Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE OF THE INVENTION
ENTERPRISE DATA MINING IN A HOSTED MULTI-TENANT DATABASE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system for management of information
technology resources
within an enterprise. In particular, the invention relates to a computer-
implemented system for
managing multiple enterprise information technology resources.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are several challenges facing information technology (`IT') departments
within
companies. They are continually challenged to do more with the same or less
resources. They
are not adequately involved in business planning. They must compete for
investment against
other business priorities. Changes in regulatory requirements may add expense
and cycle time.
In order to succeed and contribute to the success of the enterprise, the IT
departments must be
able to make informed resource decisions, effectively manage competing or
conflicting
priorities, use internal processes to manage IT service delivery, and promote
the IT function
within the enterprise.
At present, IT departments must purchase software from multiple vendors and
integrate it for
their company. Gaps may exist where suitable software offerings are not
available. There is a
need for computer-implemented systems which enable IT departments to overcome
these
challenges and fulfill their many functions effectively. Future solutions will
include on-demand
product delivery which will effect changes in traditional software
distribution and deployment.
A new approach to software distribution is termed 'cloud computing'.
Cloud computing refers to the use of Internet ("cloud") based computing,
storage and
connectivity technology for a variety of different services. The pervasiveness
of the Internet,
along with the dramatic decline in the pricing of the technology components
has enabled this
new generation of computing, in which dynamically scalable and often virtual
resources are
provided as a service to both enterprises and consumers. Users need not have
knowledge of,
expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud"
that supports them. In
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the context of enterprise business applications, cloud computing fundamentally
changes the way
business applications are developed and deployed. Application developers no
longer need to
create and manage their own infrastructure of servers, storage, network
devices, operating
system software and development tools in order to create a business
application. Instead, the
entire infrastructure is managed in the cloud, and developers simply use an
Internet browser to
access the development environment. Application users are able to gain access
to a variety of
business applications via an Internet browser or mobile device, and are able
to take advantage of
a robust, secure, scalable and highly available application at a relatively
low cost, without the
cost and complexity of managing the application.
Software-as-a-Service (`SaaS') uses cloud computing to enable businesses to
access a wide
variety of software application services deployed over the Internet on an as-
needed basis, without
in-house installation and maintenance. With traditional enterprise software
applications,
companies must maintain support for many versions of their software and ensure
it remains
compatible with a variety of changing hardware and operating systems. With the
advent of SaaS
as a business model has come the challenge of providing a secure data
architecture that will
satisfy users who are concerned about surrendering control of their vital
business data to a third
party.
Enterprise cloud computing, which refers to business applications that are
developed using the
cloud and a technology platform that customers and developers use to build and
run business
applications, includes both application SaaS for users and platform SaaS for
developers.
SaaS is currently an expanding movement in technology that, at its core,
provides a centralized
architecture upon which a single instance of the software will run that will
serve multiple clients
(organizations) or tenants. The software industry does not universally accept
or support the
principle of multi-tenant databases and as such, there is a limited amount of
guidance available to
support development of a true SaaS system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one of its aspects, the invention comprises a computer-implemented method
of enterprise data
mining comprising the steps of collecting data from a plurality of users of a
multi-tenant hosted
database in a cloud computing environment; selecting data that is relevant to
a desired output
from among the collected data; pre-processing the selected data by comparing
data among a
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selected sub-group of users; and generating a report from the data in response
to a received
request from a client.
In another of its aspects, the system architecture may include a rules engine
and a related Rete
algorithm to enhance the speed of collection and abstraction of data from the
database. The data
pertaining to each user may be associated with an encryption key unique to
that user. In another
aspect, all of a plurality of users may map a user-specific lexicography to a
master terminology.
According to another aspect of the invention, a project being managed may be
ranked for priority
according to both financial and non-financial criteria, and both approved
projects and proposed
projects may be simultaneously viewed and managed.
In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-implemented
method in an
enterprise cloud computing system for information technology management and
data extraction
in a multi-tenant environment, comprising the steps of providing a set of
multi-tenant hosted
software modules; providing access to the software modules to each of a
plurality of remote
users via the Internet through web browsers; providing a multi-tenant shared
database associated
with the software modules; providing means for collection of user data within
the multi-tenant
database; providing means for aggregation of the data; providing means for
manipulation of the
data; and providing means for reporting of the data. The set of software
modules may comprise
one or more of an information technology management module; a financial
management
module; a portfolio management module; a project management module; a resource
management
module; and an operations management module.
In another aspect, each user may use metadata to configure the set of software
modules to user-
specific specifications without altering other users' metadata configurations.
In a further aspect, the invention comprises a database system in a cloud
computing system
comprising a database server, which stores a plurality of databases; a control
server for
controlling the database system, wherein the control server comprises means
for accessing and
operating any one or more of a set of software modules associated with the
database server,
wherein the database is used to store for each user of the application:
information technology
management information; financial information; portfolio management
information; project
management information; resource management information; and operations
management
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information. The control server may further comprise means for preventing
access by each user
to the data of any other user.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In one of the aspects of the system of the present invention there is provided
an enterprise
software system which is deliverable through web browsers and which connects
to multi-tenant
hosted software. The software is offered via the Internet, that is, as cloud
computing, thereby
permitting end users to avoid the expense and complexity of traditional
software procurement
and implementation.
There is provided a multi-tenant shared database with shared schema having the
capacity to serve
a large number of users with a small number of servers, thereby reducing the
cost per user.
