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US 2003/0195783 A1Published application
Optimizing management of service elements
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorPaul G. Greenstein
Life of this patent
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AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorPaul G. Greenstein
Estimating the term…
A service element is defined and represented by a data structure. It includes one or more components and/or one or more other service elements. A service element providing a complete function is a service offering. Management of service elements and/or service offerings is facilitated by a Service Development Tool. In different aspects, the management includes various tasks associated with creating, modifying and deleting service elements, establishing relationships, error checking and optimization. In a further aspect, service elements are packaged and distributed to enable customers to deliver the service elements. Additionally, the hosting of software packages is facilitated.
A method of optimizing management of service elements, said method comprising:
A method of optimizing management of service elements, said method comprising:
A system of optimizing management of service elements, said system comprising:
A system of optimizing management of service elements, said system comprising:
A system of optimizing management of service elements, said system comprising:
A system of optimizing management of service elements, said system comprising:
At least one program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of optimizing management of service elements, said method comprising:
At least one program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of optimizing management of service elements, said method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Administration; Management: office automation; Time management
Operations research, analysis or management: resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations: sequencing of tasks or work
Enabling technologies with a potential contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation: total factory control, e.g. smart factories,…
Term end not estimated
This invention relates, in general, to the ability to provide services, and in particular, to facilitating the management of service elements usable in providing information technology (IT) service offerings, which represent the services to be provided.
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 being 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 example of an overview of a Service Development Tool used in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;
FIGS. 2a-2g depict one example of a data structure used to represent a service element, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;
In accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention, one or more capabilities are provided for facilitating the management of service elements. In one embodiment, aspects of the management are facilitated by a tool, referred to herein as a Service Development Tool (SDT). The Service Development Tool enables certain management aspects to be automated.
Prior to describing various aspects of the present invention, a number of terms are described, including, for instance, the following:
Direct business function: A function performed by software in direct support of a business process—e.g., procurement, billing, group communications, broadcasting of business information to users, etc.