System and method for representing the information technology infrastructure of an organization

• US 6,670,973 B1
• Filed: 06/29/1999
• Issued: 12/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Micro Focus LLC (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Electronic Data Systems Corporation (Perspecta, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hill, Thomas L., Rammage, Kevin J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Kristine
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, MYLINH T
• Application Number:
  US09/342,481
• Time in Patent Office: 1,645 Days
• Field of Search: 345/853, 345/854, 345/855, 345/839, 345/835, 345/966, 345/734, 345/736, 345/737, 345/440
• US Class Current: 715/853
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

A computer program for representing the information technology infrastructure of an organization includes an interactive display module and an output module. The interactive display module can generate a hierarchical list of information technology elements and organizational elements in the information technology infrastructure of the organization and can generate an interactive user interface that presents the hierarchical list. The output module can generate a hierarchical graph of the information technology infrastructure of the organization. The hierarchical list and the hierarchical graph each represent the information technology infrastructure of the organization.

Claims

1. Information technology infrastructure management software, embodied in a computer-readable medium and operable, when executed, to:

generate a hierarchical graph of information technology elements categorized according to one or more organizational elements of a business entity with which each information technology element is associated;

label each occurrence of an information technology element that occurs more than once in the hierarchical graph with a label that locates the occurrence of the information technology element in the hierarchical graph; and

provide cross-references at each occurrence of the information technology element to the other occurrences of the information technology element in the hierarchical graph;

wherein the hierarchical graph represents the information technology infrastructure of the business entity.

2. The software of claim 1, wherein the organizational elements comprise departments of the business entity.

3. The software of claim 1, further operable to:

maintain a dependency relationship between a first information technology element and a second information technology element; and

connect the second information technology element to each occurrence of the first information technology element.

4. The software of claim 1, wherein the information technology elements comprise applications and databases.

5. A system for representing the information technology infrastructure of a business entity, comprising:

a memory operable to store data representing information technology elements of the business entity, organizational elements of the business entity with which each information technology element is associated, and relationships between the information technology elements and the organizational elements;

a processor coupled to the memory and operable to;

access the data in the memory; and

generate a hierarchical graph of the information technology elements categorized according to one or more organizational elements of the business entity with which each information technology element is associated, wherein;

each occurrence of an information technology element that occurs more than once In the hierarchical graph has a label that locates the occurrence of the information technology element in the hierarchical graph; and

each occurrence of the information technology element cross-references the other occurrence of the information technology element in the hierarchical graph; and

a display device coupled to the processor, the display device operable to display the hierarchical graph, wherein the hierarchical graph represents the information technology infrastructure of the business entity.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the organizational elements comprise departments of a business entity.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the information technology elements comprise applications and databases.

8. The system of claim 5, further comprising an output device coupled to the processor, the output device operable to generate a hard copy out that presents the hierarchical graph.

9. The system of claim 5, wherein:

memory is further operable to store a dependency relationship between a first information technology element and a second information technology element; and

the processor is further operable to connect the second information technology element to each occurrence of the first information technology element.

10. A method performed on a computer for representing the information technology infrastructure of a business entity, comprising:

storing data representing information technology elements of the business entity, organizational elements of the business entity with which each information technology element is associated, and relationships between the information technology elements and the organizational elements;

accessing the data in a memory;

generating a hierarchical graph of the information technology elements categorized according to one or more organizational elements of the business entity with which each informational technology element is associated, the hierarchical graph comprising;

labels that locate each occurrence of an information technology element that occurs more than once in the hierarchical graph; and

cross-references at each occurrence of the information technology element in the to the other occurrences of the information technology element in the hierarchical graph; and

displaying the hierarchical graph on a display device;

wherein the hierarchical graph represents the information technology infrastructure of the business entity.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the organizational elements comprise departments of a business entity.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the information technology elements comprise applications and databases.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

maintaining a dependency relationship between a first information technology element and a second information technology element; and

connecting the second information technology element to each occurrence of the first information technology element.