

determining which resource provisioning policies are applicable to the user based on the received user role information, organizational information, and attribute information;

seeking additional information or authorizations from third parties in accordance with the applicable resource provisioning policies; and

provisioning the user with the resources specified by the applicable resource provisioning policies if all necessary additional information or authorizations have been received from the third parties.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, the step of receiving attribute information, organizational information, and user role information comprising the step of receiving input from a user interface.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, the step of receiving attribute information, organizational information, and user role information for a particular user comprising receiving attribute information and user role information from an employee records database.

4. A method as recited in claim 2, the step of seeking additional information or authorizations from third parties comprising the steps of:

providing the third party with access to the user interface;

indicating to the third party which information or authorization needs to be supplied; and

suspending the provisioning of resources to the user until the additional information or authorization is supplied.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, the step of seeking additional information or authorizations from third parties comprising the steps of:

receiving first additional information or authorizations from third parties in accordance with the applicable resource provisioning policies; and

seeking second additional information or authorizations from other third parties or the user based on the received first additional information or authorizations and the received attribute information, organizational information, and user role information.

6. A system for provisioning users with resources, the system comprising:

a data server for storing a set of attributes, organizational information, and user roles, a plurality of resource provisioning policies based on selected attributes, organizational information, and user roles, and attribute information and user role information for a particular user or resource; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory and an organizational network, the processors programmed for

determining which resource provisioning policies are applicable to the stored user role information, organizational information, and attribute information,

seeking additional information or authorizations from third parties in accordance with the applicable resource provisioning policies, and

provisioning a user with the resources specified by the applicable resource provisioning policies if all necessary additional information or authorizations have been received from the third parties.

7. A system as recited in claim 6, further including a user interface for inputting the attribute information and user role information for a particular user or resource.

8. A system as recited in claim 6, the data server further including an employee records database for storing attribute information and user role information for a particular user.

9. A system as recited in claim 7, the processor further programmed for:

providing the third party with access to the user interface;

indicating to the third party which information or authorization needs to be supplied; and

suspending the provisioning of resources to the user until the additional information or authorization is supplied.

10. A system as recited in claim 6, the processor further programmed for:

receiving first additional information or authorizations from third parties in accordance with the applicable resource provisioning policies; and

seeking second additional information or authorizations from other third parties or the user based on the received first additional information or authorizations and the stored attribute information, organizational information, and user role information.