Facilitating management of service elements usable in providing information technology service offerings

• US 20030195756A1
• Filed: 04/12/2002
• Published: 10/16/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Nguyen, Luu Q., Grunin, Galina, Greenstein, Paul G.
• Granted Patent: US 7,533,026 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/101
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A service element is defined and represented by a data structure. It includes one or more components and/or one or more other service elements. A service element providing a complete function is a service offering. Management of service elements and/or service offerings is facilitated by a Service Development Tool. In different aspects, the management includes various tasks associated with creating, modifying and deleting service elements, establishing relationships, error checking and optimization. In a further aspect, service elements are packaged and distributed to enable customers to deliver the service elements. Additionally, the hosting of software packages is facilitated.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating management of service elements, said method comprising:

selecting a service element to be defined, said service element usable in providing services to at least one of an in-house customer and an outsourcing customer; and

defining the service element using a data structure, said data structure comprising a relational structured set of information associated with the service element.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said data structure comprises a composition section comprising a content of said service element.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said data structure comprises a dependency section comprising one or more dependencies of said service element.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said data structure comprises a cost case section comprising a cost case of said service element.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said data structure comprises an integration properties section comprising one or more integration properties of said service element.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said data structure comprises a customization section comprising one or more customization specifications of said service element.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said data structure comprises a design section comprising one or more design characteristics of said service element.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said data structure comprises a development plan section comprising a development plan of said service element.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said data structure comprises a deployment plan section comprising a deployment plan of said service element.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said data structure comprises a reference to one or more templates usable in creating the service element.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating the service element, said creating comprising placing information of said service element in the data structure of the service element.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said creating comprises creating a cost case for the service element.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising modifying the cost case.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein said creating comprises creating a development plan for the service element.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising modifying the development plan.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein said creating comprises creating a deployment plan for the service element.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising modifying the deployment plan.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising completing development of the created service element.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said completing development comprises initiating a change process to enable one or more changes of the service element to be reflected in at least one other service element.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising verifying at least one relationship of the service element.

21. The method of claim 11, further comprising integrating one or more service elements into the service element.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising dissolving integration of at least one service element of the one or more service elements integrated into the service element.

23. The method of claim 11, further comprising deleting the service element.

24. The method of claim 11, further comprising creating a new version of the service element.

25. The method of claim 11, further comprising modifying a composition of the service element.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the modifying comprises adding a composition item to the composition of the service element.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the modifying comprises deleting a composition item from the composition of the service element.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the modifying comprises updating a quantity of an item of the composition of the service item.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein said composition comprises a service element.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein said composition comprises a component.

31. The method of claim 11, further comprising establishing a relationship between the service element and another service element.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising creating a cross-reference representing the relationship.

33. The method of claim 11, wherein said creating comprising using at least one template in creating the service element.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the template provides at least partial standardization for creating the service element.

35. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying a design of the service element.

36. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating the service element as an abstract service element.

37. The method of claim 1, further comprising localizing a design of the service element to adapt the service element designed for one locale to another locale.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein said localizing comprises using a translation approach in the localizing.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein said localizing comprises using a closest component match approach in the localizing.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein said localizing comprises using a translation approach and a closest component match approach in the localizing.

41. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

determining whether the localized service element satisfies one or more business aspects associated with the service element; and

performing localization in multiple phases, in response to the determining indicating dissatisfaction.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the multiple phases comprise a functional best fit phase, in which one or more components having the closest functional characteristics to one or more components of the localized service element are selected for possible replacement, and a financial adjustment phase, in which one or more of the selected components are replaced by one or more less costly components.

43. A method of facilitating management of service elements, said method comprising:

obtaining a service element; and

establishing at least one relationship between the service element and at least one other service element.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the service element is represented by a data structure, said data structure comprising a relational structured set of information used in managing the service element.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein one or more service elements of said at least one other service element are of a same type as said service element.

46. The method of claim 43, wherein one or more service elements of said at least one other service element are of a different type than said service element.

47. A method of facilitating management of service elements, said method comprising:

obtaining a service element; and

including within the service element one or more other service elements.

