Development of information technology system

• US 20070300204A1
• Filed: 06/27/2006
• Published: 12/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rakuten Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Andreev, Dmitry, Grunin, Galina, Vilshansky, Gregory, Greenstein, Paul Gregory
• Granted Patent: US 7,949,992 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/104
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/10 Requirements analysis; Specification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/36 Software reuse
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/70 Software maintenance or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/145 involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network

Abstract

A method performed in an Information Technology (IT) development environment and an associated computer system. Business requirements are translated into functional requirements. An abstract IT structure is generated by translating the functional requirements into the abstract IT structure.

Claims

1. A method performed in an Information Technology (IT) development environment, said method comprising:

translating business requirements into functional requirements; and

generating an abstract IT structure, said generating the abstract IT structure comprising translating the functional requirements into the abstract IT structure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the IT development environment comprises an IT entity editor, and wherein said translating the functional requirements comprises translating the functional requirements into the abstract IT structure through use of the IT entity editor.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said use of the IT entity editor for said translating the functional requirements into the abstract IT structure utilizes a library of IT structures.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

translating the abstract IT structure into a virtual IT structure;

translating the virtual IT structure X into a delivery-bound virtual IT structure; and

deploying the delivery-bound IT virtual structure in an IT delivery environment, resulting in formation of said real IT structure that is adapted to operate in the IT delivery environment.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a rule that specifies at least one operational characteristic descriptive of operation of the real IT structure in the IT delivery environment, such that the virtual IT structure resulting from said translating differs from the virtual IT structure that would have resulted from said translating if said satisfying said rule had not been performed.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said at least one operational characteristic consists of a plurality of operational characteristics.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a rule that specifies a functional characteristic of the virtual IT structure, such that the virtual IT structure resulting from said translating differs from the virtual IT structure that would have resulted from said translating if said satisfying said rule had not been performed.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the abstract IT structure comprises a plurality of alternative functional characteristics, and wherein the functional characteristic of the virtual IT structure specified by said rule is one functional characteristic of the plurality of alternative functional characteristics comprised by the abstract IT structure.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a constraint imposed on the composition of the real IT structure that is adapted to operate in the IT delivery environment.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said constraint is a threshold constraint imposed on an entity comprised by the real IT structure.

11. The method of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises verifying conformance of an IT structure to at least one IT delivery environment, and wherein the IT structure is selected from the group consisting of the abstract IT structure, the virtual IT structure, and an intermediate IT structure that exist during performance of said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the IT structure consists of the abstract IT structure.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the IT structure consists of the virtual IT structure.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the IT structure consists of the intermediate IT structure.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one IT delivery environment consists of a plurality of IT delivery environments.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one IT delivery environments consists of the IT delivery environment in which the real IT structure is adapted to operate.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said verifying conformance comprises:

verifying compliance of software elements the primitive composition of the IT structure by verifying that the IT structure does not comprise a software element that is forbidden from being used in the IT delivery environment, and by further verifying that each software element of the IT structure required for use in the IT delivery environment satisfies all dependencies of said each software element required by the IT delivery environment;

verifying software application type compliance of the IT structure by verifying that the IT structure does not comprise a software application type that is forbidden by the IT delivery environment; and

verifying network traffic compliance of the IT structure by verifying that;

the IT structure does not use a protocol forbidden by the IT delivery environment, the IT structure does not comprise an interface on any port forbidden by the IT delivery environment from accessing external data flow into the IT delivery environment from outside of the IT delivery environment, and the IT structure does not comprise an interface on any port forbidden by the IT delivery environment from facilitating outward data flow from within the IT delivery environment to outside of the IT delivery environment.

18. A process for supporting computer infrastructure, said process comprising providing at least one support service for at least one of creating, integrating, hosting, maintaining, and deploying computer-readable code in a computing system, wherein the code in combination with the computing system is capable of performing a method in an Information Technology (IT) development environment, said method comprising:

translating business requirements into functional requirements; and

generating an abstract IT structure, said generating the abstract IT structure comprising translating the functional requirements into the abstract IT structure.

