Method and system for matching complex customer requirements with provider solutions

• US 20030145016A1
• Filed: 01/29/2002
• Published: 07/31/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Shorter, David U., McAuliffe, Kevin P., Bello, Stephen E., Plachy, Emily C., Palmer, John F., Fu, Tze-Rong, Reece, Kathryn Priest
• Granted Patent: US 7,222,116 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/104.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A method and system for forming and procuring an integrated solution to meet a set of requirements. The invention includes an electronic exchange for providing an information technology (IT) solution, comprising: a matching system for matching IT requirements with a set of candidate IT components that provide the IT solution; a supplier exchange system for interfacing with suppliers of the set of candidate IT components; and an exchange catalog for storing information relating to available IT components, including supplier information.

Claims

1. An electronic exchange for fulfilling an integrated solution, comprising:

a matching system for matching user requirements with a set of candidate components that can fulfill the integrated solution; and

a supplier exchange system for interfacing with suppliers of the set of candidate components.

2. The electronic exchange of claim 1, wherein the matching system interfaces with an exchange catalog that contains component data from a plurality of suppliers.

3. The electronic exchange of claim 2, wherein the matching system comprises a search mechanism for searching the exchange catalog.

4. The electronic exchange of claim 2, wherein the matching system comprises a collaborative design system for facilitating an integrated solution design.

5. The electronic exchange of claim 2, further comprising a catalog management system for managing data in the exchange catalog.

6. The electronic exchange of claim 1, wherein the integrated solution comprises an information technology solution.

7. The electronic exchange of claim 1, wherein the supplier exchange system includes an information request system for obtaining component data from a selected supplier.

8. The electronic exchange of claim 1, wherein the supplier exchange system includes a price request system for obtaining price data from a selected supplier.

9. The electronic exchange of claim 2, wherein the exchange catalog includes data selected from the group consisting of:

product information, service information, solution information, availability information, location information, and supplier information.

10. The electronic exchange of claim 1, wherein the matching system includes an interactive mode that allows user requirements to be determined by communicating with participating suppliers via the supplier exchange.

11. A program product stored on a recordable medium, the program product comprising:

means for matching a set of system requirements with a set of candidate components that can fulfill the system requirements; and

means for interfacing with suppliers of the set of candidate components.

12. The program product of claim 11, further comprising a database for storing component data from a plurality of suppliers.

13. The program product of claim 12, wherein the matching means comprises search means for searching the database.

14. The program product of claim 12, wherein the matching means comprises a collaborative design system for designing the integrated solution.

15. The program product of claim 12, wherein the interface means includes an information request system for obtaining component data from a selected supplier.

16. The program product of claim 12, wherein the interface means includes a price request system for obtaining price data from a selected supplier.

17. The program product of claim 11, further comprising a solution manager for managing solution design data including information relating to the set of candidate components.

18. The program product of claim 11, wherein the matching means includes an interactive mode that allows user requirements to be determined by communicating with participating suppliers via the supplier exchange.

19. An electronic exchange for providing an information technology (IT) solution, comprising:

a matching system for matching IT requirements with a set of candidate IT components that are able to provide the IT solution;

a supplier exchange system for interfacing with suppliers of the set of candidate IT components; and

an exchange catalog for storing information relating to available IT components, including supplier information.

20. The electronic exchange of claim 19, wherein the supplier exchange system includes an interface that allows suppliers to store IT component information into the exchange catalog.

21. The electronic exchange of claim 20, wherein the exchange catalog includes data selected from the group consisting of:

product information, service information, solution information, availability information, location information, and supplier information.

22. The electronic exchange of claim 19, wherein the matching system includes a search engine for searching the exchange catalog.

23. The electronic exchange of claim 19, wherein the matching system includes at least one solution design tool for facilitating an IT solution design process.

24. A computerized method for forming an integrated solution to meet a set of requirements for a system, comprising:

providing a database of solution components, wherein the solution components are associated with supplier data that details at least one supplier capable of supplying each solution component;

matching the set of system requirements with a set of candidate components that can form the integrated solution by interrogating the database of solution components;

identifying suppliers of the set of candidate components by examining the supplier data associated with the set of candidate components; and

interfacing with suppliers of the set of candidate components via a network interface; and

selecting a final set of components to form the integrated solution.

25. The computerized method of claim 24, wherein the matching step includes the step of entering criteria into a search engine.

26. The computerized method of claim 24, wherein the interfacing step includes obtaining price data from the suppliers.

27. The computerized method of claim 24, comprising the further step of:

procuring the final set of components by interfacing with the suppliers via the network interface.

28. A computerized method for forming an integrated solution to meet a set of requirements for a system, comprising:

providing an electronic exchange that allows entities to communicate over a common platform;

receiving a request for information (RFI) from a user to the electronic exchange;

posting the RFI to participating suppliers;

receiving responses at the electronic exchange from interested suppliers;

forwarding the responses to the user;

facilitating additional communications as necessary between the user and the interested suppliers to expedite the identification of candidate components that can fulfill at least one system requirement.

29. A computerized method for forming an integrated solution to meet a set of requirements for a system, comprising:

providing an electronic exchange that allows entities to communicate over a common platform;

receiving at least one solution component from a user to the electronic exchange;

posting the at least one solution component to participating suppliers;

receiving responses at the electronic exchange from interested suppliers;

forwarding the responses to the user;

facilitating additional communications as necessary between the user and the interested suppliers to obtain the at least one solution component.