System and method for conformance and governance in a service oriented architecture

• US 20040193703A1
• Filed: 01/09/2004
• Published: 09/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: WebLayers, Inc.
• Original Assignee: WebLayers, Inc.
• Inventors: Loewy, Guy, Vaknin, Mordechai
• Application Number:
  US10/753,383
• Publication Number:
  US 20040193703A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management

Abstract

Systems and methods to enable conformance and governance of a multitude of applications, services, documents and projects etc. in distributed, multi-user environments. Enterprise policies may be defined and configured. Interface documents may be compared to the pre-defined enterprise policies, to determine the interface document'"'"'s conformance with the policies. Results of the comparison may be reported, and management or governance of the policies across the distributed architecture may be enabled.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

configuring a policy, said policy including a policy element, said policy applicable to a plurality of interface document types; and

comparing one of a plurality of interface documents of said plurality of interface document types to said policy.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising conforming said interface document to said policy.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said configuring a policy comprises:

creating a policy in a computing system;

defining a policy element;

providing configuration parameters for said policy element; and

providing a policy definition, said definition including one or more policy elements.

4. The method of claim 3, comprising resolving conflicts between policy elements in a selected policy.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing said plurality of interface documents of said plurality of interface document types to said policy comprises initiating an automated compliance test on said interface document.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing said plurality of interface documents of said plurality of interface document types to said policy comprises:

uploading an interface document;

performing a compliance test on said interface document; and

reporting said results of said compliance test.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein said conforming said interface document to said policy comprises:

raising an exception request to a policy element;

if a policy element is not approved to be an exception, correcting said interface document; and

if a policy element is approved to be an exception, granting conformance to said policy element.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein said conforming said interface document to said policy comprises initiating a compliance test such that a pass or not pass result is determined, based on the information in said interface document and said policy element.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein said conforming said interface document to said policy comprises:

in the case where an interface document does not provide enough information to determine whether a said policy element is to be passed, checking whether said policy element provides a guided interaction process; and

if said policy element does provide a guided interaction process, determining whether to pass the conformance of said interface document to said policy element in accordance with a response to said guided interaction process.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein said conforming said interface document to said policy comprises reviewing said interface document for conformance to said policy element, by a user.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein said conforming said interface document to said policy comprises determining conformance based on a process selected from the group consisting of using information in said interface document and said policy element, using a guided interaction process, and reviewing said interface document for conformance to said policy element by a user.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein said conforming said interface document to said policy comprises determining conformance based on information in said interface document and said policy element, and based on a guided interaction process.

13. The method of claim 1, comprising:

initiating an exception request to said policy;

distributing said exception request to a relevant user;

performing an analysis on the impact of said exception request; and

resolving said exception request by granting or not granting an approval.

14. The method of claim 1, comprising

providing a user with a list of potentially reusable interfaces components;

analyzing potential reusability of interfaces components, based on a provided list and project information; and

determining which interfaces components may be re-used.

15. The method of claim 14, comprising executing a cost analysis associated with selected reusable interfaces components.

16. The method of claim 14, comprising alerting relevant users of the assignment of reusability guidelines to an interface document.

17. The method of claim 1, comprising:

when a change in a policy element is made, testing whether said policy element change conflicts with other policy elements that are defined in a policy; and

if there is a conflict, generating a conflict alert.

18. The method of claim 17, comprising analyzing the impact of solving said conflict.

19. The method of claim 17, comprising:

generating an impact analysis report comprising a description of an impact of a conflict on an interface document.

20. The method of claim 17, comprising, after a conflict has been resolved, applying said policy element change to a policy.

21. The method of claim 1, comprising:

accepting an escalation indication from a user;

notifying relevant users about an escalation process being initiated for an interface document; and

receiving a response from a relevant user escalating said response.

22. The method of claim 1, comprising:

selecting a policy to be assigned;

assigning said policy to an interface document.

23. The method of claim 22, comprising, where a plurality of policies are assigned to an interface document, determining if conflicts occur between policy elements of said plurality of policies.

24. The method of claim 22, comprising:

alerting relevant users of said policy assignment; and

negotiating said policy assignment between said relevant users.

25. The method of claim 1, comprising:

defining global cost parameters for a set of interface documents;

defining alerting rules associated with said global cost parameters;

recording information relating to development of said interface documents;

analyzing recorded information according to said global cost parameters; and

generating alerts to relevant users, according to said information analysis.

26. A method, comprising:

associating in a computer system a policy to a plurality of interface document types;

uploading interface documents created in one of said plurality of interface document types; and

analyzing said interface documents according to said policy.

27. The method of claim 26, comprising conforming said interface documents to said policy.

28. The method of claim 26, comprising assigning a set of policies to a project, said set of policies being selected from a plurality of sets of policies.

29. The method of claim 26, comprising alerting a relevant user about the conformance status of an interface document to said policy.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein said conforming comprises an automated conformance procedure.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein said conforming comprises a guided conformance procedure.

32. The method of claim 26, comprising managing exception requests for said policy.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein said managing comprises:

initiating an exception request to said policy;

distributing said exception request to a relevant user;

performing an analysis on the impact of said exception request; and

resolving the exception request by granting or not granting an approval.

