Multi-platform operational objective configurator for computing devices

A method for managing application configuration settings for a plurality of diverse computing devices having independent applications, the method comprising:

• hosting, via a configuration service, a user interface associated with a user account that facilitates selective adjustment of functionality preferences defining certain behaviors adjustable in a plurality of independent applications;
• maintaining, by the configuration service, an inventory of computing devices and resources available on each of the computing devices, associated with the user account;
• storing, by the configuration service, a first mapping that associates user-specifiable application behavior objectives with applications having adjustable settings impacting at least a portion of each one of the user-specifiable application behavior objectives;
• storing, by the configuration service, a second mapping that associates each of the applications of the first mapping with available adjustable parameters and corresponding particular behaviors;
• receiving, via the user interface on the configuration service, application behavior setting input defining at least one user-specified behavior objective to be instituted on each of the plurality of diverse computing devices;
• determining, by the configuration service, based on the first mapping, on the inventory, and on the application behavior setting input, applications present on computing devices having a capability to at least partially achieve for which the at least one user-specified behavior objective;
• in response to a result of the determining being indicative of a first computing device having at least one application with the capability to at least partially achieve at least one user-specified behavior objective, generating, by the configuration service, configuration instructions particularized to the first computing device to cause the first computing device to configure the at least one application to institute the at least one user-specified behavior objective based on the second mapping;
• and
• transmitting, by the configuration service, the configuration instructions for reception by a local configuration remote agent executing on the first computing device.

A system for managing application configuration settings for a plurality of diverse computing devices having different resources including independent applications, the system comprising:

• set of instructions executable by computing hardware and stored in a non-transitory storage medium that, when executed, cause the computing hardware to implement:
• a user interface module that facilitates interaction with a user corresponding to a user account to accept user input for setting a specified operational objective defining certain behaviors for a plurality of applications executable on the plurality of diverse computing devices associated with the user account;
• a remote agent interface module that communicates with each of the plurality of diverse computing devices associated with the user account to obtain configuration and resource information for that computing device;
• an analysis module that produces a determination of independent applications, if any, on each of the plurality of computing devices, which are capable to at least partially achieve the specified operational objective the determination being based on the user input, on the configuration and resource information for each of the plurality of computing devices, and on a predefined set of resource mappings that defines requirements for meeting various operational objectives and resources needed for meeting each of the requirements;
• and
• a device configurator module that generates configuration instructions particularized to one or more target computing devices of the plurality of diverse computing devices in response to the determination by the analysis module being indicative that the one or more target computing devices can at least partially achieve the specified operational objective, wherein the configuration instructions, when executed, cause the one or more target computing devices to reconfigure their resources to operate in accordance with the specified operational objective.

A system for managing security application configuration settings for a plurality of diverse computing devices having independent security applications, the system comprising computing hardware and instructions stored in the computing hardware, that, when executed, cause the computing hardware to implement:

• a user interface module associated with a user account that facilitates selective adjustment of security functionality settings for a plurality of security objectives;
• a communicative coupling to a first mapping data set that associates each of the plurality of security objectives with a corresponding set of tasks;
• a communicative coupling to a second mapping data set that associates each task with different sets of security modules executable on corresponding different ones of the plurality of diverse computing devices, each of the security modules comprising instructions that, when executed according to certain operational parameter settings by its corresponding computing device, cause that computing device to perform at least a portion of the corresponding task;
• an inventory module that stores an inventory of computing devices and security modules available on each of the plurality of diverse computing devices associated with the user account;
• a user specifications module that stores information defining at least one security objective to be carried out on each of the plurality of diverse computing devices;
• an analysis module that determines, based on the inventory and on the information defining at least one security objective to be carried out, an extent to which each of the independent security application of each one of the plurality of diverse computing devices is capable of meeting the at least one security objective;
• a device configurator module that generates configuration instructions in response to a result of the determining being indicative of a first computing device having capability to meet the at least one security objective, the configuration instructions being particularized to the first computing device to cause a security application of the first computing device to carry out the tasks associated with the at least one security objective;
• and wherein the analysis module is configured to cause the user interface module to indicate an exception condition in response to a result of the determining being indicative of a second computing device lacking capability to meet one or more of the at least one security objective.