Applying Packages To Configure Software Stacks

• US 20070261017A1
• Filed: 04/24/2006
• Published: 11/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Rajarajan, Vij, Zizys, Giedrius, Sanghvi, Ashvinkumar
• Granted Patent: US 9,354,904 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/100
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44 Arrangements for executing specific programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/445 Program loading or initiating bootstrapping G06F9/4401; security arrangements for program loading or initiating G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44526 Plug-ins; Add-ons
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

Portable packages containing encodings of processes are applied to software stacks. The packages are portable and distinct from the software stacks. The packages may be in the form of declarative code for configuring the software stack and can be plugged into the software stack to allow the technology stack to play the packages, thereby configuring the stacks to be capable of automating the processes encoded by the packages. An application or software component can be provided to read a package and apply parts thereof to appropriate corresponding software stack components.

Claims

1. A method of configuring a stack of discrete software services to perform different IT management processes, where the software services are part of an enterprise IT system, the method comprising:

receiving different plug-and-play packages that respectively contain encodings of the different IT service management processes;

plugging the plug-and-play packages into the stack of discrete software services by automatically configuring the software services according to the plug-and-play packages; and

causing the plug-and-play packages to be played on the stack of discrete software services such that the software services operate as configured according to the plug-and-play packages, which causes the stack of discrete software services to automate the IT service management processes encoded by the respective packages.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the plugging comprises configuring the software services which comprise at least a workflow engine, a forms framework, and an artifact store.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein one of the software services comprises a role definition framework to which plug-and-play packages can specify different roles of members that participate in different activities.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein one of the software services comprises a Configuration Management Database (CMDB).

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the plugging comprises automatically identifying, in a first package, a reference to a second package.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the playing of the first package further comprises manipulating a representation of an artifact in an artifact store, where the representation is of an artifact type defined in the second package.

7. An apparatus for applying packages to technology stacks, the apparatus comprising:

a loading unit configured to;

receive any arbitrary package that contains declarative code the defines any arbitrary business or IT management process;

parses the package to identify different portions of the declarative code; and

, for each portion, determine which component of an Information Technology (IT) stack a portion corresponds to and cause that portion of declarative code to be loaded into its IT stack component, whereby different code portions are loaded into different IT stack components to which they correspond and the IT stack components become configured to perform the business or IT management process defined by the package, where the process controls steps that have interaction of people participating in the process and automated actions of the components that are coordinated by the process.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein one of the IT stack components comprises a workflow framework, one of the IT stack components comprises a forms framework, and one of the IT stack components comprises an artifact store for storing configuration items.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein one of the IT stack components comprises a linking framework that allows linking to management products to enable integration of automatic actions corresponding to the management products.

10. An apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the package, when loaded, causes the IT stack, which comprises an enterprise collaboration and messaging infrastructure, to enable authorization, approval, specification, and notification services.

11. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein one of the IT stack components comprises a knowledge framework, and wherein the package includes knowledge data pertaining to the process which the loading unit passes to the knowledge framework.

12. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the knowledge contains human readable and actionable information as it applies to an activity within the process or an artifact of the process or the overall process.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the knowledge comprises components and different components are presented to one or more persons involved in carrying out corresponding activities of the process.

14. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the knowledge framework can continuously create, approve, deploy, rate, and update the knowledge.

15. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the loading unit performs the parsing in accordance with a package schema associated with the package.

16. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the parsing includes determining whether the package has a dependency on another package associated with the package schema.

17. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the code portions are directed to IT stack components that are capable of providing, separate from each other, different services to users.

18. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the services comprise at least email service, web service, and knowledge management service.

19. One or more volatile and/or non-volatile computer readable media containing information for performing a computer-implemented process, the process comprising:

receiving a first package, where the first package comprises a portable, declarative definition of a first business process, where the first package includes information about work items or artifacts involved in the first business process including definitions of human roles and automated events, where the first package includes information defining forms for entering work items of the first business process, for creating and/or updating new artifacts of the first business process, and for initiating or authorizing or approving or acknowledging with respect to the first business process, and where the package includes a workflow definition for flow of work among the work items or artifacts, the human roles and automated events, and the forms;

plugging the first package into a system capable of using the first package to automate the first business process;

after plugging in the first package, receiving a second package, where the second package comprises an other portable, declarative definition of a second business process, and where the second package includes a reference to the first package and depends on the declarative definition of the first business process; and

plugging the second package into the system to allow the system to automate the second business process based in part on the declarative definition of the second business process.

20. One or more computer readable media according to claim 19, wherein the process further comprises:

in response to identification of the reference to the first package, determining whether to plug the second package into the system based on whether the first package has been plugged into the system.

21. One or more computer readable media according to claim 19, wherein the system comprises a technology stack of autonomous software service components that are part of an IT infrastructure, where different components are able to receive different parts of the declarative definition of the first business process.

22. One ore more computer readable media according to claim 21, wherein the autonomous software service components comprise at least a workflow engine, a separate artifact store, and a separate forms framework.

23. One or more computer readable media according to claim 22, wherein the artifact store comprises an object oriented extensible store.

24. One or more computer readable media according to claim 22, wherein the artifact store comprises an XML document store.

25. One or more computer readable media according to claim 22, wherein the artifact store comprises a CMDB.

26. One or more computer readable media according to claim 22, wherein the autonomous software service components further comprise an object-relational artifact store for storing information for IT management service modules, at least one of which comprises an incident management service module, or a change management service module, or a release management service.

27. One or more computer readable media according to claim 19, wherein the process further comprises parsing the first package and the second package based on a common schema defining structure for business process packages.

28. One or more computer readable media according to claim 19, wherein the first package further includes knowledge data for providing users with knowledge about the first business process, and where the process further comprises plugging the knowledge data into the system.