SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CLOUD ENTERPRISE SERVICES

• US 20120124211A1
• Filed: 08/31/2011
• Published: 05/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: KAMPAS, Sean Robert, TARKOWSKI, Adam Ryan, PORTELL, Charles Michael, BHATTI, Nina
• Granted Patent: US 9,235,442 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/80 Actions related to the user profile or the type of traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

Novel methods and systems are provided for integrating multi-vendor cloud computing operations and architectures by using service-oriented orchestration to create a vendor and platform agnostic cloud computing framework. This approach aggregates core cloud computing functions including service provisioning, automating work flows, and data and usage monitoring across integrated services, thereby improving a data center'"'"'s ability to execute operations quickly, under standardized protocols and with consistent quality of service.

Claims

1. A method for providing an integrated cross-platform computing environment, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of criteria from a client user, the plurality of criteria corresponding to characteristics of a plurality of computing resources;

automatically analyzing a plurality of computing resources for characteristics corresponding to the plurality of criteria, the plurality of computing resources offered by a plurality of computing vendors;

automatically deriving a configuration of computing resources from the plurality of computing resources, the configuration being comprised of computing resources from the plurality of computing resources that most comply with the plurality of criteria;

automatically orchestrating a set of computing resources to implement the configuration of computing resources as an integrated computing environment; and

providing access to the client user to the set of computing resources through the integrated computing environment,

wherein the computing environment is accessible to the client user through an integrated managed service framework executed on a physical computing device from a tangible computer readable medium.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving the plurality of criteria comprises:

presenting the client user with a plurality of questions corresponding to characteristics of the plurality of computing resources;

obtaining a plurality of client user-provided answers corresponding to the plurality of questions; and

determining characteristics of a plurality of client user-desired computing resources based on the plurality of user-provided answers.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of computing resources comprises cloud computing resources.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the cloud computing resources are comprised in a public cloud infrastructure.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of computing vendors comprise cloud computing vendors.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of computing resources are comprised in a private cloud infrastructure.

7. The method according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of cloud computing resources comprises a plurality of instanced Infrastructure as a Service components.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of instanced Infrastructure as a Service components includes at least one of:

a virtual server, local attached storage for a virtual machine, and a virtual network.

9. The method according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of cloud computing resources comprises a plurality of instanced Platform as a Service components.

10. The method according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of cloud computing resources comprises a plurality of instanced Software as a Service components.

11. The method according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of cloud computing resources comprises a plurality of instanced Business Process as a Service components.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of computing resources are comprised in a traditional information technology data infrastructure.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the automatically deriving a configuration of computing resources from the plurality of computing resources comprises automatically validating the configuration of computing resources for compatibility.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the automatically orchestrating comprises:

automatically provisioning the set of computing resources from the plurality of computing vendors; and

automatically and dynamically standardizing the set of computing resources by administrating a pre-configured set of user-defined policies

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing access to the client user of the set of computing resources comprises providing access to each resource of the set of computing resources through a single web-based portal.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the providing access to the client user comprises providing access to the set of computing resources for a plurality of users designated by the client user.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising providing access to a user access control module configured to manage access to the set of computing resources for the plurality of users designated by the client user.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the providing access to the client user comprises providing the ability to manage a plurality of computing environments corresponding to the client user within the system, a computing environment of the plurality of computing environment comprising a subset of computing resources comprised in the set of computing resources.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising storing the integrated computing environment in a central storage base communicatively coupled to the integrated managed service framework.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the integrated computing environment in the central storage base is automatically updated to reflect modifications made to the integrated computing environment by any of the plurality of users designated by the client user.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein the central storage base also stores a plurality of pre-generated computing environment templates, each pre-generated computing environment template comprising a set of computing resources having a plurality of characteristics.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the automatically deriving a configuration of computing resources comprises:

referencing the storage base of pre-generated computing environment templates;

comparing the plurality of criteria with the plurality of characteristics corresponding to the pre-generated computing environment templates; and

selecting a pre-generated computing environment template from the storage base having corresponding characteristics that match the plurality of criteria as the set of computing resources to implement the integrated computing environment.

23. The method according to claim 19, further comprising storing the derived configuration of computing resources as a pre-generated computing environment template in a storage base.

24. The method according to claim 19, wherein the central storage base further comprises a plurality of pre-defined operating configurations for a plurality of individual computing resources.

25. The method according to claim 24, further comprising storing an operating configuration for a computing resource comprised in the integrated computing environment as a pre-defined operating configuration in the central storage base.

26. A system for providing a managed service framework comprising:

a service management framework comprising;

a module for automatically determining a configuration of computing resources based on analyzed consumer criteria;

a module for automatically provisioning computing resources from a plurality of computing vendors to implement the configuration of computing resources based on the analyzed consumer criteria;

an orchestration framework comprising;

a module for automatically orchestrating provisioned computing resources into the configuration of an integrated computing environment;

a module for providing access to a storage base wherein the integrated computing environment is stored;

a user management framework comprising;

a module for providing user management of the provisioned computing resources comprising the integrated computing environment; and

a user interface operable to provide access to the integrated computing environment through a web portal,

wherein the service management framework, the orchestration framework and the user management framework are integrated into a single managed service framework executable on a computing device from a tangible computer readable medium.

27. The system according to claim 26, further comprising a deployment framework operable to automatically integrate a plurality of existing data resource components, the data resource components comprising a plurality computing resources including at least one of:

physical computing resources, public cloud computing resources, and private cloud computing resources.

28. The system according to claim 26, wherein the storage base is further configured to store configurations of a plurality of integrated computing environments as environment templates.

