Application/service event root cause traceability causal and impact analyzer

• US 8,375,370 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2008
• Issued: 02/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chaar, Jarir K., Huchel, Joseph P., Jobson, Thomas A. Jr., Oppenheim, Daniel V., Ratakonda, Krishna C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen, Li B
• Assistant Examiner(s): MILLER, VIVA L
• Application Number:
  US12/178,185
• Publication Number:
  US 20100023919A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,665 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/130
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A method, system, and computer-readable medium for identifying root causes of problems in a software factory. Each work packet being executed within the software factory is assigned meta-data, which describes a relationship between that work packet and other work packets, as well as a relationship between that work packet and resources within the software factory. These metrics provides means for identifying any problems within the software factory.

Claims

1. A computer-executed method of utilizing logs of work packets to identify root causes of performance problems in a software factory, the computer-executed method comprising:

collecting logs of all work packet activities, updates for associated work packet artifacts, and factory process elements that are all in progress in a software factory, wherein the logs describe how work packets, work packet artifacts and factory process elements are being utilized by a current project in the software factory, wherein the current project is for a deliverable software that is created through an execution of work packets within the software factory, and wherein the work packets include governance procedures, standards, reused assets, work packet instructions, integration strategy, schedules, exit criteria and artifact checklist templates for Input/Output routines, wherein the exit criteria is a checklist for returning said work packets and the deliverable software to the software factory, and wherein the software factory comprises;

an assembly line and job shop that receive and execute the work packets to create the deliverable software, and

a published set of services and a published set of requirements for the assembly line and job shop, wherein the published set of services and the published set of requirements for the assembly line and job shop are published to a design center, and wherein the published set of services describes what assembly services for assembling the work packets are offered by the assembly line and job shop, and wherein the published set of requirements describes what execution environment must be used by work packets that are provided by the design center for assembly in the assembly line and job shop;

storing the logs in a factory operational store that is consistent with a factory meta-data model, wherein the factory meta-data model captures metrics for specific work packets, and wherein the metrics describe which resources in the software factory are being utilized by the work packets;

tracing the logs for both the work packets and the factory process elements to perform a causal impact analysis that describes how the work packets'"'"' use of the factory process elements in the software factory impacts the current project; and

automatically modulating, by a computer, the factory meta-data model based on a predicted risk as calculated from a nature of the current project and historical data derived from similar projects in the software factory in order to determine if one work packet will have an impact on another work packet in the current project.

2. The computer-executed method of claim 1, further comprising:

proactively reviewing and inspecting the logs to create an activity-centric view and an artifact-centric view of the logs, wherein the activity-centric view is leveraged to subsequently enhance a product and a service developed by the software factory, and wherein the artifact-centric view is leveraged to perform break/fix activities on the product and the service provided by the software factory in order to identify and correct any field problems with the product and the service.

3. The computer-executed method of claim 2, further comprising:

associating different work packets in the current project together; and

connecting artifacts that are associated with the different work packets to determine what impact the different work packets have on one another.

4. The computer-executed method of claim 3, wherein the tracing step is enabled by linking artifacts of multiple work packets and multiple factory process elements.

5. The computer-executed method of claim 4, wherein the causal impact analysis traces a particular problem associated with the product and the service back to a source of a particular work packet and process element artifact by traversing links of the factory meta-data model, and wherein the causal impact analysis is triggered by a signal to fix a defect and enhance the product and the service.

6. The computer-executed method of claim 5, wherein the level of details captured by the logs used to generate the activity-centric view and the artifact-centric view for the current project is automatically specified based on a past history of a performance of teams involved in the current project when handling similar work packets and process elements.

7. The computer-executed method of claim 6, wherein logging of work packet activities is performed in response to an alert that has been automatically triggered, within the software factory, in response to a work packet status being updated, wherein the work packet status describes a status of the work packet within the software factory.

8. The computer-executed method of claim 7, wherein the software factory further comprises:

means for collecting a plurality of software artifacts that have been archived during an assembly of previous work packets;

means for collecting a plurality of metrics that have been utilized during the assembly of previous work packets;

means for defining a template for a new work packet, wherein the template for the new work packet is created by a packet definition process that defines attributes that are needed in the new work packet;

means for, under a control of the packet definition process, selecting requisite software artifacts from the plurality of software artifacts;

means for, under the control of the packet definition process, selecting requisite metrics from the plurality of metrics; and

means for sending the template, requisite software artifacts and requisite metrics to a packet assembly process, wherein the packet assembly process assembles, under the control of the template and the requisite metrics, the requisite software artifacts to create the new work packet.

9. The computer-executed method of claim 8, wherein the software factory further comprises:

a software factory governance section that evaluates the project proposal for acceptance by the software factory; and

wherein the design center further comprises a requirements analysis team and an architecture team, wherein the design center sections the project proposal into major functional areas that are to be handled by the requirements analysis team and the architecture team, and wherein the design center creates the work packets.

10. The computer-executed method of claim 9, wherein the assembly and job shop include software that automatically recognizes a project type for the project proposal, and wherein the assembly line and job shop assemble the work packets into the deliverable software in accordance with the project type that is recognized by the assembly line and job shop.

11. The computer-executed method of claim 10, wherein the assembly line and job shop conduct an integration test, a system test, a system integration test and a performance test of the deliverable software, wherein the integration test tests the deliverable software for compatibility with the client'"'"'s system, the system test checks the client'"'"'s system to ensure that the client'"'"'s system is operating properly, the system integration test tests for bugs that may arise when the deliverable software is integrated into the client'"'"'s system, and the performance test tests the deliverable software for defects as it is executing in the client'"'"'s system.

