Method and system of transforming an application into an on-demand service

• US 20050188345A1
• Filed: 02/19/2004
• Published: 08/25/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dasari, Jagadish, Madduri, Hari Haranath, Mendoza, Alfredo V., Mims, John Alan, Chang, Kyusun
• Granted Patent: US 7,503,031 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/101
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment

Abstract

An example of a solution provided here comprises assessing readiness for transformation, based on a number of desirable application attributes; planning development work (which may involve mapping desirable application attributes to kinds of help); generating a proposal for transformation, and outputting the proposal.

Claims

1. A method of transforming an application, said method comprising:

assessing readiness for transformation, based on a plurality of desirable application attributes;

mapping at least some of said desirable application attributes to at least some kinds of help;

generating a proposal for transformation, based on results of said assessing and said mapping; and

outputting said proposal.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing a transformation, based on said proposal; and

deploying an on-demand service, based on said transformation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said assessing and said mapping may be performed for a plurality of transformation stages.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said assessing readiness for transformation further comprises:

providing assessment questions associated with said desirable application attributes; and

receiving input in response to said questions;

wherein said questions are designed to draw attention to transformation issues.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said assessing readiness for transformation further comprises:

choosing one of said desirable application attributes; and

determining a state of readiness for the chosen desirable application attribute;

wherein said state of readiness may take on a value of

ready;

almost ready;

or

not ready.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining whether the chosen desirable application attribute will be implemented;

and if so, determining whether help is needed for implementing the chosen desirable application attribute.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

including in said proposal one or more kinds of help, chosen from;

architectural consulting;

development consulting;

hosting consulting;

application enablement program consulting; and

technology education.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said mapping further comprises:

providing at least one checklist; and

receiving input in response to said checklist.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of said desirable application attributes are chosen from:

suitability for hosting

use of on-demand center

packaged for auto-provisioning

multi-tenancy

software maintenance and upgrade policy; and

application scalability.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of said desirable application attributes are chosen from:

application metering capability

application billing service

portal

user provisioning services

application provisioning service

customer care

service oriented architecture based on web services; and

use of virtualized resources.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of said desirable application attributes are chosen from:

single sign-on

application self monitoring

license agreement

service level agreements

integration with other applications

user/enterprise qualification

trial subscriptions

resource provisioning; and

offer catalog.

12. A method of transforming an application, said method comprising:

providing a set of desirable application attributes;

providing an iterative process including a-d below;

a. choosing a desirable application attribute from said set;

b. concerning said desirable application attribute, assessing readiness for transformation;

c. concerning said desirable application attribute, planning development work;

d. repeating the above three steps for a plurality of desirable application is attributes chosen from said set;

executing said iterative process;

generating a proposal for transformation, based on results of said iterative process; and

outputting said proposal.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

mapping at least some of said desirable application attributes to at least some kinds of help.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

performing a transformation, based on said proposal; and

deploying an on-demand service, based on said transformation.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein said executing, said generating and said outputting may be performed for one or more transformation stages chosen from:

a stage to be implemented upon deployment of an on-demand service;

a stage to be implemented approximately four to eight months after deploying said on-demand service; and

a stage to be implemented approximately twelve months or more after deploying said on-demand service.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

providing descriptions of said desirable application attributes; and

providing assessment questions associated with said desirable application attributes.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said providing assessment questions further comprises providing one or more questions chosen from:

whether critical files that need to be backed up can be identified;

whether the application can be remotely administered; and

whether the application has enough security to be delivered on the Internet.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein said providing assessment questions further comprises providing one or more questions chosen from:

whether the application allows multiple customers to use it in a shared manner;

whether the application has a hierarchical type of access;

whether the application'"'"'s database implementation separates data of one customer from data of another customer;

whether direct queries to the application'"'"'s database through database provided tools are disallowed;

whether the application or database architecture allows managing of a first customer'"'"'s data without affecting a second customer'"'"'s data;

whether the application implements safe and secure stateful sessions; and

whether the application has a versioning policy.

19. A system of transforming an application, said system comprising:

means for assessing readiness for transformation, based on a plurality of desirable application attributes;

means for mapping at least some of said desirable application attributes to at least some kinds of help;

means for generating a proposal for transformation, based on results of said means for assessing and said means for mapping; and

means for outputting said proposal.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for performing a transformation, based on said proposal; and

means for deploying an on-demand service, based on said transformation.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein said means for assessing and said means for mapping operate for a plurality of transformation stages.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein said means for assessing readiness for transformation further comprises:

means for providing assessment questions associated with said desirable application attributes; and

means for receiving input in response to said questions;

wherein said questions are designed to draw attention to transformation issues.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein said means for assessing readiness for transformation further comprises:

means for choosing one of said desirable application attributes; and

means for determining a state of readiness for the chosen desirable application attribute;

wherein said state of readiness may take on a value of

ready;

almost ready;

or

not ready.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

means for determining whether the chosen desirable application attribute will be implemented; and

means for determining whether help is needed for implementing the chosen desirable application attribute.

25. The system of claim 19, further comprising means for including in said proposal one or more kinds of help, chosen from:

architectural consulting;

development consulting;

hosting consulting;

and application enablement program consulting.

26. The system of claim 19, wherein said means for mapping further comprises:

means for providing at least one checklist; and

means for receiving input in response to said checklist.

27. A computer-usable medium, having computer-executable instructions for transforming an application, said computer-usable medium comprising:

means for assessing readiness for transformation, based on a plurality of desirable application attributes;

means for mapping at least some of said desirable application attributes to at least some kinds of help;

means for generating a proposal for transformation, based on results of said means for assessing and said means for mapping; and

means for outputting said proposal.

28. The computer-usable medium of claim 27, further comprising:

means for performing a transformation, based on said proposal; and

means for deploying an on-demand service, based on said transformation.

29. The computer-usable medium of claim 27, wherein said means for assessing and said means for mapping operate for a plurality of transformation stages.

30. The computer-usable medium of claim 27, wherein said means for assessing readiness for transformation further comprises:

means for providing assessment questions associated with said desirable application attributes; and

means for receiving input in response to said questions;

wherein said questions are designed to draw attention to transformation issues.

31. The computer-usable medium of claim 27, wherein said means for assessing readiness for transformation further comprises:

means for choosing one of said desirable application attributes; and

means for determining a state of readiness for the chosen desirable application attribute;

wherein said state of readiness may take on a value of

ready;

almost ready;

or

not ready.

32. The computer-usable medium of claim 31, further comprising:

means for determining whether the chosen desirable application attribute will be implemented; and

means for determining whether help is needed for implementing the chosen desirable application attribute.

33. The computer-usable medium of claim 27, further comprising means for including in said proposal one or more kinds of help, chosen from:

architectural consulting;

development consulting;

hosting consulting;

and application enablement program consulting.

34. The computer-usable medium of claim 27, wherein said means for mapping further comprises:

means for providing at least one checklist; and

means for receiving input in response to said checklist.