Application Service Aggregation and Management

• US 20170365009A1
• Filed: 09/06/2017
• Published: 12/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chen, Jianwen, Donovang-Kuhlisch, Margarete, Faferko, Robert J., Liu, Ya Xiao, Pang, Yan
• Granted Patent: US 10,748,221 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/10 Tax strategies
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

A method and system for aggregating services is provided. The method includes receiving and processing a service request. The service request is submitted to a service catalog and dispatched to a data integration and API module. The service request is transmitted to a management module and processed with respect to a plurality of service providers. Inter process communications associated with the service request are managed. Additionally, an account associated with the service request and the plurality of service providers is managed.

Claims

1. A software application management method comprising:

receiving, by a computer processor of a computing system via a portal and an API component, a service request associated with an application, a product, or a service;

submitting, by said computer processor, said service request to a service catalog associated with a hub component controlling resource utilization;

retrieving, by said computer processor from said service catalog via a queue of a service request management component, said service request and associated service provider attributes;

dispatching, by said computer processor executing a mathematical optimization model, said service request to a data integration and API module configure to interact with a managed cloud based system;

transmitting, by said computer processor executing said data integration and API module, said service request to a management module associated with a plurality of service providers;

managing, by said computer processor based on results of said processing said service request with respect to said plurality of service providers, inter process communications (IPC) associated with said service request;

managing, by said computer processor based on said IPC, an account associated with said service request and said plurality of service providers;

automatically provisioning said service request;

modifying based on results of said provisioning, hardware and software associated with said service request, wherein said modifying comprises;

executing changes to hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of said managed cloud based system;

monitoring executed changes to said hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of said managed cloud based system;

executing changes to hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of a non-cloud based system;

monitoring executed changes to said hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of said non-cloud based system;

polling, by said processor executing software components of a lifecycle management component, hardware and software sources providing notifications with respect to software updates at firmware levels, operating system patches and new releases, middleware patches and new releases, and analytics application updates and releases;

applying, by said software components of said lifecycle management component, updates and upgrades to software applications resulting in modified application and infrastructure components;

testing, by said processor, said modified application and infrastructure components; and

enabling, based on results of said testing, said modified application and infrastructure components.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said management module comprises a cloud environment management module, and wherein said processing said service request with respect to said plurality of service providers comprises:

managing a virtual image of said provisioning and said modifying;

recording results of said modifying;

generating pricing data associated with said modifying; and

generating a report indicating said results of said modifying and said pricing data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said management module comprises a non-cloud environment management module, and wherein said processing said service request with respect to said plurality of service providers comprises:

manually provisioning said service request;

manually modifying based on results of said provisioning, hardware and software associated with said service request;

recording results of said modifying;

generating pricing data associated with said modifying; and

generating a report indicating said results of said modifying and said pricing data.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

applying, by said computer processor, asset and license management data to said IPC associated with said service request;

applying, by said computer processor, entitlement management data to said IPC associated with said service request;

managing, by said computer processor, an end-to-end service lifecycle across different infrastructure environments; and

managing, by said computer processor, pricing and billing information associated with said IPC associated with said service request, wherein said managing said account is further based on results of;

said applying said asset and license management data, said applying said entitlement management data, and said managing said pricing and billing information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said submitting, said retrieving, and said dispatching are based on interactions with rules generated by a configurable rule agent.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said service catalog comprises a centralized information hub comprising said associated service provider attributes.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said associated service provider attributes comprise attributes selected from the group consisting of application service lists, service level agreements, capabilities, capacities, pricing models, and resource utilization values.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing at least one support service for at least one of creating, integrating, hosting, maintaining, and deploying computer-readable code in the computing system, said code being executed by the computer processor to implement;

said receiving, said submitting, said retrieving, said dispatching, said transmitting, said managing said IPC, and said managing said account.

9. A computing system comprising a computer processor coupled to a computer-readable memory unit, said memory unit comprising instructions that when executed by the computer processor implements a software application management method comprising:

receiving, by said computer processor via a portal and an API component, a service request associated with an application, a product, or a service;

submitting, by said computer processor, said service request to a service catalog associated with a hub component controlling resource utilization;

retrieving, by said computer processor from said service catalog via a queue of a service request management component, said service request and associated service provider attributes;

dispatching, by said computer processor executing a mathematical optimization model, said service request to a data integration and API module configure to interact with a managed cloud based system;

transmitting, by said computer processor executing said data integration and API module, said service request to a management module associated with a plurality of service providers;

managing, by said computer processor based on results of said processing said service request with respect to said plurality of service providers, inter process communications (IPC) associated with said service request;

managing, by said computer processor based on said IPC, an account associated with said service request and said plurality of service providers;

automatically provisioning said service request;

modifying based on results of said provisioning, hardware and software associated with said service request, wherein said modifying comprises;

executing changes to hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of said managed cloud based system;

monitoring executed changes to said hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of said managed cloud based system;

executing changes to hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of a non-cloud based system;

monitoring executed changes to said hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of said non-cloud based system;

polling, by said processor executing software components of a lifecycle management component, hardware and software sources providing notifications with respect to software updates at firmware levels, operating system patches and new releases, middleware patches and new releases, and analytics application updates and releases;

applying, by said software components of said lifecycle management component, updates and upgrades to software applications resulting in modified application and infrastructure components;

testing, by said processor, said modified application and infrastructure components; and

enabling, based on results of said testing, said modified application and infrastructure components.