34. The method of claim 26, comprising initiating a reusability procedure in a distributed architecture.

35. The method of claim 26, comprising managing potential policy conflicts in a distributed architecture.

36. The method of claim 26, comprising performing an impact analysis on a plurality of interface documents in said distributed architecture.

37. The method of claim 26, comprising managing cost parameters associated with development of said interface documents.

38. A method comprising:

creating a policy including conformance rules, the policy applicable to an interface document of a certain type, said type being one of a plurality of types, the policy to be applied to interface documents.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the policy is applicable to a plurality of document types.

40. The method of claim 38, comprising conforming interface documents from a plurality of interface document types.

41. A method comprising:

assigning a set of policies to a project, said set of policies being selected from a plurality of sets of policies; and

alerting a relevant user about said assigned set of policies.

42. The method of claim 41, comprising conducting a conflict resolution for said assignment of said set of policies to said project.

43. The method of claim 41, comprising assigning a set of policies to a plurality of projects in a distributed environment.

44. The method of claim 41, comprising assigning a set of interface documents to said project.

45. The method of claim 41, wherein when an interface document associated with a project is evaluated, it is evaluated in light of policies associated with said project.

46. A method comprising:

storing a plurality of policies in a computer system, each policy including at least a set of conformance rules, each policy applicable to a plurality of interface document types;

assigning a policy to said plurality of interface document types; and

conforming interface documents from said plurality of interface document types to said policy.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein said conformance rules are defined by policy elements.

48. The method of claim 46, wherein said interface document types are selected from the group consisting of Extensible Markup Language, Simple Object Access Protocol, and Web Services Description Language (WSDL) documents.

49. A system comprising:

a controller to;

configure a policy, said policy including a policy element, said policy applicable to a plurality of interface document types in a distributed architecture; and

compare an interface document of said plurality of interface document types to said policy.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein said controller is to conform said interface document to said policy.

51. The system of claim 49, wherein said controller is to:

define a policy to a computing system;

define a policy element;

provide configuration parameters for said policy element; and

provide a policy definition, said definition including one or more policy elements.

52. The system of claim 49, wherein said controller is to initiate an automated compliance test on said interface document.

53. The system of claim 49, wherein said controller is to resolve conflicts between policy elements in a selected policy.

54. The system of claim 49, wherein said controller is to resolve conflicts between policy elements in a plurality of policies that are assigned to an interface document.

55. The system of claim 49, wherein said controller is to raise an exception request to a policy element.

56. The system of claim 49, wherein said controller is to enable re-usage of interfaces components.

57. The system of claim 49, wherein said controller is to generate a conflict alert.

58. The system of claim 49, wherein said controller is to escalate conformance to a policy.

59. The system of claim 49, wherein said controller is to assign a policy.

60. A system, comprising:

a controller to;

associate in a computer system a policy to a plurality of interface document types;

upload interface documents created in an interface document type to a computer system; and

analyze said interface documents according to said policy.

61. The system of claim 60 wherein the controller is to assign a set of interface documents to a project.

62. The system of claim 60 wherein the controller is to, when an interface document associated with a project is evaluated, evaluate the interface document in light of policies associated with said project.

63. The system of claim 60, wherein said controller is to conform said interface documents to said policy.

64. The system of claim 60, wherein said controller is to assign in said computer system a set of policies to a project, said set of policies being selected from a plurality of sets of policies.

65. The system of claim 60, wherein said controller is to alert a relevant user about the conformance status of an interface documents to said policy.

66. The system of claim 60, wherein said controller is to process exception requests.

67. The system of claim 60, wherein said controller is to re-use interface components.

68. The system of claim 60, wherein said controller is to manage potential policy conflicts.

69. A system, comprising:

a controller to;

create a policy including conformance rules, the policy applicable to a document of a certain type, said type being one of a plurality of types, the policy being capable of enabling integration of interface documents in a distributed architecture.

70. The system of claim 69, wherein said controller is to conform interface documents from a plurality of interface document types.

71. A system, comprising:

a controller to;

assign a set of policies to a project, said set of policies being selected from a plurality of sets of policies; and

alert a relevant user about said assigned set of policies.

72. The system of claim 71, wherein said controller is to conduct a conflict resolution for said assignment of said set of policies to said project.

73. A system, comprising:

a controller to;

store a plurality of policies in a computer system, each policy including at least a set of conformance rules, each policy applicable to a plurality of interface document types; and

assign a policy to said plurality of interface document types.

74. The system of claim 73, wherein said controller is to conform interface documents from said plurality of interface document types to said policy.

75. The system of claim 73, wherein said controller is to define conformance rules according to policy elements.

76. A computer system, comprising:

a user interface engine;

a policy element configuration engine;

a project definition engine;

a dictionaries and vocabularies matching engine; and

an application programming interface.

77. The computer system of claim 76, comprising a dashboard engine.

78. A data repository, comprising:

a policy element library;

a policy library; and

interface document information.

79. The data repository of claim 78, comprising user information.