NOTIFYING OF AN UNSCHEDULED SYSTEM INTERRUPTION REQUIRING MANUAL INTERVENTION AND ADJUSTING INTERRUPTION SPECIFICS REACTIVE TO USER FEEDBACK

• US 20100269052A1
• Filed: 04/16/2009
• Published: 10/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: UHLIG, STEFFEN
• Application Number:
  US12/425,144
• Publication Number:
  US 20100269052A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A service interruption event for a functional element of a computing system that requires manual intervention on behalf of a human agent can be identified. The manual intervention can result in the functional element being temporarily disabled. A set of subscribers, having previously requested notifications, can be determined as being potentially affected by the unscheduled service interruption event. An interactive electronic message can be conveyed via a notification system to each subscriber of the set. Responses received from the notification system to a portion of the interactive electronic messages can be compiled into a summary. The responses can indicate whether an associated subscriber agrees to the manual intervention occurring at a near future time. The compiled summary can be presented to the human agent. The human agent can then adjust the specifics of the unscheduled service interruption event requiring manual intervention based on the received responses.

Claims

1. A method for adjusting unscheduled service interruptions based upon subscriber feedback comprising:

identifying an unscheduled service interruption event for a functional element of a computing system requiring manual intervention on behalf of a human agent, wherein the manual intervention results in the functional element of the computing system being at least temporarily disabled;

determining a set of at least one subscriber potentially affected by the unscheduled service interruption event, wherein the at least one subscriber has previously requested to be notified of unscheduled service interruption events;

for each determined subscriber of the set, conveying an interactive electronic message via a notification system to each subscriber;

compiling responses received from the notification system to at least a portion of the conveyed interactive electronic messages into a summary, wherein the responses indicate whether an associated subscriber agrees to the manual intervention occurring at a near future time; and

presenting the compiled summary to the human agent, wherein the human agent is able to adjust specifics of the service interruption event requiring manual intervention based on the received responses.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the subscribers are subscribers of a computing service provided by the computing system affected by the unscheduled service interruption event.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the computing system providing the computing service is abstracted from hardware upon which the computing system runs.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing system and the notification system operate within a service-oriented architecture (SOA) environment, wherein the notification system is implemented within middleware.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the notification system comprises an application programming interface (API) that provides reliable, asynchronous communication between software applications, wherein the API is an API of the middleware.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification system is a communications server functionally independent of the computing system associated with the unscheduled service interruption event.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification of the unscheduled service interruption event, the determination of the set of at least one potentially affected subscriber, the conveyance of the interactive electronic messages, the compiling of the received responses, and the presentation of the compiled summary are automatically executed by a service interruption agent in response to an action performed by the human agent, wherein the service interruption agent operates from within the computing system associated with the unscheduled service interruption event.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the set of potentially affected subscribers further comprises:

identifying the functional element within a user-defined dependency model of the computing system, wherein the user-defined dependency model outlines hierarchical relationships between functional elements of the computing system;

analyzing the hierarchical relationships associated with the identified functional element to determine ancillary functional elements affected by the unscheduled service interruption event of the identified functional element;

when ancillary functional elements exist for the identified functional element, adding the subscribers of each ancillary functional element to the set of potentially affected subscribers; and

repeating the analysis of hierarchical relationships for each ancillary functional element, wherein said analysis excludes the identified functional element and the ancillary functional elements of the identified functional element.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the ancillary functional elements of the identified functional element comprise at least one functional element from a secondary computing system.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the compiling of the received responses further comprises:

grouping the received responses by response type, wherein the response type comprises at least one of an agreement to the unscheduled service interruption event and an objection to the unscheduled service interruption event;

determining a deferment time for the unscheduled service interruption event from the group of received responses containing objections, wherein the deferment time resolves the objections; and

incorporating the deferment time into the summary.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the functional element comprises at least one of a computing service, a service provider, a physical computing device, a resource of a physical computing device, a software application, and a network device.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one potentially affected subscriber is at least one of a human agent, a computing service, a software application, another functional element, and a physical computing device.

13. A system for adjusting unscheduled service interruptions based upon subscriber feedback comprising:

a plurality of service providers configured to provide at least one computing service to a plurality of subscribers, wherein each service provider and each computing service are functional elements of a computing system;

a notification system configured to convey interactive electronic messages between the computing system and the plurality of subscribers; and

a service interruption agent configured to utilize the notification system to solicit feedback messages for an unscheduled service interruption event that affects the computing system and requires intervention on behalf of a human agent from a subset of the plurality of subscribers determined as being potentially affected by the unscheduled service interruption event, wherein said feedback messages comprise at least one of an agreement to the unscheduled service interruption event and an objection to the unscheduled service interruption event.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the service interruption agent further comprises:

a user-defined dependency model defining hierarchical relationships between functional elements of the computing system;

a plurality of subscriber lists configured to record subscriptions for the plurality of subscribers to receive service interruption alerts for a functional element of the computing system; and

a plurality of authentication data configured to store authentication data values for securing communications between the service interruption agent and the notification system.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the service interruption agent presents the human agent with a summary of the feedback messages received from the subset of the plurality of subscribers.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the summary comprises a deferment time for the unscheduled service interruption event, wherein said deferment time is determined by the service interruption agent from the feedback messages objecting to the unscheduled service interruption event.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of service providers, the notification system, and the service interruption agent operate within a service-oriented architecture (SOA) environment, wherein the notification system is implemented within middleware.

18. A computer program product for adjusting service interruptions based upon subscriber feedback comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising:

computer usable program code configured to identify an unscheduled service interruption event for a functional element of a computing system requiring manual intervention on behalf of a human agent, wherein the manual intervention results in the functional element of the computing system being at least temporarily disabled;

computer usable program code configured to determine a set of at least one subscriber potentially affected by the unscheduled service interruption event, wherein the at least one subscriber has previously requested to be notified of unscheduled service interruption events;

computer usable program code configured to, for each determined subscriber of the set, convey an interactive electronic message via a notification system to each subscriber;

computer usable program code configured to compile responses received from the notification system to at least a portion of the conveyed interactive electronic messages into a summary, wherein the responses indicate whether an associated subscriber agrees to the manual intervention occurring at a near future time; and

computer usable program code configured to present the compiled summary to the human agent, wherein the human agent is able to adjust specifics of the unscheduled service interruption event requiring manual intervention based on the received responses.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the determining of the set of potentially affected subscribers further comprises:

computer usable program code configured to identify the functional element within a user-defined dependency model of the computing system, wherein the user-defined dependency model outlines hierarchical relationships between functional elements of the computing system;

computer usable program code configured to analyze the hierarchical relationships associated with the identified functional element to determine ancillary functional elements affected by the service interruption event of the identified functional element;

computer usable program code configured to, when ancillary functional elements exist for the identified functional element, add the subscribers of each ancillary functional element to the set of potentially affected subscribers; and

computer usable program code configured to repeat the analysis of hierarchical relationships for each ancillary functional element, wherein said analysis excludes the identified functional element and the ancillary functional elements of the identified functional element.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the compiling of the received responses further comprises:

computer usable program code configured to group the received responses by response type, wherein the response type comprises at least one of an agreement to the unscheduled service interruption event and an objection to the unscheduled service interruption event;

computer usable program code configured to determine a deferment time for the unscheduled service interruption event from the group of received responses containing objections, wherein the deferment time resolves the objections; and

computer usable program code configured to incorporate the deferment time into the summary.