29. The system according to claim 27, wherein the module for automatically orchestrating provisioned computing resources is communicatively coupled to the storage base, and wherein an orchestration performed by the module comprises referencing the storage base for an environment template corresponding to the analyzed consumer criteria.

30. The system according to claim 26, wherein the analyzed consumer criteria is obtained by analyzing the characteristics of a plurality of client user-desired computing resources based on user-provided answers to a plurality of directed questions.

31. The system according to claim 26, wherein the module for automatically orchestrating provisioned computing resources comprises a module for executing policy management, the module for executing policy management being configured to dynamically standardize interactions within the integrated computing environment according to user-defined policies.

32. The system according to claim 31, wherein the module for executing policy management is further configured to automatically validated the provisioned computing resources for compatibility.

33. The system according to claim 26, wherein the computing resources are automatically provisioned from a plurality of computing vendors.

34. The system according to claim 33, wherein the computing resources comprise cloud computing resources.

35. The system according to claim 34, wherein the cloud computing resources are comprised in a public cloud infrastructure and the plurality of computing vendors comprise cloud computing vendors.

36. The system according to claim 34, wherein the plurality of computing resources are comprised in a private cloud infrastructure.

37. The system according to claim 34, wherein the plurality of cloud computing resources comprises a plurality of instanced Infrastructure as a Service components.

38. The system according to claim 37, wherein the plurality of instanced Infrastructure as a Service components includes at least one of:

a virtual server, local attached storage for a virtual machine, and a virtual network.

39. The system according to claim 34, wherein the plurality of cloud computing resources comprises a plurality of instanced Platform as a Service components.

40. The system according to claim 34, wherein the plurality of cloud computing resources comprises a plurality of instanced Software as a Service components.

41. The system according to claim 34, wherein the plurality of cloud computing resources comprises a plurality of instanced Business Process as a Service components.

42. The system according to claim 26, wherein the plurality of computing resources are comprised in a traditional information technology data infrastructure.

43. The system according to claim 26, wherein the user interface is configured to provide access to the integrated computing environment to a plurality of users designated through the module for providing user management.

44. The system according to claim 43, wherein the module for providing user management is operable to allow the management of access to specific computing resources in the integrated computing environment for each of the plurality of users.

45. The system according to claim 44, wherein the integrated computing environment stored in the storage base is automatically updated to reflect modifications to the specific computing resources in the integrated computing environment made by the plurality of users.

46. The system according to claim 26, wherein the user interface is operable to provide a client user the ability to manage a plurality of computing environments corresponding to the client user in the system, a computing environment of the plurality of computing environment comprising a subset of computing resources comprised in the set of computing resources.

47. A tangible computer readable medium containing program instructions embodied therein for causing a computing system to implement a cross-platform computing environment, the program instructions comprising:

program instructions to receive a plurality of criteria from a client user, the plurality of criteria corresponding to characteristics of a plurality of computing resources;

program instructions to automatically analyze the plurality of computing resources for key characteristics corresponding to the plurality of criteria, the plurality of computing resources offered by a plurality of computing vendors;

program instructions to automatically derive a configuration of computing resources from the plurality of computing resources, the configuration being comprised of the computing resources from the plurality of computing resources that most comply with the plurality of criteria;

program instructions to automatically orchestrate a set of computing resources to implement the configuration of computing resources as an integrated computing environment; and

program instructions to provide access to the client user to the set of computing resources comprising the integrated computing environment.

48. The tangible computer readable medium according to claim 47, wherein the program instructions to receive the plurality of criteria comprises:

instructions to present the client user with a plurality of questions corresponding to key characteristics of the plurality of computing resources;

instructions to obtain a plurality of client user-provided answers corresponding to the plurality of questions; and

instructions to determine key characteristics of a plurality of client user-desired computing resources based on the plurality of user-provided answers.

49. The tangible computer readable medium according to claim 47, wherein the program instructions to automatically derive a configuration of computing resources from the plurality of computing resources comprises instructions to automatically validate the configuration of computing resources for compatibility.

50. The tangible computer readable medium according to claim 47, wherein the program instructions to automatically orchestrate comprises:

instructions to automatically provision the computing resources from the plurality of computing vendors; and

instructions to automatically and dynamically standardize the set of computing resources by applying a pre-configured set of user-defined policies.

51. The tangible computer readable medium according to claim 47, wherein the program instructions to provide access to the client user comprises instructions to implement a single web-based portal through which each component of the set of computing resources is accessible.

52. The tangible computer readable medium according to claim 47, wherein the program instructions to provide access to the client user comprises instructions to provide access to the set of computing resources for a plurality of users designated by the client user.

53. The tangible computer readable medium according to claim 51, wherein the program instructions to provide access to the client user comprises instructions to provide access to a user access control module configured to manage access to the set of computing resources for the plurality of users designated by the client user.

54. The tangible computer readable medium according to claim 52, wherein the program instructions to provide access to the client user comprises instructions to provide the ability to manage a plurality of computing environments corresponding to the client user within the system, a computing environment of the plurality of computing environment comprising a subset of computing resources comprised in the set of computing resources.

55. The tangible computer readable medium according to claim 47, wherein the program instructions to automatically derive a configuration of computing resources comprises:

instructions to automatically reference a storage base of pre-generated configuration templates, each pre-generated configuration template comprising computing resources having a plurality of varying key characteristics;

comparing the plurality of criteria with the plurality of key characteristics corresponding to the pre-generated configuration templates; and

selecting a pre-generated configuration template from the storage base having corresponding key characteristics that match the plurality of criteria as the set of computing resources.

56. The tangible computer readable medium according to claim 55, further comprising program instructions to automatically store the derived set of computing resources as a pre-generated configuration template in a storage base.