Integration of software into an existing information technology (IT) infrastructure

• US 7,949,997 B2
• Filed: 01/31/2006
• Issued: 05/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hopkins, Richard A., Winter, Christopher C., Dring, Giles J. B., Yusuf, Larry, Lojek, Robert J., Chessell, Amanda E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Das; Chameli C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HAYIM, SAMUEL E
• Application Number:
  US11/345,138
• Publication Number:
  US 20060184933A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,939 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/120
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design

Abstract

A method and apparatus for integrating a software application into an information technology (IT) infrastructure. An inventory is created using a Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) approach from the Object Management Group (OMG). The inventory includes information about: each component of the IT infrastructure, the software application, how each component communicates with each other component, and how the software application communicates with each component. Each element of information in the inventory has a single source and owner. The inventory is used to analyze the IT infrastructure and the software application during integrating the software application. From contents of the inventory, using the MDA approach from the OMG, artifacts that execute the integration are generated, and test programs are generated to verify that the integration is complete and correct. The inventory is progressively updated during and after the integration as more information about the IT infrastructure or the software application is developed.

Claims

1. A method for performing integration of a software application into an existing information technology (IT) infrastructure, said method comprising:

creating a plurality of views, each view being created by a different group of an integration project of a business, each different group using a different tool to effectuate creation of each view, each view configured to create a different subset of contents of an inventory that includes domains of information needed by the integration project;

validating each view, said validating each view comprising defining rules and transforms for mapping key types of content of each view to the inventory, identifying missing information from the content of each view, and clarifying ownership boundaries and responsibilities for each view;

creating the inventory through use of the views, said creating the inventory comprising populating the domains of information in the inventory, said domains of information comprising a data dictionary domain which defines terms used in the business, a services domain specifying services which are exposed, a message dictionary domain comprising information on a format of a message, and a system directory domain specifying where each software component of the IT infrastructure is physically located;

generating system artifacts, said system artifacts being generated from the contents of the inventory in combination with first templates, said system artifacts comprising runtime code configured to execute integration of the software application into the existing IT infrastructure;

generating test artifacts, said test artifacts being generated from the contents of the inventory in combination with second templates, said test artifacts comprising test programs for validating the system artifacts;

validating the system artifacts through use of the test artifacts, said validating the system artifacts comprising verifying that the system artifacts meet requirements for the system artifacts;

deploying the runtime code of the system artifacts to execute integration of the software application into the existing IT infrastructure; and

progressively updating the inventory as more information about the IT infrastructure or the software application is developed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said populating the domains of information in the inventory is implemented using a plurality of tools using a controlled publish process, to ensure that each element of information in the domains of information in the inventory has an identifiable single source and owner.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the software application is a custom off the shelf (COTS) software application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises representing a structure of the inventory, wherein the structure of the inventory comprises:

plurality of inventory assets, wherein each inventory asset describes data that is relevant to the project, and wherein each inventory asset comprises a concept that includes an instance of a description of an object in the inventory, a class describing a category of the instance, and a domain describing a knowledge base of the class; and

for each inventory asset, a provenance providing information about each inventory asset, wherein the information about each inventory asset consists of a view that each inventory asset came from, a date that each inventory asset was added to the inventory, and a version number of each inventory asset.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

ascertaining a test failure due to a manufacturing fault; and

in response to said ascertaining the test failure, coding transformations to generate an unsupported system of the IT infrastructure.

6. An apparatus for performing integration of a software application into an existing information technology (TT) infrastructure, said apparatus comprising:

means for creating a plurality of views, each view being created by a different group of an integration project of a business, each different group using a different tool to effectuate creation of each view, each view configured to create a different subset of contents of an inventory that includes domains of information needed by the integration project;

means for validating each view, said validating each view comprising defining rules and transforms for mapping key types of content of each view to the inventory, identifying missing information from the content of each view, and clarifying ownership boundaries and responsibilities for each view;

means for creating the inventory through use of the views, said creating the inventory comprising populating the domains of information in the inventory, said domains of information comprising a data dictionary domain which defines terms used in the business, a services domain specifying services which are exposed, a message dictionary domain comprising information on a format of a message, and a system directory domain specifying where each software component of the IT infrastructure is physically located;

