Facilitating management of service elements usable in providing information technology service offerings

• US 7,533,026 B2
• Filed: 04/12/2002
• Issued: 05/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Nguyen, Luu Q., Grunin, Galina, Greenstein, Paul G.
• Primary Examiner(s): OUELLETTE, JONATHAN P
• Application Number:
  US10/121,307
• Publication Number:
  US 20030195756A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,587 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1
• US Class Current: 705/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A service element is defined and represented by a data structure. It includes one or more components and/or one or more other service elements. A service element providing a complete function is a service offering. Management of service elements and/or service offerings is facilitated by a Service Development Tool. In different aspects, the management includes various tasks associated with creating, modifying and deleting service elements, establishing relationships, error checking and optimization. In a further aspect, service elements are packaged and distributed to enable customers to deliver the service elements. Additionally, the hosting of software packages is facilitated.

Claims

1. A memory for storing data to be accessed by a service development tool, said memory comprising:

a data structure stored in said memory, said data structure representing an in-house or outsourced service and defining a service element providing at least part of a design specification usable in constructing a service by a service provider and including;

a composition section comprising a list of components included in the service element and quantity of each component;

a cost case section comprising a cost case of the service element, said cost case including an indication of quantity of the one or more composition items of the service element and cost to the service provider of the one or more composition items;

a dependency section comprising one or more functional dependencies of the service element to at least one other service element required for the service element to function;

an integration property section comprising one or more integration properties of the service element, the integration properties defining a relationship between the service element and other service elements to be possibly integrated into the service element and each integration property being one of a compatible integration, a standard integration, a manual integration, or a prohibited integration, wherein compatible integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service element is compatible with, standard integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service element integrates with by parametric integration, manual integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service element integrates with by programmable integration, and prohibited integration comprises a list of at least one other service element with which the service element is mutually exclusive;

a customization section comprising one or more customization specifications of the service element;

a design section comprising one or more design characteristics of the service element;

a development plan section comprising a functional specification, design and test plan for the service element;

a deployment plan section comprising a specification for service element deployment; and

a cross-reference table representing relationship of the service element to one or more other service elements of a plurality of service elements being managed, wherein said cross-reference table includes reference to the at least one other service element required for the service element to function.

2. The memory of claim 1, wherein the data structure further comprises a reference to one or more templates usable in creating the service element.

3. A system of facilitating management of service elements, said system comprising:

a data structure to define a service element usable in providing services to at least one of an in-house customer or an outsourcing customer, said data structure comprising a relational structured set of information associated with the service element, and said service element providing at least part of a design specification usable in constructing a service by a service provider, said service element comprising one or more composition items, a cost case, a list of functional prerequisites, integration properties and a customization specification for the service element, said cost case including an indication of quantity of the one or more composition items of the service element and cost to the service provider of the one or more composition items, the functional prerequisites comprising a list of other service elements required for the service element to function, the composition comprising a list of components included in the service element and quantity of each component, the integration properties defining a relationship between the service element and other service elements to be possibly integrated into the service element and each integration property being one of a compatible integration, a standard integration, a manual integration, or a prohibited integration, wherein compatible integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service element is compatible with, standard integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service element integrates with by parametric integration, manual integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service elements integrates with by programmable integration, and prohibited integration comprises a list of at least one other service element with which the service element is mutually exclusive; and

means for creating the service element, said means for creating comprising means for placing information of said service element in the data structure, wherein the data structure includes properties of the service element and comprises a relational structured set of information associated with the service element, said relational structured set of information comprising a cross-reference table representing relationship of the service element to one or more other service elements of a plurality of service elements being managed, wherein said cross-reference table includes reference to the at least one other service element required for the service element to function;

means for generating and saving a development plan for the service element in the data structure representation of the service element, the development plan comprising a functional specification, design and test plan for the service element;

means for generating a deployment plan for the service element using the development plan, wherein the deployment plan directs customization or integration of entities within the service element pursuant to the development plan;

means for saving the deployment plan for the service element in the data structure representation of the service element; and

means for constructing the service element to be developed by the service provider, the means for constructing including means for employing the relational structured set of information to identify and employ the other service elements required for the service element to be developed.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said means for creating comprises means for creating the cost case for the service element.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising means for modifying the cost case.

