Replication of inventory data across multiple software-defined data centers

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions to be executed in a computer system to carry out a method of managing the sharing of inventory data across a plurality of data centers from a cloud platform so that user access to inventory data stored locally in any of the data centers will be governed by the same inventory data regardless of which data center the user accesses, wherein each of the data centers includes a virtual infrastructure management appliance having a service running therein for storing the inventory data locally in a database and detecting a local change to the inventory data, said method comprising:

• receiving by a cloud service running in the cloud platform a notification from one of the data centers that a change has been made to the inventory data stored locally in the database of said one of the data centers;
• in response to the notification, updating by the cloud service a desired state document that specifies a desired state of each of the data centers and has been applied to the data centers by the virtual infrastructure management appliances thereof, the updated desired state document including the inventory data as changed;
• and
• issuing a command by the cloud service to a virtual infrastructure management appliance of each of other ones of the data centers to apply the updated desired state document, wherein the applying of the updated desired state document by the virtual infrastructure management appliance of each of the other ones of the data centers causes the inventory data stored locally in the database of each of the other ones of the data centers to be updated to include the change made to the inventory data.

A cloud services portal deployed in a computer system to manage the sharing of inventory data across a plurality of data centers so that user access to inventory data stored locally in any of the data centers will be governed by the same inventory data regardless of which data center the user accesses, wherein each of the data centers includes a virtual infrastructure management appliance having a service running therein for storing the inventory data locally in a database and detecting a local change to the inventory data, wherein the cloud services portal includes a processor that is programmed to carry out the steps of:

• receiving by a cloud service running in the cloud platform a notification from one of the data centers that a change has been made to the inventory data stored locally in the database of said one of the data centers;
• in response to the notification, updating by the cloud service a desired state document that specifies a desired state of each of the data centers and has been applied to the data centers by the virtual infrastructure management appliances thereof, the updated desired state document including the inventory data as changed;
• and
• issuing a command by the cloud service to a virtual infrastructure management appliance of each of other ones of the data centers to apply the updated desired state document, wherein the applying of the updated desired state document by the virtual infrastructure management appliance of each of the other ones of the data centers causes the inventory data stored locally in the database of each of the other ones of the data centers to be updated to include the change made to the inventory data.