10. The computing system of claim 9, wherein said management module comprises a cloud environment management module, and wherein said processing said service request with respect to said plurality of service providers comprises:

managing a virtual image of said provisioning and said modifying;

recording results of said modifying;

generating pricing data associated with said modifying; and

generating a report indicating said results of said modifying and said pricing data.

11. The computing system of claim 9, wherein said management module comprises a non-cloud environment management module, and wherein said processing said service request with respect to said plurality of service providers comprises:

manually provisioning said service request;

manually modifying based on results of said provisioning, hardware and software associated with said service request;

recording results of said modifying;

generating pricing data associated with said modifying; and

generating a report indicating said results of said modifying and said pricing data.

12. The computing system of claim 9, wherein said method further comprises:

applying, by said computer processor, asset and license management data to said IPC associated with said service request;

applying, by said computer processor, entitlement management data to said IPC associated with said service request;

managing, by said computer processor, an end-to-end service lifecycle across different infrastructure environments; and

managing, by said computer processor, pricing and billing information associated with said IPC associated with said service request, wherein said managing said account is further based on results of;

said applying said asset and license management data, said applying said entitlement management data, and said managing said pricing and billing information.

13. The computing system of claim 9, wherein said submitting, said retrieving, and said dispatching are based on interactions with rules generated by a configurable rule agent.

14. The computing system of claim 9, wherein said service catalog comprises a centralized information hub comprising said associated service provider attributes.

15. The computing system of claim 9, wherein said associated service provider attributes comprise attributes selected from the group consisting of application service lists, service level agreements, capabilities, capacities, pricing models, and resource utilization values.

16. A computer program product, comprising a computer readable hardware storage device storing a computer readable program code, said computer readable program code comprising an algorithm that when executed by a computer processor of a computing system implements a software application management method, said method comprising:

receiving, by said computer processor via a portal and an API component, a service request associated with an application, a product, or a service;

submitting, by said computer processor, said service request to a service catalog associated with a hub component controlling resource utilization;

retrieving, by said computer processor from said service catalog via a queue of a service request management component, said service request and associated service provider attributes;

dispatching, by said computer processor executing a mathematical optimization model, said service request to a data integration and API module configure to interact with a managed cloud based system;

transmitting, by said computer processor executing said data integration and API module, said service request to a management module associated with a plurality of service providers;

managing, by said computer processor based on results of said processing said service request with respect to said plurality of service providers, inter process communications (IPC) associated with said service request;

managing, by said computer processor based on said IPC, an account associated with said service request and said plurality of service providers;

automatically provisioning said service request;

modifying based on results of said provisioning, hardware and software associated with said service request, wherein said modifying comprises;

executing changes to hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of said managed cloud based system;

monitoring executed changes to said hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of said managed cloud based system;

executing changes to hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of a non-cloud based system;

monitoring executed changes to said hardware, software, runtime functions, and applications of said non-cloud based system;

polling, by said processor executing software components of a lifecycle management component, hardware and software sources providing notifications with respect to software updates at firmware levels, operating system patches and new releases, middleware patches and new releases, and analytics application updates and releases;

applying, by said software components of said lifecycle management component, updates and upgrades to software applications resulting in modified application and infrastructure components;

testing, by said processor, said modified application and infrastructure components; and

enabling, based on results of said testing, said modified application and infrastructure components.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein said management module comprises a cloud environment management module, and wherein said processing said service request with respect to said plurality of service providers comprises:

managing a virtual image of said provisioning and said modifying;

recording results of said modifying;

generating pricing data associated with said modifying; and

generating a report indicating said results of said modifying and said pricing data.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein said management module comprises a non-cloud environment management module, and wherein said processing said service request with respect to said plurality of service providers comprises:

manually provisioning said service request;

manually modifying based on results of said provisioning, hardware and software associated with said service request;

recording results of said modifying;

generating pricing data associated with said modifying; and

generating a report indicating said results of said modifying and said pricing data.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein said method further comprises:

applying, by said computer processor, asset and license management data to said IPC associated with said service request;

applying, by said computer processor, entitlement management data to said IPC associated with said service request;

managing, by said computer processor, an end-to-end service lifecycle across different infrastructure environments; and

managing, by said computer processor, pricing and billing information associated with said IPC associated with said service request, wherein said managing said account is further based on results of;

said applying said asset and license management data, said applying said entitlement management data, and said managing said pricing and billing information.

20. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein said submitting, said retrieving, and said dispatching are based on interactions with rules generated by a configurable rule agent.