Entity wide software tracking and maintenance reporting tool

• US 9,417,868 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2014
• Issued: 08/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Gaikwad, Deepak Gujaba, Fogarty, Kenneth
• Primary Examiner(s): Dao, Thuy
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rivera, Anibal
• Application Number:
  US14/150,984
• Publication Number:
  US 20150193230A1
• Time in Patent Office: 950 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/368 for test version control, e.g. updating test cases to a new software version
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3684 for test design, e.g. generating new test cases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/547 Remote procedure calls [RPC]; Web services

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a system, method, or computer program product for providing an entity wide software tracking and maintenance tool for monitoring maintenance and software updates across an entity. As such, the invention provides a uniform and stable method of monitoring software updates and software instillation across an entity'"'"'s information technology infrastructure. The invention receives software updates or new programs for installation across the entity. The invention then creates a tracking module to link to the maintenance update. The tracking module is a self-contained, self-describing module that contains static information related to the maintenance. Subsequently, the tracking module allows users to monitor the progress of maintenance levels. In some embodiments, the user may query the system to determine the progress of a specific maintenance. In some embodiments, the system may automatically notify a user of the success or failure of maintenance at one or more stages.

Claims

1. A system for entity wide software tracking and monitoring, the system comprising:

a memory device with computer-readable program code stored thereon;

a communication device;

a processing device operatively coupled to the memory device and the communication device, wherein the processing device is configured to execute the computer-readable program code to;

receive maintenance update products from one or more vendors;

generate tracking modules for the maintenance update products, wherein one tracking module is designated to each maintenance update product from the one or more vendors, wherein the tracking modules are self-contained and self-describing that create an executable load module in a run-time library of the maintenance update products;

create an entity internal standard name for the maintenance update product with the incorporated tracking module, wherein the entity internal standard name is coded for retention;

allow user input of maintenance information into scripting language of the tracking module designated to the maintenance update product, wherein user input of maintenance information into scripting language of the tracking modules includes contact information for an individual to receive, automatically, the generated report for the progress of the maintenance update;

incorporate the tracking module into the maintenance update product and apply maintenance update to appropriate location within the entity information technology infrastructure;

execute the tracking module incorporated into the maintenance update product, wherein executing the tracking module allows the tracking module to communicate a progress of the maintenance update that the tracking module is incorporated therewith;

generate a report of the progress of the maintenance update based on the executed tracking module for each of one or more maintenance update products applied within the entity; and

provide the user with the report of the progress of the maintenance update associated with the tracking module, wherein the provided report is based on a user query for the report or user input of maintenance information into the scripting language of the tracking module.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising presenting the user with an interface to query one or more maintenance updates in progress within the entity, wherein querying the one or more maintenance updates provides the user with the report for the progress of the maintenance update associated with the tracking module of the query.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising presenting the user with an interface to query one or more maintenance updates in progress within the entity, wherein the interface provides the user with medium to search the entity for the progress of one or more maintenance updates occurring within the entity.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising creating an entity internal standard name for the maintenance update product with the incorporated tracking module, wherein the entity internal standard name is a file name coded for entity recognition and retention.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the tracking module is a self-contained, self-describing module assembled and link-edited as part of a job that creates an executable load module in an appropriate run-time library of the maintenance update product.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the appropriate location within the entity information technology infrastructure includes a logical partition on a mainframe associated with the entity.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein maintenance updates include entity created or vendor provided software updates, fixes, or patches for the software running within the entity information technology infrastructure.

