Correlating business workflows with transaction tracking

• US 20070027742A1
• Filed: 07/29/2005
• Published: 02/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Emuchay, Nduwuisi, Yu, Jean
• Granted Patent: US 9,632,817 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/87 Monitoring of transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/466 Transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for correlating business workflows with transaction tracking, the method including identifying an instrumentation point in a business process of a business workflow that invokes an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of the business process and associating, at the instrumentation point, the business process and the IT resource with a transaction name having business semantics such that correlation data gathered about the IT resource may be linked with the business process. Correlating business workflows with transaction tracking may also include gathering correlation data about the IT resource, selecting one of the plurality of service specific correlator passing methods, and passing a correlator in accordance with the selected service specific correlator passing methods.

Claims

1. A method for correlating business workflows with transaction tracking, the method, comprising:

providing a means to identify an instrumentation point in a business process of a business workflow that invokes an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of the business process; and

associating, at the instrumentation point, the business process and the IT resource with a transaction name having business semantics such that correlation data gathered about the IT resource may be linked with the business process.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein providing a means to identify an instrumentation point in a business process of a business workflow that invokes an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of the business process includes providing a means to select a new instrumentation point in a business process;

and

associating, at the instrumentation point, the business process and the IT resource with a transaction name having business semantics such that correlation data gathered about the IT resource may be linked with the business process includes naming a transaction with a transaction name having business semantics.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein providing a means to identify an instrumentation point in a business process of a business workflow that invokes an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of the business process includes providing a means to select an existing instrumentation point in a business process;

and

associating, at the instrumentation point, the business process and the IT resource with a transaction name having business semantics such that correlation data gathered about the IT resource may be linked with the business process includes renaming a transaction with a transaction name having business semantics.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of a business process.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the instrumentation point in a business process of a business workflow that invokes an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of the business process further comprises an instrumentation point that adheres to the Application Response Measurement (‘

ARM’

) API.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the instrumentation point in a business process of a business workflow that invokes an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of the business process further comprises an instrumentation point in a Web Services Invocation Framework (‘

WSIF’

) client associated with an invocation interface.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising gathering correlation data about the IT resource including:

selecting one of the plurality of service specific correlator passing methods; and

passing a correlator in accordance with the selected service specific correlator passing methods.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein gathering correlation data about the IT resource further comprises calling at an instrumentation point in a WSIF client an invocation interface method.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing to a user through a user interface correlation data for the IT resource in association with a name having business semantics.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing to a user through a user interface correlation data for the IT resource in association with a name having semantics for the IT resource.

11. A system for correlating business workflows with transaction tracking, the system, comprising:

a computer processor;

a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions capable of;

identifying an instrumentation point in a business process of a business workflow that invokes an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of the business process; and

associating, at the instrumentation point, the business process and the IT resource with a transaction name having business semantics such that correlation data gathered about the IT resource may be linked with the business process.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the computer memory also has disposed within it computer program instructions capable of:

selecting a new instrumentation point in a business process; and

naming a transaction with a transaction name having business semantics.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the computer memory also has disposed within it computer program instructions capable of:

selecting an existing instrumentation point in a business process; and

renaming a transaction with a transaction name having business semantics.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the computer memory also has disposed within it computer program instructions capable of identifying an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of a business process.

15. (Canceled)

16. (Canceled)

17. (Canceled)

18. (Canceled)

19. (Canceled)

20. (Canceled)

21. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein computer program instructions for identifying an instrumentation point in a business process of a business workflow that invokes an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of the business process includes computer program instructions for selecting a new instrumentation point in a business process;

and

computer program instructions for associating, at the instrumentation point, the business process and the IT resource with a transaction name having business semantics such that correlation data gathered about the IT resource may be linked with the business process includes computer program instructions for naming a transaction with a transaction name having business semantics.

22. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein computer program instructions for identifying an instrumentation point in a business process of a business workflow that invokes an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of the business process includes computer program instructions for selecting an existing instrumentation point in a business process;

and

computer program instructions for associating, at the instrumentation point, the business process and the IT resource with a transaction name having business semantics such that correlation data gathered about the IT resource may be linked with the business process includes computer program instructions for renaming a transaction with a transaction name having business semantics.

23. The computer program product of claim 21 further comprising computer program instructions for identifying an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of a business process.

24. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the instrumentation point in a business process of a business workflow that invokes an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of the business process further comprises an instrumentation point that adheres to the Application Response Measurement (‘

ARM’

) API.

25. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the instrumentation point in a business process of a business workflow that invokes an IT resource that carries out at least a portion of the business process further comprises an instrumentation point in a Web Services Invocation Framework (‘

WSIF’

) client associated with an invocation interface.

26. The computer program product of claim 26 further comprising computer program instructions for gathering correlation data about the IT resource including:

computer program instructions for selecting one of the plurality of service specific correlator passing computer program products; and

computer program instructions for passing a correlator in accordance with the selected service specific correlator passing computer program products.

27. (canceled)

28. (canceled)

29. (canceled)

30. (canceled)

31. (canceled)

32. (canceled)