METHOD TO AUTOMATICALLY MAP BUSINESS FUNCTION LEVEL POLICIES TO IT MANAGEMENT POLICIES

• US 20120284389A1
• Filed: 07/19/2012
• Published: 11/08/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Azagury, Alain C., Devarakonda, Murthy V., Joukov, Nikolai, Kumar, Manoj, Magoutis, Konstantinos, Pfitzmann, Birgit M., Vogl, Norbert G.
• Granted Patent: US 8,914,844 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/604 Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect

Abstract

A method, system, computer program product, and computer program storage device for transforming a high-level policy associated with a high layer to a low-level policy associated with a low layer. Mapping between high-level objects in a high layer and low-level objects in a low layer is derived by an automated discovery tool. The high-level policy is mapped to the low-level policy according to the mapping (e.g., by substituting the high-level objects with the low-level objects and by performing a syntax transformation). In one embodiment, a low-level policy is transformed to a high-level policy according to the mapping. As exemplary embodiments, policy transformations in traffic shaping and data retention are disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for transforming a low-level policy associated with an IT (Information Technology) layer to a high-level policy associated with a business layer comprising:

identifying low-level objects in the low-level policy;

identifying high-level objects in the business layer;

automatically discovering a data dependency between the low-level objects and the high-level objects;

mapping the low-level objects to related high-level objects in the business layer; and

mapping the low-level policy to the high-level policy by applying the discovered data dependency and by substituting the low-level objects with the related high-level objects,

wherein a processor coupled to a memory device perform;

the identifying the low-level objects, the identifying the high-level objects, the automatically discovering, the mapping the low-level objects, the mapping the low-level policy.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, further comprising:

performing a syntax transformation between the high-level policy and the low-level policy.

3. A computer-implemented method for retaining data in a storage layer according to a high-level policy comprising:

describing the high-level policy as a table, the table including one or more of;

a high-level object and attributes of the high-level object, the attributes including one or more of;

a retention time indicating how long the high-level object needs to be retained, a start event from which the retention time is measured, a number of places where the data is retained, a type of places indicating a specific characteristics of the places, and accessibility indicating whether the corresponding place is easy to access or not;

mapping the high-level object in a regulation layer to a data type in a business model layer by one-to-one mapping, one-to-several mapping, one-to-subtype mapping, or one-to-union of several subtypes, one-to-one mapping indicating there is exactly one corresponding data type in the business model layer, one-to-several mapping indicating there are several corresponding data types in the business model layer, one-to-subtype mapping indicating that the high-level object corresponds to a subtype of a data type in the business model layer, and one-to-union of several subtypes indicating that the high-level object corresponds to a union of several subtypes in the business model layer;

mapping the start event in the regulation layer to an action, a set of several actions, subsets of actions, or a pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event in business model layer;

mapping the one corresponding data type in the business model layer to a data item in a storage layer, mapping the corresponding several data types in the business model layer to several data items in the storage layer, or mapping the subtype of the data type in the business model layer to a subtype of a data item in the storage layer by using an enterprise data modeling and integration design tool;

mapping the action, the set of several actions, or subsets of actions in the business model layer to actual executable steps in the storage layer;

transforming the pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event in the business model layer to a similar pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event in storage layer; and

deriving a low-level policy from the high-level policy by substituting the high-level object with the data item and substituting the start event with the actual executable steps or the similar pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event,

wherein a processor coupled to a memory device perform;

the describing, the mapping the high-level objects, the mapping the start event, the mapping the one corresponding data type, the mapping the action, the transforming, and the deriving.

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 3, further comprising:

transforming the high-level policy to a similar or related high-level policy before starting to map the high-level policy to the business model layer.

5. A computer-implemented system for transforming a low-level policy associated with an IT (Information Technology) layer to a high-level policy associated with a business layer comprising:

a processor;

a memory device coupled to the processor,

wherein the processor is further configured to perform;

identifying low-level objects in the low-level policy;

identifying high-level objects in the business layer;

automatically discovering a data dependency between the high-level objects and the low-level objects;

mapping the low-level objects to related high-level objects in the business layer; and

mapping the low-level policy to the high-level policy by applying the discovered data dependency and by substituting the low-level objects with the related high-level objects.

6. The computer-implemented system according to claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to perform a syntax transformation between the high-level policy and the low-level policy.

