Method and system for third party resource provisioning management

• US 20020169876A1
• Filed: 03/06/2001
• Published: 11/14/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Curie, Jeffrey C., Yeh, Frank Jr., Mildenberger, Kai
• Granted Patent: US 6,871,232 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A method and system of provisioning resources from a central location via a third party resource provisioning management (RPM) service provider. Various levels of provisioning may be obtained. Organizations may obtain resource provisioning from a third party RPM resource provider using a third party server. At an affiliate level, various resource vendors may be part of a resource exchange, sharing resources with other affiliates within the exchange. At a public provisioning infrastructure level, an individual organization may obtain access to resources within the infrastructure, subject to receipt of a provisioning ticket and appropriate identity authentication.

Claims

1. A method for provisioning resources of a plurality of organizations using a server, each organization having internal resources, the method comprising the steps of:

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

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

receiving attribute information, organizational information, and user role information from each organization 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; and

provisioning the user from a remote, centralized location with resources based on the applicable resource provisioning policies.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of provisioning takes place over a network.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, further including the step of provisioning users with external resources.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein in the step of receiving, attribute information, organizational information, and user role information is received automatically.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein multiple resources are provisioned in parallel.

6. A method for provisioning resources of a plurality of organizations using a server, each organization having internal resources, the method comprising the steps of:

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

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

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

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

grouping organizations together into a resource exchange; and

cross-provisioning users from a remote, centralized location with resources from organizations within the resource exchange based on the applicable resource provisioning policies.

7. A method as recited in claim 6, further including the step of providing a translational map for organizations within the resource exchange.

8. A method as recited in claim 6, further including the step of providing high level authentication of organizations within the resource exchange.

9. A method as recited in claim 6, further including the step of providing identity synchronization of organizations within the resource exchange.

10. A method as recited in claim 6, further including the step of providing resource registration within the resource exchange.

11. A method as recited in claim 6, further including the step of providing an audit trail for organizations within the resource exchange.

12. A method as recited in claim 6, further including the step of providing anonymity for organizations within the resource exchange.

13. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein multiple resources are provisioned in parallel.

14. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein in the step of receiving, attribute information, organizational information, and user role information is received automatically.

17. A system as recited in claim 16, wherein the third party resource provisioning management service provider provisions the internal resources of each organization over the network at the request of the organization.

18. A system as recited in claim 16, wherein the third party resource provisioning management service provider provisions the internal resources of each organization over the network automatically.

19. A system as recited in claim 16, further comprising external resources, wherein the external resources are provisioned for each organization.

15. A method for provisioning resources of a plurality of organizations using a server in a public provisioning infrastructure, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing a set of attributes, organizational information, and user roles for each organization having resources;

defining a plurality of resource provisioning policies for each organization having resources based on selected attributes, organizational information, and user roles;

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

receiving attribute information, organizational information, and user role information from members of a general public desiring use of a resource within the public provisioning infrastructure;

generating a resource provisioning ticket for the members of the general public;

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

forwarding the provisioning ticket to a vendor of a particular resource.

16. A system for provisioning resources of a plurality of organizations, the system comprising:

a third party resource provisioning management service provider;

a server for provisioning resources, wherein the server is operated by a third party resource provisioning management service provider;

internal resources belonging to each organization; and

a network providing a link between the server and the internal resources.

20. A system for provisioning resources of a plurality of organizations, the system comprising:

a third party resource provisioning management service provider;

a logical server for provisioning resources, wherein the server is operated by a third party resource provisioning management service provider;

a resource exchange made up of the plurality of organizations, each organization having internal resources; and

a network providing a link between the server and the internal resources.

21. A system as recited in claim 20, wherein the third party resource provisioning management service provider cross-provisions the internal resources of each organization within the resource exchange over the network at the request of each organization.

22. A system as recited in claim 20, wherein the third party resource provisioning management service provider cross-provisions the internal resources of each organization within the resource exchange over the automatically.

23. A system as recited in claim 20, further comprising a translational map for organizations within the resource exchange.

24. A system as recited in claim 20, further comprising means for each high level authentication of organizations within the resource exchange.

25. A system as recited in claim 20, further comprising means for identity synchronization of organizations within the resource exchange.

26. A method as recited in claim 20, further including the step of providing resource registration within the resource exchange.

27. A system as recited in claim 20, further comprising means for providing an audit trail for organizations within the resource exchange.

28. A method as recited in claim 20, wherein multiple resources are provisioned in parallel.

29. A system for provisioning resources of a plurality of organizations, the system comprising:

means for establishing a set of attributes, organizational information, and user roles for each organization having resources;

means for defining a plurality of resource provisioning policies for each organization having resources based on selected attributes, organizational information, and user roles;

means for receiving attribute information, organizational information, and user role information from each organization for a particular user, resource, or database;

means for receiving attribute information, organizational information, and user role information from members of a general public desiring use of a resource within the public provisioning infrastructure;

means for generating a resource provisioning ticket for the members of the general public;

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

means for forwarding the provisioning ticket to a vendor of a particular resource.