12. A system comprising:

a processor;

a data bus coupled to the processor;

a memory coupled to the data bus; and

a tangible computer-usable medium on which is stored computer program code, the computer program code comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured to utilize logs of work packets to identify root causes of performance problems in a software factory by performing the steps of;

collecting logs of all work packet activities, updates for associated work packet artifacts, and factory process elements that are all in progress in a software factory, wherein the logs describe how work packets, work packet artifacts and factory process elements are being utilized by a current project in the software factory, and wherein the current project is for a deliverable software that is created through an execution of work packets within the software factory, wherein each of the work packets includes governance procedures, standards, reused assets, work packet instructions, integration strategy, schedules, exit criteria and artifact checklist templates for Input/Output routines, wherein the exit criteria is a checklist for returning said each of said work packets and the deliverable software to the software factory, and wherein the software factory comprises;

an assembly line and job shop that receive and execute the work packets to create the deliverable software, and

a published set of services and a published set of requirements for the assembly line and job shop, wherein the published set of services and the published set of requirements for the assembly line and job shop are published to a design center, and wherein the published set of services describes what assembly services for assembling the work packets are offered by the assembly line and job shop, and wherein the published set of requirements describes what execution environment must be used by work packets that are provided by the design center for assembly in the assembly line and job shop;

storing the logs in a factory operational store that is consistent with a factory meta-data model, wherein the factory meta-data model captures metrics for specific work packets, and wherein the metrics describe which resources in the software factory are being utilized by the work packets;

tracing the logs for both the work packets and the factory process elements to perform a causal impact analysis that describes how the work packets'"'"' use of the factory process elements in the software factory impacts the current project; and

automatically modulating the factory meta-data model based on a predicted risk as calculated from a nature of the current project and historical data derived from similar projects in the software factory in order to determine if one work packet will have an impact on another work packet in the current project.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions are further configured for:

proactively reviewing and inspecting the logs to create an activity-centric view and an artifact-centric view of the logs, wherein the activity-centric view is leveraged to subsequently enhance a product and a service developed by the software factory, and wherein the artifact-centric view is leveraged to perform break/fix activities on the product and the service provided by the software factory in order to identify and correct any field problems with the product and the service.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions are further configured for:

associating different work packets in the current project together; and

connecting artifacts that are associated with the different work packets to determine what impact the different work packets have on one another.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising computer executable instructions configured for utilizing logs of work packets to identify root causes of performance problems in a software factory by performing the steps of:

collecting logs of all work packet activities, updates for associated work packet artifacts, and factory process elements that are all in progress in a software factory, wherein the logs describe how work packets, work packet artifacts and factory process elements are being utilized by a current project in the software factory, and wherein the current project is for a deliverable software that is created through an execution of work packets within the software factory, wherein each of said work packets includes governance procedures, standards, reused assets, work packet instructions, integration strategy, schedules, exit criteria and artifact checklist templates for Input/Output routines, wherein the exit criteria is a checklist for returning each of the work packets and the deliverable software to the software factory, and wherein the software factory comprises;

an assembly line and job shop that receive and execute the work packets to create the deliverable software, and

a published set of services and a published set of requirements for the assembly line and job shop, wherein the published set of services and the published set of requirements for the assembly line and job shop are published to a design center, and wherein the published set of services describes what assembly services for assembling the work packets are offered by the assembly line and job shop, and wherein the published set of requirements describes what execution environment must be used by work packets that are provided by the design center for assembly in the assembly line and job shop;

storing the logs in a factory operational store that is consistent with a factory meta-data model, wherein the factory meta-data model captures metrics for specific work packets, and wherein the metrics describe which resources in the software factory are being utilized by the work packets;

tracing the logs for both the work packets and the factory process elements to perform a causal impact analysis that describes how the work packets'"'"' use of the factory process elements in the software factory impacts the current project; and

automatically modulating the factory meta-data model based on a predicted risk as calculated from a nature of the current project and historical data derived from similar projects in the software factory in order to determine if one work packet will have an impact on another work packet in the current project.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the computer executable instructions are further configured for:

proactively reviewing and inspecting the logs to create an activity-centric view and an artifact-centric view of the logs, wherein the activity-centric view is leveraged to subsequently enhance a product and a service developed by the software factory, and wherein the artifact-centric view is leveraged to perform break/fix activities on the product and the service provided by the software factory in order to identify and correct any field problems with the product and the service.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the computer executable instructions are further configured for:

associating different work packets in the current project together; and

connecting artifacts that are associated with the different work packets to determine what impact the different work packets have on one another.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the causal impact analysis traces a particular problem associated with the product and the service back to a source of a particular work packet and process element artifact by traversing links of the factory meta-data model, and wherein the causal impact analysis is triggered by a signal to fix a defect and enhance the product and the service.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the level of details captured by the logs used to generate the activity-centric view and the artifact-centric view for the current project are automatically specified based on a past history of performance of teams involved in the current project when handling similar work packets and process elements.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein logging of work packet activities is performed in response to an alert that has been automatically triggered, within the software factory, in response to a work packet status being updated, wherein the work packet status describes a status of one of said work packets within the software factory.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is a component of a remote server, and wherein the computer executable instructions are deployable to a supervisory computer from the remote server in an on-demand basis.