7. A computer-implemented system for retaining data in a storage layer according to a high-level policy comprising:

a processor;

a memory device coupled to the processor,

wherein the processor is further configured to perform;

describing the high-level policy as a table, the table including one or more of;

a high-level object and attributes of the high-level object, the attributes including one or more of;

a retention time indicating how long the high-level object needs to be retained, a start event from which the retention time is measured, a number of places where the data is retained, a type of places indicating a specific characteristics of the places, and accessibility indicating whether the corresponding place is easy to access or not;

mapping the high-level object in a regulation layer to a data type in a business model layer by one-to-one mapping, one-to-several mapping, one-to-subtype mapping, or one-to-union of several subtypes, one-to-one mapping indicating there is exactly one corresponding data type in the business model layer, one-to-several mapping indicating there are several corresponding data types in the business model layer, one-to-subtype mapping indicating that the high-level object corresponds to a subtype of a data type in the business model layer, and one-to-union of several subtypes indicating that the high-level object corresponds to a union of several subtypes in the business model layer;

mapping the start event in the regulation layer to an action, a set of several actions, subsets of actions, or a pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event in business model layer;

mapping the one corresponding data type in the business model layer to a data item in a storage layer, mapping the corresponding several data types in the business model layer to several data items in the storage layer, or mapping the subtype of the data type in the business model layer to a subtype of a data item in the storage layer by using an enterprise data modeling and integration design tool;

mapping the action, the set of several actions, or subsets of actions in the business model layer to actual executable steps in the storage layer;

transforming the pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event in the business model layer to a similar pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event in storage layer; and

deriving a low-level policy from the high-level policy by substituting the high-level object with the data item and substituting the start event with the actual executable steps or the similar pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event.

8. The computer-implemented method according to claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to transform the high-level policy to a similar or related high-level policy before starting to map the high-level policy to the business model layer.

9. A computer program product for transforming a low-level policy associated with an IT (Information Technology) layer to a high-level policy associated with a business layer, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions run by the processing circuit for performing a method, said method steps comprising:

identifying low-level objects in the low-level policy;

identifying high-level objects in the business layer;

automatically discovering a data dependency between the low-level objects and the high-level objects;

mapping the low-level objects to related high-level objects in the business layer; and

mapping the low-level policy to the high-level policy by applying the discovered data dependency and by substituting the low-level objects with the related high-level objects.

10. The computer program product according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

performing a syntax transformation between the high-level policy and the low-level policy.

11. A computer program product for retaining data in a storage layer according to a high-level policy, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions run by the processing circuit for performing a method, said method steps comprising:

describing the high-level policy as a table, the table including one or more of;

a high-level object and attributes of the high-level object, the attributes including one or more of;

a retention time indicating how long the high-level object needs to be retained, a start event from which the retention time is measured, a number of places where the data is retained, a type of places indicating a specific characteristics of the places, and accessibility indicating whether the corresponding place is easy to access or not;

mapping the high-level object in a regulation layer to a data type in a business model layer by one-to-one mapping, one-to-several mapping, one-to-subtype mapping, or one-to-union of several subtypes, one-to-one mapping indicating there is exactly one corresponding data type in the business model layer, one-to-several mapping indicating there are several corresponding data types in the business model layer, one-to-subtype mapping indicating that the high-level object corresponds to a subtype of a data type in the business model layer, and one-to-union of several subtypes indicating that the high-level object corresponds to a union of several subtypes in the business model layer;

mapping the start event in the regulation layer to an action, a set of several actions, subsets of actions, or a pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event in business model layer;

mapping the one corresponding data type in the business model layer to a data item in a storage layer, mapping the corresponding several data types in the business model layer to several data items in the storage layer, or mapping the subtype of the data type in the business model layer to a subtype of a data item in the storage layer by using an enterprise data modeling and integration design tool;

mapping the action, the set of several actions, or subsets of actions in the business model layer to actual executable steps in the storage layer;

transforming the pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event in the business model layer to a similar pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event in storage layer; and

deriving a low-level policy from the high-level policy by substituting the high-level object with the data item and substituting the start event with the actual executable steps or the similar pair of a precondition of the start event and a postcondition of the start event.

12. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

transforming the high-level policy to a similar or related high-level policy before starting to map the high-level policy to the business model layer.