6. The system of claim 3, further comprising means for completing development of the created service element.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said means for completing development comprises means for initiating a change process to enable one or more changes of the service element to be reflected in at least one other service element.

8. The system of claim 3, further comprising means for verifying at least one relationship of the service element.

9. The system of claim 3, further comprising means for integrating one or more service elements into the service element.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising means for dissolving integration of at least one service element of the one or more service elements integrated into the service element.

11. The system of claim 3, further comprising means for modifying a composition of the service element.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the means for modifying comprises at least one of:

means for adding a composition item to the composition of the service element;

means for deleting a composition item from the composition of the service element; and

means for updating a quantity of an item of the composition of the service element.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein said composition comprises a service element.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein said composition comprises a component.

15. The system of claim 3, wherein said means for creating comprising means for using at least one template in creating the service element.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the template provides at least partial standardization for creating the service element.

17. The system of claim 3, further comprising means for modifying a design of the service element.

18. The system of claim 3, wherein said means for creating comprises means for creating the service element as an abstract service element, said abstract service element providing a placeholder for a service element to be instantiated, said abstract service element being functionally equivalent to a component specifying at least one of labor and materials, but not being provided by a source.

19. The system of claim 3, further comprising means for localizing a design of the service element to adapt the service element designed for one geographic locale to another geographic locale.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein said means for localizing comprises means for using a translation approach in the localizing.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein said means for localizing comprises means for using a closest component match approach in the localizing.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein said means for localizing comprises means for using a translation approach and a closest component match approach in the localizing.

23. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for determining whether the localized service element satisfies one or more business aspects associated with the service element; and

means for performing localization in multiple phases, in response to the determining indicating dissatisfaction.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the multiple phases comprise a functional best fit phase, in which one or more components having the closest functional characteristics to one or more components of the localized service element are selected for possible replacement, and a financial adjustment phase, in which one or more of the selected components are replaced by one or more less costly components.

25. A system of facilitating management of service elements, said system comprising:

a service element providing at least a part of a design specification usable in constructing a service by a service provider, the service element representing an in-house or outsourced service and comprising multiple properties, the multiple properties including an amount of labor and materials to be used to construct or operate at least part of a service to be billed to a customer, said multiple properties further comprising;

one or more composition items, at least one composition item of the one or more composition items quantifying labor and materials not billed to the customer separately;

a cost case, said cost case specifically enumerating the one or more composition items of the service element, including the at least one composition item quantifying labor and materials not billed to the customer separately, providing a quantity for each of the one or more composition items, and providing the cost of the one or more composition items to the service provider;

an identification of one or more functional dependencies of the service element identifying at least one other service element required for the service element to function; and

the integration properties defining a relationship between the service element and other service elements to be possibly integrated into the service element and each integration property being one of a compatible integration, a standard integration, a manual integration, or a prohibited integration, wherein compatible integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service element is compatible with, standard integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service element integrates with by parametric integration, manual integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service element integrates with by programmable integration, and prohibited integration comprises a list of at least one other service element with which the service element is mutually exclusive;

wherein the service element is defined using a data structure which includes the multiple properties of the service element, the data structure comprising a relational structured set of information associated with the service element, said relational structured set of information comprising a cross-reference table representing relationship of the service element to one or more other service elements of a plurality of service elements being managed, wherein said cross-reference table includes reference to the at least one other service element required for the service element to function;

means for generating and saving a development plan for the service element in the data structure representation of the service element, the development plan comprising a functional specification, design and test plant for the service element;

means for generating a deployment plan for the service element using the development plan, wherein the deployment plan directs customization or integration of entities within the service element pursuant to the development plan;

means for saving the deployment plan for the service element in the data structure representation of the service element; and

means for constructing the service element to be developed by the service provider, the means for constructing including employing the relational structured set of information and the integration properties to identify and employ the one or more other service elements required for the service element to be developed.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the service element is represented by a data structure, said data structure comprising a relational structured set of information used in managing the service element.

