Creative Process Modeling And Tracking System

• US 20100280883A1
• Filed: 05/04/2009
• Published: 11/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Ioannou, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 9,047,575 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group

Abstract

One embodiment is a system that allows multiple entities to track a process for developing a product. The system receives a process defined in terms of the entities, which are involved in the process, and the relationships, which exist among the entities. The system permits a process instance to be created from the defined process upon deeming that the process is valid, and permits the first process instance to be tracked with respect to requirements and solutions that are specified by entities in the process instance.

Claims

1. A computer readable media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

receive a process defined in terms of entities involved in the process, and relationships among the entities;

determine if the process is valid;

permit a first process instance to be created from the process upon deeming that the process is valid; and

permit the first process instance to be tracked based at least on requirements and solutions that are specified by entities in the first process instance.

2. The computer readable media of claim 1, wherein the process is determined to be valid upon:

determining that each relationship includes a first entity that is configured to set requirements and a second entity that is configured to present solutions that satisfy the requirements; and

determining that each entity is involved in at least one relationship.

3. The computer readable media of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

permit a second process instance to be created from the process upon deeming that the process is valid; and

permit the second process instance to be tracked based at least on requirements and solutions that are specified by entities in the second process instance.

4. The computer readable media of claim 3, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

display a first process name identifying the first process instance;

display a second process name identifying the second process instance;

display a first overall status in association with the first process name, the first overall status indicating if every requirement of the first process has been solved;

display a second overall status in association with the second process name, the second overall status indicating if every requirement of the second process has been solved.

5. The computer readable media of claim 4, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

provide a first link in association with the first process name, the first link providing access to detailed information regarding selected entities of the first process instance; and

provide a second link in association with the second process name, the second link providing access to detailed information regarding selected entities of the second process instance.

6. The computer readable media of claim 5, wherein the detailed information comprises:

a status map to provide an overall status of each entity of the selected process instance, the status map being a graphical representation of the defined process;

a listing of a set of requirements of the first selected entity and a listing of a set of solutions of the second selected entity;

a listing of a set of component relationships involving the first selected entity and the second selected entity, wherein each component relationship indicates proposed solutions of the second selected level to the requirements of the first selected level;

a listing of a status of each of the component relationships within the set of component relationships; and

an indication as to whether each of the component relationships within the set of component relationships have been approved, wherein an approval date is provided in association with each approved component relationship.

7. The computer readable media of claim 5, wherein upon receiving a change to the first process instance, the instructions further cause the processor to:

update the first overall status upon determining that the first overall status is not reflective of the first process instance including the change; and

update the detailed information to reflect the change to the first process instance.

8. The computer readable media of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

send a notification to each entity affected by the change, the notification includes information regarding the change, and any updates to the detailed information resulting from the change to the first process instance.

9. The computer readable media of claim 5, wherein upon receiving a change to the second process instance, the instructions further cause the processor to:

update the second overall status upon determining that the second overall status is not reflective of the second process instance including the change;

update the detailed information to reflect the change to the second process instance.

10. The computer readable media of claim 9, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

send a notification to each entity affected by the change, the notification includes information regarding the change, and any updates resulting from the change to the second process instance.

11. The computer readable media of claim 6, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

receive a scenario involving a temporary change to at least one component of the first process instance;

preview the first overall status to reflect the first process instance in view of the temporary change to a component;

preview the detailed information to reflect the temporary change to the first process instance; and

permit the first overall status and the detailed information to revert to a state prior to receiving the scenario upon receiving a request.

12. A collaborative system for developing a product, the system comprising:

a process map user interface that enables a process for developing the product to be defined in terms of multiple entities, wherein the multiple entities include a first entity that is responsible for providing at least one component requirement to a second entity, wherein the second entity is responsible for providing at least one component solution to the first entity;

component user interfaces that enable each entity to create, modify, and track component requirements and/or component solutions associated with a process instance of the process;

a process instance user interface that enables the second entity to review the at least one component requirement of the first entity and propose the at least one component solution to the first entity, the process instance user interface enables the first entity to review the at least one component solution of the second entity and accept the at least one component solution in response to the at least one component requirement; and

a component change detection module that detects changes to the at least one component requirement and the at least one component solution of the process instance, wherein the first and second entities are notified of any detected changes.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a scenario analysis user interface that enables the first and second entities, respectively, to visualize effects of various changes to either the component requirement or the component solution that is expected to occur to the process instance without having to actually implement the various changes to the process instance.

14. A computer implemented method for tracking a process for developing a product, said method comprising:

storing a process map, the process map defines a process with respect to multiple levels, each level includes an entity that is responsible for creating a number of component requirements and/or a number of component solutions for another level; and

tracking a status of each component requirement and/or solution at any specified point in time;

updating the status in accordance with any changes that are made to any of the component requirements and/or solutions; and

notifying any relevant entities, which are affected by a change to the component requirement and/or the component solution, upon detecting the change to a component requirement and/or component solution.

15. A computer implemented method for tracking a process for developing a product, said method comprising:

receiving at least one component requirement from a first entity;

receiving at least one component solution from a second entity;

receiving a proposed relationship between the at least one component requirement and the at least one component solution; and

displaying an acceptance timestamp and acceptor in association with the proposed relationship upon determining that the proposed relationship has been accepted.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 15, the method further comprising:

determining if there are any changes to the component requirement;

determining if there are any changes to the component solution;

updating a status of the proposed relationship to reflect if a change has been detected upon detecting a change to at least one of the component requirement and the component solution.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 16, the method further comprising:

sending notifications to the first entity and the second entity upon detecting a change to at least one of the component requirement and the component solution.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 15, the method further comprising:

assigning a unique component number to each received component requirement and each received component solution;

assigning a version number in association with the unique component number assigned to each received component requirement and each received component solution;

assigning new version numbers to component requirements or component solutions when a component requirement or a component solution is modified; and

determining that a change to a component has occurred when the new version number is assigned, and sending notifications to the first and second entities based, in part, upon the change to the component.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 15, the method further comprising:

displaying contents of the component requirement, the contents include a description of a technical requirement associated with developing the product;

displaying contents of the component solution, the contents include a technological implementation of the technical requirement.