means for generating system artifacts, said system artifacts being generated from the contents of the inventory in combination with first templates, said system artifacts comprising runtime code configured to execute integration of the software application into the existing IT infrastructure;

means for generating test artifacts, said test artifacts being generated from the contents of the inventory in combination with second templates, said test artifacts comprising test programs for validating the system artifacts;

means for validating the system artifacts through use of the test artifacts, said validating the system artifacts comprising verifying that the system artifacts meet requirements for the system artifacts;

means for deploying the runtime code of the system artifacts to execute integration of the software application into the existing IT infrastructure; and

means for progressively updating the inventory as more information about the IT infrastructure or the software application is developed.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the inventory is populated using a plurality of tools using a controlled publish process, therefore ensuring that each element of information in the domains of information in the inventory has an identifiable single source and owner.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the software application is a custom off the shelf (COTS) software application.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for representing a structure of the inventory, wherein the structure of the inventory comprises:

a plurality of inventory assets, wherein each inventory asset describes data that is relevant to the project, and wherein each inventory asset comprises a concept that includes an instance of a description of an object in the inventory, a class describing a category of the instance, and a domain describing a knowledge base of the class; and

for each inventory asset, a provenance providing information about each inventory asset, wherein the information about each inventory asset consists of a first view that each inventory asset came from, a date that each inventory asset was added to the inventory, and a version number of each inventory asset.

10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

means for ascertaining a test failure due to a manufacturing fault; and

means for coding transformations, in response to ascertaining the test failure, to generate an unsupported system of the IT infrastructure.

11. A computer program product, comprising a computer readable tangible storage device, said storage device comprising computer code that, when run on a computer system, implements a method for performing integration of a software application into an existing information technology (TT) infrastructure, said method comprising:

creating a plurality of views, each view being created by a different group of an integration project of a business, each different group using a different tool to effectuate creation of each view, each view configured to create a different subset of contents of an inventory that includes domains of information needed by the integration project;

validating each view, said validating each view comprising defining rules and transforms for mapping key types of content of each view to the inventory, identifying missing information from the content of each view, and clarifying ownership boundaries and responsibilities for each view;

creating the inventory through use of the views, said creating the inventory comprising populating the domains of information in the inventory, said domains of information comprising a data dictionary domain which defines terms used in the business, a services domain specifying services which are exposed, a message dictionary domain comprising information on a format of a message, and a system directory domain specifying where each software component of the IT infrastructure is physically located;

generating system artifacts, said system artifacts being generated from the contents of the inventory in combination with first templates, said system artifacts comprising runtime code configured to execute integration of the software application into the existing IT infrastructure;

generating test artifacts, said test artifacts being generated from the contents of the inventory in combination with second templates, said test artifacts comprising test programs for validating the system artifacts;

validating the system artifacts through use of the test artifacts, said validating the system artifacts comprising verifying that the system artifacts meet requirements for the system artifacts;

deploying the runtime code of the system artifacts to execute integration of the software application into the existing IT infrastructure; and

progressively updating the inventory as more information about the IT infrastructure or the software application is developed.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein said populating the domains of information in the inventory is implemented using a plurality of tools using a controlled publish process, to ensure that each element of information in the domains of information in the inventory has an identifiable single source and owner.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the software application is a custom off the shelf (COTS) software application.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises representing a structure of the inventory, wherein the structure of the inventory comprises:

a plurality of inventory assets, wherein each inventory asset describes data that is relevant to the project, and wherein each inventory asset comprises a concept that includes an instance of a description of an object in the inventory, a class describing a category of the instance, and a domain describing a knowledge base of the class; and

for each inventory asset, a provenance providing information about each inventory asset, wherein the information about each inventory asset consists of a view that each inventory asset came from, a date that each inventory asset was added to the inventory, and a version number of each inventory asset.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

ascertaining a test failure due to a manufacturing fault; and

in response to said ascertaining the test failure, coding transformations to generate an unsupported system of the IT infrastructure.