19. The process of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

translating the abstract IT structure into a virtual IT structure;

translating the virtual IT structure X into a delivery-bound virtual IT structure; and

deploying the delivery-bound IT virtual structure in an IT delivery environment, resulting in formation of said real IT structure that is adapted to operate in the IT delivery environment.

20. The process of claim 19, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a rule that specifies at least one operational characteristic descriptive of operation of the real IT structure in the IT delivery environment, such that the virtual IT structure resulting from said translating differs from the virtual IT structure that would have resulted from said translating if said satisfying said rule had not been performed.

21. The process of claim 19, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a rule that specifies a functional characteristic of the virtual IT structure, such that the virtual IT structure resulting from said translating differs from the virtual IT structure that would have resulted from said translating if said satisfying said rule had not been performed.

22. The process of claim 19, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a constraint imposed on the composition of the real IT structure that is adapted to operate in the IT delivery environment.

23. The process of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises verifying conformance of an IT structure to at least one IT delivery environment, and wherein the IT structure is selected from the group consisting of the abstract IT structure, the virtual IT structure, and an intermediate IT structure that exist during performance of said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure.

24. A computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code comprising an algorithm adapted to perform a method in an Information Technology (IT) development environment, said method comprising:

translating business requirements into functional requirements; and

generating an abstract IT structure, said generating the abstract IT structure comprising translating the functional requirements into the abstract IT structure.

25. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein the method further comprises:

translating the abstract IT structure into a virtual IT structure;

translating the virtual IT structure X into a delivery-bound virtual IT structure; and

deploying the delivery-bound IT virtual structure in an IT delivery environment, resulting in formation of said real IT structure that is adapted to operate in the IT delivery environment.

26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a rule that specifies at least one operational characteristic descriptive of operation of the real IT structure in the IT delivery environment, such that the virtual IT structure resulting from said translating differs from the virtual IT structure that would have resulted from said translating if said satisfying said rule had not been performed.

27. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a rule that specifies a functional characteristic of the virtual IT structure, such that the virtual IT structure resulting from said translating differs from the virtual IT structure that would have resulted from said translating if said satisfying said rule had not been performed.

28. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a constraint imposed on the composition of the real IT structure that is adapted to operate in the IT delivery environment.

29. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises verifying conformance of an IT structure to at least one IT delivery environment, and wherein the IT structure is selected from the group consisting of the abstract IT structure, the virtual IT structure, and an intermediate IT structure that exist during performance of said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure.

30. A computer system comprising a processor and a computer readable memory unit coupled to the processor, said memory unit containing instructions that when executed by the processor perform a method in an Information Technology (IT) development environment, said method comprising:

translating business requirements into functional requirements; and

generating an abstract IT structure, said generating the abstract IT structure comprising translating the functional requirements into the abstract IT structure.

31. The computer system of claim 30, wherein the method further comprises:

translating the abstract IT structure into a virtual IT structure;

translating the virtual IT structure X into a delivery-bound virtual IT structure; and

deploying the delivery-bound IT virtual structure in an IT delivery environment, resulting in formation of said real IT structure that is adapted to operate in the IT delivery environment.

32. The computer system of claim 31, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a rule that specifies at least one operational characteristic descriptive of operation of the real IT structure in the IT delivery environment, such that the virtual IT structure resulting from said translating differs from the virtual IT structure that would have resulted from said translating if said satisfying said rule had not been performed.

33. The computer system of claim 31, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a rule that specifies a functional characteristic of the virtual IT structure, such that the virtual IT structure resulting from said translating differs from the virtual IT structure that would have resulted from said translating if said satisfying said rule had not been performed.

34. The computer system of claim 31, wherein said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure comprises satisfying a constraint imposed on the composition of the real IT structure that is adapted to operate in the IT delivery environment.

35. The computer system of claim 31, wherein the method further comprises verifying conformance of an IT structure to at least one IT delivery environment, and wherein the IT structure is selected from the group consisting of the abstract IT structure, the virtual IT structure, and an intermediate IT structure that exist during performance of said translating the abstract IT structure into the virtual IT structure.