8. A computer program product for entity wide software tracking and monitoring, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code portions embodied therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

an executable portion configured for receiving maintenance update products from one or more vendors;

an executable portion configured for generating tracking modules for the maintenance update products, wherein one tracking module is designated to each maintenance update product from the one or more vendors, wherein the tracking modules are self-contained and self-describing that create an executable load module in a run-time library of the maintenance update products;

an executable portion configured for creating an entity internal standard name for the maintenance update product with the incorporated tracking module, wherein the entity internal standard name is coded for retention;

an executable portion configured for allowing user input of maintenance information into scripting language of the tracking module designated to the maintenance update product, wherein user input of maintenance information into scripting language of the tracking modules includes contact information for an individual to receive, automatically, the generated report for the progress of the maintenance update;

an executable portion configured for incorporating the tracking module into the maintenance update product and apply maintenance update to appropriate location within the entity information technology infrastructure;

an executable portion configured for executing the tracking module incorporated into the maintenance update product, wherein executing the tracking module allows the tracking module to communicate a progress of the maintenance update that the tracking module is incorporated therewith;

an executable portion configured for generating a report of the progress of the maintenance update based on the executed tracking module for each of one or more maintenance update products applied within the entity; and

an executable portion configured for providing the user with the report of the progress of the maintenance update associated with the tracking module, wherein the provided report is based on a user query for the report or user input of maintenance information into the scripting language of the tracking module.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising an executable portion configured for presenting the user with an interface to query one or more maintenance updates in progress within the entity, wherein querying the one or more maintenance updates provides the user with the report for the progress of the maintenance update associated with the tracking module of the query.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising an executable portion configured for presenting the user with an interface to query one or more maintenance updates in progress within the entity, wherein the interface provides the user with medium to search the entity for the progress of one or more maintenance updates occurring within the entity.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising an executable portion configured for creating an entity internal standard name for the maintenance update product with the incorporated tracking module, wherein the entity internal standard name is a file name coded for entity recognition and retention.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the tracking module is a self-contained, self-describing module assembled and link-edited as part of a job that creates an executable load module in an appropriate run-time library of the maintenance update product.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the appropriate location within the entity information technology infrastructure includes a logical partition on a mainframe associated with the entity.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein maintenance updates include entity created or vendor provided software updates, fixes, or patches for the software running within the entity information technology infrastructure.

15. A computer-implemented method for entity wide software tracking and monitoring, the method comprising:

providing a computing system comprising a computer processing device and a non-transitory computer readable medium, where the computer readable medium comprises configured computer program instruction code, such that when said instruction code is operated by said computer processing device, said computer processing device performs the following operations;

receiving maintenance update products from one or more vendors;

generating tracking modules for the maintenance update products, wherein one tracking module is designated to each maintenance update product from the one or more vendors, wherein the tracking modules are self-contained and self-describing that create an executable load module in a run-time library of the maintenance update products;

creating an entity internal standard name for the maintenance update product with the incorporated tracking module, wherein the entity internal standard name is coded for retention;

allowing user input of maintenance information into scripting language of the tracking module designated to the maintenance update product, wherein user input of maintenance information into scripting language of the tracking modules includes contact information for an individual to receive, automatically, the generated report for the progress of the maintenance update;

incorporating the tracking module into the maintenance update product and apply maintenance update to appropriate location within the entity information technology infrastructure;

executing the tracking module incorporated into the maintenance update product, wherein executing the tracking module allows the tracking module to communicate a progress of the maintenance update that the tracking module is incorporated therewith;

generating a report of the progress of the maintenance update based on the executed tracking module for each of one or more maintenance update products applied within the entity; and

providing the user with the report of the progress of the maintenance update associated with the tracking module, wherein the provided report is based on a user query for the report or user input of maintenance information into the scripting language of the tracking module.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising presenting the user with an interface to query one or more maintenance updates in progress within the entity, wherein querying the one or more maintenance updates provides the user with the report for the progress of the maintenance update associated with the tracking module of the query.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising presenting the user with an interface to query one or more maintenance updates in progress within the entity, wherein the interface provides the user with medium to search the entity for the progress of one or more maintenance updates occurring within the entity.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising creating an entity internal standard name for the maintenance update product with the incorporated tracking module, wherein the entity internal standard name is a file name coded for entity recognition and retention.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the tracking module is a self-contained, self-describing module assembled and link-edited as part of a job that creates an executable load module in an appropriate run-time library of the maintenance update product.