Collection and analysis of measurement data associated with service elements

#This invention relates, in general, to service elements usable in providing information technology (IT) services, and in particular, to collecting and analyzing measurement data relating to the use of service elements.

#Services are provided in various ways. For example, services are provided in-house by a service provider or by a company itself, or are outsourced to a requesting customer. With the latter, a customer, such as a company, requests that a particular service be provided to the company. For instance, the company may request consulting services. With such a request, the company specifies the number of desired hours of labor and/or other requirements.

#In order to purchase the number of hours of labor and/or other requirements, one or more service elements representing the requirements are created by the service provider and purchased by the company. This defines for the company what is provided and at what cost.

#The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

#FIG. 1 depicts one embodiment of an overview of the collection and analysis of measurement data associated with service elements, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 depicts one embodiment of a data structure used to maintain the measurement data, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

#In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a feedback capability is provided, in which data is collected, in response to using one or more service elements, analyzed and used to, for instance, tune and adjust future versions of the service elements.

#As one example, a service element (SE) is a discrete entity for which a customer may be billed and/or which represents an in-house or outsourced service. A service element includes one or more components and/or one or more other service elements. A service element may be an intermediate building block to a service offering or may be the service offering itself. Service elements are described in further detail in the above referenced applications, each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

#In order to facilitate the development of a service element, a feedback capability is provided, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. One embodiment of an overview of the feedback capability is described with reference to FIG. 1. As one example, a designer 100 creates and/or updates 102 one or more service elements. The created and/or updated service elements are then deployed and delivered 104. In response to deployment and/or delivery of the service elements, data is gathered and analyzed 106. Based on this analysis, adjustments are applied to service elements either automatically 108 by, for instance, a tool, or manually 110 by, for instance, designer 100.