27. At least one program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of facilitating management of service elements, said method comprising:

defining a service element usable in providing services to at least one of an in-house customer and an outsourcing customer, said service element providing at least part of a design specification usable in constructing a service by a service provider, said service element comprising one or more composition items and a cost case, a list of functional prerequisites, integration properties and a customization specification for the service element, said cost case including an indication of quantity of the one or more composition items of the service element and cost to the service provider of the one or more composition items, the functional prerecluisites comprising a list of other service elements required for the service element to function, the composition comprising a list of components included in the service element and quantity of each component, the integration properties defining a relationship between the service element and other service elements to be possibly integrated into the service element, each integration property being one of a compatible integration, a standard integration, a manual integration, or a prohibited integration, wherein compatible integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service element is compatible with, standard integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service element integrates with by parametric integration, manual integration comprises a list of at least one other service element that the service elements integrates with by programmable integration, and prohibited integration comprises a list of at least one other service element with which the service element is mutually exclusive;

wherein the defining comprises using a data structure which includes the multiple properties of the service element, said data structure comprising a relational structured set of information associated with the service element, said relational structured set of information comprising a cross-reference table representing relationship of the service element to one or more other service elements of a plurality of service elements being managed, wherein said cross-reference table includes reference to the at least one other service element required for the service element to function;

generating and saving a development plan for the service element in the data structure representation of the service element, the development plan comprising a functional specification, design and test plan;

generating a deployment plan for the service element using the development plan, wherein the deployment plan directs customization or integration of entities within the service element pursuant to the development plan;

saving the deployment plan for the service element in the data structure representation of the service element; and

constructing the service element to be developed by the service provider, the constructing including employing the relational structured set of information and the integration properties to identify and employ the one or more other service elements required for the service element to be developed.

28. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said data structure comprises a composition section comprising the one or more composition items of said service element.

29. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said data structure comprises a dependency section comprising one or more dependencies of said service element.

30. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said data structure comprises a cost case section comprising the cost case of said service element.

31. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said data structure comprises an integration properties section comprising one or more integration properties of said service element.

32. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said data structure comprises a customization section comprising one or more customization specifications of said service element.

33. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said data structure comprises a design section comprising one or more design characteristics of said service element.

34. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said data structure comprises the development plan section comprising a development plan of said service element.

35. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said data structure comprises the deployment plan section comprising a deployment plan of said service element.

36. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said data structure comprises a reference to one or more templates usable in creating the service element.

37. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said method further comprises completing development of the created service element.

38. The at least one program storage device of claim 37, wherein said completing development comprises initiating a change process to enable one or more changes of the service element to be reflected in at least one other service element.

39. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said method further comprises verifying at least one relationship of the service element.

40. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said method further comprises integrating one or more service elements into the service element.

41. The at least one program storage device of claim 40, wherein said method further comprises dissolving integration of at least one service element of the one or more service elements integrated into the service element.

42. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said method further comprises modifying a composition of the service element.

43. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said constructing comprises using at least one template in creating the service element.

44. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said method further comprises modifying a design of the service element.

45. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said method further comprises creating the service element as an abstract service element, said abstract service element providing a placeholder for a service element to be instantiated, said abstract service element being functionally equivalent to a component specifying at least one of labor and materials, but not being provided by a source.

46. The at least one program storage device of claim 27, wherein said method further comprises localizing a design of the service element to adapt the service element designed for one geographic locale to another geographic locale.