48. A method of defining service elements, said method comprising:

identifying a service element to be defined; and

defining the service element as a discrete package of at least one of one or more units of time and one or more materials usable in the field of information technology, said information technology including providing in-house services.

49. A method of facilitating construction of service elements, said method comprising:

selecting one or more templates to be used in constructing a service element; and

using the one or more templates in constructing the service element.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising using the one or more templates to construct a plurality of service elements, said plurality of service elements satisfying a particular standard proffered by the one or more templates.

51. The method of claim 49, further comprising creating a template of the one or more templates.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the template is represented by a data structure corresponding to a data structure of the service element.

53. The method of claim 51, further comprising manipulating the template in one or more aspects.

54. A memory for storing data to be accessed by a service development tool, said memory comprising:

a data structure stored in said memory, said data structure defining a service element and including;

a composition section comprising a content of said service element;

a cost case section comprising a cost case of the service element;

a dependency section comprising one or more dependencies of the service element;

an integration property section comprising one or more integration properties of the service element;

a customization section comprising one or more customization specifications of the service element;

a design section comprising one or more design characteristics of the service element;

a development plan section comprising a development plan of the service element; and

a deployment plan section comprising a deployment plan of the service element.

55. The memory of claim 54, wherein the data structure further comprises a reference to one or more templates usable in creating the service element.

56. A system of facilitating management of service elements, said system comprising:

a data structure to define a service element usable in providing services to at least one of an in-house customer and an outsourcing customer, said data structure comprising a relational structured set of information associated with the service element; and

means for creating the service element, said means for creating comprising means for placing information of said service element in the data structure.

57. The system of claim 56, wherein said means for creating comprises means for creating a cost case for the service element.

58. The system of claim 57, further comprising means for modifying the cost case.

59. The system of claim 56, wherein said means for creating comprises means for creating a development plan for the service element.

60. The system of claim 59, further comprising means for modifying the development plan.

61. The system of claim 56, wherein said means for creating comprises means for creating a deployment plan for the service element.

62. The system of claim 61, further comprising means for modifying the deployment plan.

63. The system of claim 56, further comprising means for completing development of the created service element.

64. The system of claim 63, wherein said means for completing development comprises means for initiating a change process to enable one or more changes of the service element to be reflected in at least one other service element.

65. The system of claim 56, further comprising means for verifying at least one relationship of the service element.

66. The system of claim 56, further comprising means for integrating one or more service elements into the service element.

67. The system of claim 66, further comprising means for dissolving integration of at least one service element of the one or more service elements integrated into the service element.

68. The system of claim 56, further comprising means for deleting the service element.

69. The system of claim 56, further comprising means for creating a new version of the service element.

70. The system of claim 56, further comprising means for modifying a composition of the service element.

71. The system of claim 70, wherein the means for modifying comprises means for adding a composition item to the composition of the service element.

72. The system of claim 70, wherein the means for modifying comprises means for deleting a composition item from the composition of the service element.

73. The system of claim 70, wherein the means for modifying comprises means for updating a quantity of an item of the composition of the service item.

74. The system of claim 70, wherein said composition comprises a service element.

75. The system of claim 70, wherein said composition comprises a component.

76. The system of claim 56, further comprising means for establishing a relationship between the service element and another service element.

77. The system of claim 76, further comprising means for creating a cross-reference representing the relationship.

78. The system of claim 56, wherein said means for creating comprising means for using at least one template in creating the service element.

79. The system of claim 78, wherein the template provides at least partial standardization for creating the service element.

80. The system of claim 56, further comprising means for modifying a design of the service element.

81. The system of claim 56, wherein said means for creating comprises means for creating the service element as an abstract service element.

82. The system of claim 56, further comprising means for localizing a design of the service element to adapt the service element designed for one locale to another locale.

83. The system of claim 82, wherein said means for localizing comprises means for using a translation approach in the localizing.

84. The system of claim 82, wherein said means for localizing comprises means for using a closest component match approach in the localizing.

85. The system of claim 82, wherein said means for localizing comprises means for using a translation approach and a closest component match approach in the localizing.

