Method, system and computer program product for improving information technology service resiliency

• US 20070282649A1
• Filed: 06/02/2006
• Published: 12/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Saha, Debanjan, Shaikh, Anees, Pradhan, Prashant, Davis, Larry Earl, Moreno, Milton H.Hernandez
• Application Number:
  US11/446,533
• Publication Number:
  US 20070282649A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/008 Reliability or availability analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A method is provided. The method includes the steps of: generating a model of an information technology process, wherein the process comprises a plurality of process steps and wherein the model identifies resources associated with the process; identifying dependencies on the resources for at least one process step of the plurality of process steps; perturbing the model; assessing an impact of the perturbation on the model; and reducing the impact of the perturbation on the model by utilizing at least one remedial action.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating a model of an information technology process, wherein the process comprises a plurality of process steps, wherein the model identifies resources associated with the process;

identifying dependencies on the resources for at least one process step of the plurality of process steps;

perturbing the model;

assessing an impact of the perturbation on the model; and

reducing the impact of the perturbation on the model by utilizing at least one remedial action.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the process is modeled as a workflow.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising an intermediary step of characterizing at least one normal operating range for the process in terms of at least one metric.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the resources comprise at least one of infrastructure, other processes, people, and skill sets.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein perturbing the model comprises degrading at least one resource.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein perturbing the model comprises making at least one resource unavailable.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one remedial action comprises replicating at least one resource.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one remedial action comprises modifying the process.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the steps is implemented on a computer system.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the model in response to reducing the impact of the perturbation on the model.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing the process in response to reducing the impact of the perturbation on the model.

12. A computer program product comprising program instructions embodied on a tangible computer-readable medium, execution of the program instructions resulting in operations comprising:

generating a model of an information technology process, wherein the process comprises a plurality of process steps, wherein the model identifies resources associated with the process;

identifying dependencies on the resources for each process step of the plurality of process steps;

perturbing the model;

assessing an impact of the perturbation on the model; and

reducing the impact of the perturbation on the model by utilizing at least one remedial action.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, execution of the program instructions resulting in operations further comprising an intermediary step of characterizing at least one normal operating range for the process in terms of at least one metric.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the resources comprise at least one of infrastructure, other processes, people, and skill sets.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein perturbing the model comprises degrading at least one resource.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein perturbing the model comprises making at least one resource unavailable.

17. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the at least one remedial action comprises replicating at least one resource.

18. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the at least one remedial action comprises modifying the process.

19. The computer program product of claim 12, execution of the program instructions resulting in operations further comprising updating the model in response to reducing the impact of the perturbation on the model.

20. The computer program product of claim 12, execution of the program instructions resulting in operations further comprising changing the process in response to reducing the impact of the perturbation on the model.

21. A system comprising:

means for generating a model of an information technology process, wherein the process comprises a plurality of process steps, wherein the model identifies resources associated with the process;

means for identifying dependencies on the resources for each process step of the plurality of process steps;

means for perturbing the model;

means for assessing an impact of the perturbation on the model; and

means for reducing the impact of the perturbation on the model by utilizing at least one remedial action.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising means for characterizing at least one normal operating range for the process in terms of at least one metric.

23. The system of claim 21, further comprising means for updating the model in response to reducing the impact of the perturbation on the model.

24. The system of claim 21, further comprising means for changing the process in response to reducing the impact of the perturbation on the model.

25. A method to improve information technology process resiliency comprising:

modeling an information technology process to develop a representation of the process;

creating a dependency representation from said representation;

conducting a sensitivity analysis based upon said dependency representation; and

planning at least one remedial action based upon the sensitivity analysis.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the representation is a graphical representation.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the representation comprises resources associated with the process.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising updating the model in response to the sensitivity analysis.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising changing the process in response to the sensitivity analysis.

30. A method to perform a sensitivity analysis on an information technology process comprising:

perturbing a model of the process; and

assessing an impact of the perturbation on the model.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising reducing the impact of the perturbation on the model by utilizing at least one remedial action.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the model comprises resources associated with the process and wherein the at least one remedial action comprises replicating at least one resource.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the at least one remedial action comprises modifying the process.

34. The method of claim 30, further comprising updating the model in response to assessing the impact of the perturbation on the model.

35. The method of claim 30, further comprising changing the process in response to assessing the impact of the perturbation on the model.