MULTI-LEVEL TRANSACTION FLOW MONITORING

• US 20110004538A1
• Filed: 12/15/2009
• Published: 01/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: David Botzer, David Oren, Tali Yatzkar Haham
• Original Assignee: David Botzer, David Oren, Tali Yatzkar Haham
• Inventors: Yatzkar-Haham, Tali, Botzer, David, Oren, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,005,736 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

An apparatus for monitoring transactions in a computer system includes monitoring events reported by components of the computer system responsively to a flow of the transactions through the system. A state machine model and a rule-based model are jointly applied to the monitored events, so as to identify respective transaction-level events and business-level events. A status of the flow of the transactions is assessed responsively to the transaction-level events and the business-level events.

Claims

1-18. -18. (canceled)

19. Apparatus for monitoring transactions in a computer system, comprising:

a processor, which is arranged to monitor events reported by components of the computer system responsively to a flow of the transactions through the system, to jointly apply a state machine model and a rule-based model to the monitored events, so as to identify respective transaction-level events and business-level events, and to assess a status of the flow of the transactions responsively to the transaction-level events and the business-level events; and

a user interface, which is arranged to interact with a user so as to permit the user to configure the state machine model and the rule-based model and to present the assessed status to the user.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the transactions comprise financial transactions.

21. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the processor and user interface are external to the components of the computer system that perform the transactions, and are arranged to accept the monitored events exported from the components of the computer system.

22. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the processor is arranged to monitor the events by performing at least one of accepting events reported using built-in mechanisms of the components, accepting events reported by one or more monitoring agents incorporated into some of the components, and monitoring interfaces between some of the components.

23. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the user interface is arranged to permit the user to perform at least one of configuring the state machine model, configuring the rule-based model, configuring queries for information and configuring information to be presented to a user, by using a declarative language.

24. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the processor is arranged to accept definitions of transaction states representing a status of a monitored transaction in the flow, definitions of state transitions connecting between the transaction states, and definitions of transaction data comprising information relating to the monitored transaction.

25. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the definitions of the state transitions comprise a definition of a triggering event that triggers the state transition responsively to at least one of the monitored events and the business-level events identified by the rule-based model, and wherein the processor is arranged to update the transaction state of the monitored transaction responsively to an occurrence of the corresponding triggering event.

26. The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the definitions of the state transitions comprise a definition of a validity check, and wherein the processor is arranged to generate a transaction lifecycle alert responsively to a failure in the validity check of the corresponding state transition.

27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the transaction lifecycle alert comprises at least one of a timeout alert, an event inconsistency alert, an event constraint alert and a data constraint alert.

28. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the processor is arranged to apply the rule-based model by performing at least one of detecting service level agreement (SLA) violation, anticipating the SLA violation, detecting a deviation from an expected key performance indicator (KPI) value, anticipating the deviation from the expected KPI value, detecting a problem related to the flow external to the computer system, and identifying a system-level problem in one or more of the components of the computer system.

29. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the processor is arranged to apply a predefined business rule to at least one of the monitored events and the transaction-level events identified by the state machine model, and to identify at least one of the business-level events responsively to the evaluated business rule.

30. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the processor is arranged to detect an undesired condition comprising at least one of a service level agreement (SLA) violation, an anticipated SLA violation, a hardware problem in one or more of the components, an anticipated hardware problem, a capacity bottleneck in the flow, an anticipated capacity bottleneck, a deviation from an expected key performance indicator (KPI) value and an anticipated deviation from the expected KPI value.

31. The apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the processor is arranged to generate an alert to a user responsively to the detected undesired condition.

32. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the processor is arranged to define a query using a query template and to address the query to at least one of the state machine model and the rule-based model for information related to the flow, so as to assess the status.

33. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the processor is arranged to assess the status by performing at least one of calculating and presenting statistical information related to the flow, and calculating and presenting information relating to a key performance indicator (KPI).

34. A computer software product for monitoring transactions in a computerized system, the product comprising a computer-readable medium, in which program instructions are stored, which instructions, when read by a computer, cause the computer to monitor events reported by components of the computerized system responsively to a flow of the transactions through the system, to jointly apply a state machine model and a rule-based model to the monitored events, so as to identify respective transaction-level events and business-level events, and to assess a status of the flow of the transactions responsively to the transaction-level events and the business-level events.

35. A financial transaction processing network, comprising:

a financial computer system, comprising components that are arranged to process financial transactions and to report events responsively to a flow of the transactions through the system; and

a transaction flow monitor, which is arranged to monitor the events reported by the components of the computer system, to jointly apply a state machine model and a rule-based model to the monitored events, so as to identify respective transaction-level events and business-level events, and to assess a status of the flow of the transactions responsively to the transaction-level events and the business-level events.