86. The system of claim 82, further comprising:

means for determining whether the localized service element satisfies one or more business aspects associated with the service element; and

means for performing localization in multiple phases, in response to the determining indicating dissatisfaction.

87. The system of claim 86, wherein the multiple phases comprise a functional best fit phase, in which one or more components having the closest functional characteristics to one or more components of the localized service element are selected for possible replacement, and a financial adjustment phase, in which one or more of the selected components are replaced by one or more less costly components.

88. A system of facilitating management of service elements, said system comprising:

a service element; and

means for establishing at least one relationship between the service element and at least one other service element.

89. The system of claim 88, wherein the service element is represented by a data structure, said data structure comprising a relational structured set of information used in managing the service element.

90. A system of facilitating management of service elements, said system comprising:

a data structure to define a service element usable in providing services to at least one of an in-house customer and an outsourcing customer, said data structure comprising a relational structured set of information associated with the service element; and

a service development tool to manage the service element.

91. A system of facilitating management of service elements, said system comprising:

a service element; and

a service development tool to establish at least one relationship between the service element and at least one other service element.

92. At least one program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of facilitating management of service elements, said method comprising:

defining a service element usable in providing services to at least one of an in-house customer and an outsourcing customer; and

wherein the defining comprises using a data structure, said data structure comprising a relational structured set of information associated with the service element.

93. The at least one program storage device of claim 92, wherein said data structure comprises a composition section comprising a content of said service element.

94. The at least one program storage device of claim 92, wherein said data structure comprises a dependency section comprising one or more dependencies of said service element.

95. The at least one program storage device of claim 92, wherein said data structure comprises a cost case section comprising a cost case of said service element.

96. The at least one program storage device of claim 92, wherein said data structure comprises an integration properties section comprising one or more integration properties of said service element.

97. The at least one program storage device of claim 92, wherein said data structure comprises a customization section comprising one or more customization specifications of said service element.

98. The at least one program storage device of claim 92, wherein said data structure comprises a design section comprising one or more design characteristics of said service element.

99. The at least one program storage device of claim 92, wherein said data structure comprises a development plan section comprising a development plan of said service element.

100. The at least one program storage device of claim 92, wherein said data structure comprises a deployment plan section comprising a deployment plan of said service element.

101. The at least one program storage device of claim 92, wherein said data structure comprises a reference to one or more templates usable in creating the service element.

102. The at least one program storage device of claim 92, wherein said method further comprises creating the service element, said creating comprising placing information of said service element in the data structure of the service element.

103. The at least one program storage device of claim 102, wherein said method further comprises completing development of the created service element.

104. The at least one program storage device of claim 103, wherein said completing development comprises initiating a change process to enable one or more changes of the service element to be reflected in at least one other service element.

105. The at least one program storage device of claim 102, wherein said method further comprises verifying at least one relationship of the service element.

106. The at least one program storage device of claim 102, wherein said method further comprises integrating one or more service elements into the service element.

107. The at least one program storage device of claim 106, wherein said method further comprises dissolving integration of at least one service element of the one or more service elements integrated into the service element.

108. The at least one program storage device of claim 102, wherein said method further comprises deleting the service element.

109. The at least one program storage device of claim 102, wherein said method further comprises creating a new version of the service element.

110. The at least one program storage device of claim 102, wherein said method further comprises modifying a composition of the service element.

111. The at least one program storage device of claim 102, wherein said method further comprises establishing a relationship between the service element and another service element.

112. The at least one program storage device of claim 111, wherein said method further comprises creating a cross-reference representing the relationship.

113. The at least one program storage device of claim 102, wherein said creating comprising using at least one template in creating the service element.

114. The at least one program storage device of claim 102, wherein said method further comprises modifying a de sign of the service element.

115. The at least one program storage device of claim 102, wherein said method further comprises creating the service element as an abstract service element.

116. The at least one program storage device of claim 102, wherein said method further comprises localizing a design of the service element to adapt the service element designed for one locale to another locale.

117. At least one program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of facilitating management of service elements, said method comprising:

obtaining a service element; and

establishing at least one relationship between the service element and at least one other service element.

118. The at least one program storage device of claim 117, wherein the service element is represented by a data structure, said data structure comprising a relational structured set of information used in managing the service element.