System and Method for Correlating Empirical Data with User Experience

• US 20110179313A1
• Filed: 01/19/2010
• Published: 07/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Holmes, Daniel L., MacDonald, Wilson T., Kaufman, Joel D., Hickey, Kathleen A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,201,752 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/47.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3058 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations thermal management in cooling arrangements of a computing system G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/147 for predicting network behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5016 based on statistics of service availability, e.g. in percentage or over a given time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5067 Customer-centric QoS measurements

Abstract

A method includes receiving at a computing system empirical data related to one or more information technology entities. The method further includes receiving at the computing system one or more user experience indicators, the user experience indicators indicative of a user'"'"'s experience using a computer application. The method further includes correlating by the computing system the empirical data with the one or more user experience indicators to determine a quality of service delivered to a user for a plurality of time periods. The method further includes determining by the computing system, based on the correlation, whether one or more issues with one of the one or more information technology entities are related to the quality of service delivered to the user.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving at a computing system empirical data related to one or more information technology entities;

receiving at the computing system one or more user experience indicators, the user experience indicators indicative of a user'"'"'s experience using a computer application;

correlating by the computing system the empirical data with the one or more user experience indicators to determine a quality of service delivered to a user for a plurality of time periods;

determining by the computing system, based on the correlation, whether one or more issues with one of the one or more information technology entities are related to the quality of service delivered to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the empirical data comprises one or more system performance indicators, the system performance indicators comprising performance and fault information at a particular time for the one or more information technology entities; and

the determining whether one or more issues with one of the one or more information technology entities is related to the quality of service delivered to the user comprises determining whether a degradation of one of the one or more information technology entities affects the quality of service delivered to a user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the empirical data comprises environmental data, the environmental data providing information on environmental conditions at the location of the one or more information technology entities; and

the determining whether one or more issues with one of the one or more information technology entities is related to the quality of service delivered to the user comprises determining whether a particular environmental condition at the location of the one of the one or more information technology entities affects the quality of service delivered to a user.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the correlating comprises classifying information from the one or more user experience indicators and the one or more system performance indicators into a plurality of categories, the categories comprising:

a level of activity for the one or more information technology entities for a particular time period; and

a classification of the user'"'"'s experience for the particular time period.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a report, the report comprising:

a plurality of time periods; and

a list of the one or more issues determined to affect the quality of service delivered to a user for the plurality of time periods.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more information technology entities comprise one or more application servers; and

the computer application is provided by the one or more application servers.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining that one or more of the one or more system performance indicators is associated with a degraded quality of service delivered to the user; and

providing a list of the one or more of the one or more system performance indicators associated with the degraded quality of service delivered to the user.

8. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a program of instructions embodied on a computer-readable medium and operable, upon execution by the processor, to;

receive empirical data related to one or more information technology entities;

receive one or more user experience indicators, the user experience indicators indicative of a user'"'"'s experience using a computer application at a particular time;

correlate the empirical data with the one or more user experience indicators to determine a quality of service delivered to a user for a plurality of time periods;

determine, based on the correlation, whether one or more issues with one of the one or more information technology entities are related to the quality of service delivered to the user.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the empirical data comprises one or more system performance indicators, the system performance indicators comprising performance and fault information at a particular time for the one or more information technology entities; and

the determining whether one or more issues with one of the one or more information technology entities is related to the quality of service delivered to the user comprises determining whether a degradation of one of the one or more information technology entities affects the quality of service delivered to a user.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the empirical data comprises environmental data, the environmental data providing information on environmental conditions at the location of the one or more information technology entities; and

the determining whether one or more issues with one of the one or more information technology entities is related to the quality of service delivered to the user comprises determining whether a particular environmental condition at the location of the one of the one or more information technology entities affects the quality of service delivered to a user.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the correlating comprises classifying information from the one or more user experience indicators and the one or more system performance indicators into a plurality of categories, the categories comprising:

a level of activity for the one or more information technology entities for a particular time period; and

a classification of the user'"'"'s experience for the particular time period.

12. The system of claim 8, the program of instructions further operable, upon execution by the processor, to provide a report, the report comprising:

a plurality of time periods; and

a list of the one or more issues determined to affect the quality of service delivered to a user for the plurality of time periods.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the one or more information technology entities comprise one or more application servers; and

the computer application is provided by the one or more application servers.

14. The system of claim 9, the program of instructions further operable, upon execution by the processor, to

determine that one or more of the one or more system performance indicators is associated with a degraded quality of service delivered to the user;

and

provide a list of the one or more of the one or more system performance indicators associated with the degraded quality of service delivered to the user.

15. Logic encoded on a computer-readable medium and operable, upon execution, to:

receive empirical data related to one or more information technology entities;

receive one or more user experience indicators, the user experience indicators indicative of a user'"'"'s experience using a computer application at a particular time;

correlate the empirical data with the one or more user experience indicators to determine a quality of service delivered to a user for a plurality of time periods;

determine, based on the correlation, whether one or more issues with one of the one or more information technology entities are related to the quality of service delivered to the user.

16. The logic of claim 15, wherein:

the empirical data comprises one or more system performance indicators, the system performance indicators comprising performance and fault information at a particular time for the one or more information technology entities; and

the determining whether one or more issues with one of the one or more information technology entities is related to the quality of service delivered to the user comprises determining whether a degradation of one of the one or more information technology entities affects the quality of service delivered to a user.

17. The logic of claim 15, wherein:

the empirical data comprises environmental data, the environmental data providing information on environmental conditions at the location of the one or more information technology entities; and

the determining whether one or more issues with one of the one or more information technology entities is related to the quality of service delivered to the user comprises determining whether a particular environmental condition at the location of the one of the one or more information technology entities affects the quality of service delivered to a user.

18. The logic of claim 16, wherein the correlating comprises classifying information from the one or more user experience indicators and the one or more system performance indicators into a plurality of categories, the categories comprising:

a level of activity for the one or more information technology entities for a particular time period; and

a classification of the user'"'"'s experience for the particular time period.

19. The logic of claim 15, the logic further operable, upon execution, to provide a report, the report comprising:

a plurality of time periods; and

a list of the one or more issues determined to affect the quality of service delivered to a user for the plurality of time periods.

20. The logic of claim 15, wherein:

the one or more information technology entities comprise one or more application servers; and

the computer application is provided by the one or more application servers.

21. The logic of claim 16, the logic further operable, upon execution, to:

determine that one or more of the one or more system performance indicators is associated with a degraded quality of service delivered to the user; and

provide a list of the one or more of the one or more system performance indicators associated with the degraded quality of service delivered to the user.