Integrating performance, sizing, and provisioning techniques with a business process

• US 20070038493A1
• Filed: 08/12/2005
• Published: 02/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Subrahmonia, Jayashree, Ye, Peng, Jain, Rahul, Garapati, Rekha, Craine, Cynthia, Wadia, Noshir
• Granted Patent: US 8,175,906 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Techniques are provided for automating allocation of resources based on business decisions. An impact of a business decision is quantified in terms of information technology (IT) metrics. The resources that may be needed to address the impact are estimated. The estimated resources are provisioned.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for automating allocation of resources based on business decisions, comprising:

quantifying an impact of a business decision in terms of information technology (IT) metrics;

estimating the resources that may be needed to address the impact; and

provisioning the resources that have been estimated.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein quantifying the impact further comprises:

using at least one of analytics, forecasting models, and historical data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating the resources further comprises:

using at least one of configuration estimation tools, mathematical modeling tools, and forecasting models to perform the estimation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein provisioning the resources is based on at least one business rule.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether approval to provision the estimated resources is required; and

in response to determining that approval is required, requesting approval.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

provisioning the resources in response to authorization to provision the resources.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein provisioning further comprises:

if the estimated resources are immediately available, allocating the estimated resources immediately;

if a portion of the estimated resources are immediately available, allocating the portion of the estimated resources immediately and allocating additional resources when the additional resources become available; and

if none of the estimated resources are immediately available, allocating the estimated resources when the resources become available.

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

if some of the estimated resources are available, waiting until all of the estimated resources become available to allocate the estimated resources.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein quantifying, estimating, and provisioning are part of a workflow that models a business process.

10. An article of manufacture for automating allocation of resources based on business decisions, wherein the article of manufacture comprises a program including instructions, and wherein the article of manufacture is operable to:

quantify an impact of a business decision in terms of information technology (IT) metrics;

estimate the resources that may be needed to address the impact; and

provision the resources that have been estimated.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein the article of manufacture is operable to quantify the impact by:

using at least one of analytics, forecasting models, and historical data.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein the article of manufacture is operable to estimate the resources by:

using at least one of configuration estimation tools, mathematical modeling tools, and forecasting models to perform the estimation.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein provisioning the resources is based on at least one business rule.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein the article of manufacture is operable to:

determine whether approval to provision the estimated resources is required; and

in response to determining that approval is required, request approval.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 14, wherein the article of manufacture is operable to:

provision the resources in response to authorization to provision the resources.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein quantifying, estimating, and provisioning are part of a workflow that models a business process.

19. A system for automating allocation of resources based on business decisions, comprising:

logic capable of causing operations to be performed, the operations comprising;

quantifying an impact of a business decision in terms of information technology (IT) metrics;

estimating the resources that may be needed to address the impact; and

provisioning the resources that have been estimated.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 19, wherein the article of manufacture is operable to:

if the estimated resources are immediately available, allocate the estimated resources immediately;

if a portion of the estimated resources are immediately available, allocate the portion of the estimated resources immediately and allocating additional resources when the additional resources become available; and

if none of the estimated resources are immediately available, allocate the estimated resources when the resources become available.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 19, wherein the article of manufacture is operable to:

if some of the estimated resources are available, wait until all of the estimated resources become available to allocate the estimated resources.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the operations for quantifying the impact further comprise:

using at least one of analytics, forecasting models, and historical data.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the operations for estimating the resources further comprise:

using at least one of configuration estimation tools, mathematical modeling tools, and forecasting models to perform the estimation.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein provisioning the resources is based on at least one business rule.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether approval to provision the estimated resources is required; and

in response to determining that approval is required, requesting approval.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

provisioning the resources in response to authorization to provision the resources.

25. The system of claim 19, wherein the operations for provisioning further comprise:

if the estimated resources are immediately available, allocating the estimated resources immediately;

if a portion of the estimated resources are immediately available, allocating the portion of the estimated resources immediately and allocating additional resources when the additional resources become available; and

if none of the estimated resources are immediately available, allocating the estimated resources when the resources become available.

26. The system of claim 19, wherein the operations for provisioning further comprise:

if some of the estimated resources are available, waiting until all of the estimated resources become available to allocate the estimated resources.

27. The system of claim 19, wherein quantifying, estimating, and provisioning are part of a workflow that models a business process.