There is further provided means for collecting and reporting statistically
relevant information
based on an aggregation of the data within the multi-tenant database. By
virtue of having data
from multiple users stored in one database, real-time information such as key
performance
indicators may be obtained without compromising database performance. The
present invention
permits the collection, normalization, manipulation and reporting of such
data.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system which may be used
to collect,
aggregate and report data in real-time in a multi-tenant framework. The system
is scalable,
multi-tenant-efficient and configurable.
The system of the present invention comprises a set of integrated software
modules, including
the following:
1. IT Management Module for providing management information related to the
IT services
of the company, including support activities, performance, operating expense
and budget
performance, system health, data health, and project status.
2. Financial Module for establishing and managing operating and capital
budgets, managing
computing assets, providing structures and processes for cost allocations, and
controlling
spending approvals.
3. Portfolio Management Module for managing and coordinating investment and
request
pipelines, analysing and providing investment decision criteria, and tracking
software assets,
value and performance.
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4. Project Management Module for managing project budgets, providing
project status and
management reporting, and facilitating project reviews with management and
project teams.
5. Resource Management Module for managing and communicating organization
structure,
roles and responsibilities, IT employee and contingent workforce management,
resource
allocation, cost management and skills development.
6. Operations Management Module for providing daily operational services,
maintaining
system availability, communicating system status, maintaining equipment,
providing enterprise
support services, and controlling and managing production changes.
The system of the present invention may be offered to users via web-browser
and may be
purchased as a subscription service. Deployment is rapid as users need not
spend time
procuring, installing or maintaining servers, storage, networking equipment,
and security
products.
In another of its aspects, there is provided a data commercialization system.
The invention
comprises a multi-tenant database whose data may be mined for commercial
distribution to
enable users to compare aspects of their business performance against other
relevant users.
In order to provide a service that users from multiple client companies can
concurrently connect
to and use to store data, an architecture is created which maximizes the
sharing of resources
between tenants and is able to differentiate the data that belongs to each
tenant. The architecture
is robust and secure in order to satisfy customers that the SaaS system
maintains the privacy of
their data.
By designing a configurable system, flexibility is provided to the various
users from different
companies. As the system is designed to be multi-tenanted, users are permitted
to use metadata
to configure the look and feel of the application without changing the
behaviour for other users.
The configuration methods are designed to be easy for the end-user and do not
incur extra
performance costs for each configuration instance. At the same time, the
system will channel
users into choosing the preferred options for their industry or sector type.
Regardless of the size of database and the number of tenants, the architecture
and algorithms
support the ability to provide all page loads in 8 seconds or less and return
query results in 30
seconds or less. With prior art technology, query results often require 2 to
30 minutes.
Strategies of pre-aggregation and selective de-normalization are used to
anticipate which
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analysis or measurement any end-user could reasonably need or request. With
this advancement
in methodology, each time there is a material change in the database, the
system is able to
determine which analyses or metrics require updating and queue the data for
aggregation and
manipulation.
Managing IT software resources is a challenge for many businesses. No fully
integrated
solutions exist that provide, in a cohesive unit, a method of granular
information tracking, the
ability to report at a granular level, and the ability to improve upon the
data by presenting to the
user recommendations based on analysis of the data in comparison to data from
other tenants in
the same industry sector. Without these capabilities present in a single unit,
obtaining the results
would take days.
The system of the present invention includes the development of a new
architecture that includes
a rules engine and a related Rete (pattern-matching) algorithm that allows for
the collection and
abstraction of data in real time. This Rete algorithm is capable of seeking
patterns in the data
and forms the basis of an artificial intelligence system able to analyze
information and provide
meaningful recommendations based on its findings. The present invention has
broad application
in the field of business intelligence by providing statistically relevant,
aggregated real-time data.
The invention comprises a multi-tenant database that will safely and securely
store data in an
encrypted format and will utilize a fingerprint algorithm for authentication.
The system of the present invention is capable of storing and manipulating
large amounts of data,
without compromising performance. According to the system of the present
invention, one
customer is unable to view another customer's data at any time. To achieve an
appropriate level
of security, a unique encryption key is used for each tenant's data.
Novel aspects of the system of the present invention include, without
limitation, the capacity of
the system to permit use by a user of a user-specific lexicography mapped to a
Master
terminology; the ability to score and rank projects on the basis of a
combination of financial and
non-financial indicators; presentation of a dynamic dashboard of proposals and
approved
projects; provision of a service catalogue that incorporates budget and asset
management
processes; a multi-tenanted database that enables users to share data
management resources
while maintaining their data in confidence; and providing aggregate IT data
for competitive
intelligence purposes.
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In operation, the system of the present invention is accessed by logging on
through an interne
browser to the Internet through a designated Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
web address.
Access to the website preferably is only available through prior registration
and use of a user
name and password.
Upon accessing the website, the user will be presented with the Dashboard
screen, as depicted in
Fig. 1.
The Dashboard provides the user with an overview of its enterprise technology
by key metric. It
provides and compares benchmarks of actuals, targets and industry averages.
For example,
industry average benchmarks may be set at a value of 100. An actual value of
100 would
indicate that the user's actuals were industry average. The Dashboard also
provides information
relating to key dates and reminders of those dates.
The Enterprise Technology Management tool will require initial setup. To
conduct setup
operations, the user may click on the tab 'System Setup' to load the System
Setup Screen shown
in Fig. 2.
By selecting the 'Company Information' icon, the Company Information screen of
Fig. 3 will be
loaded. Company name, address, contacts and locations may be added, deleted or
amended here.
Locations, Teams, IT Owners and Business Sponsors may be created, deleted or
edited at this
screen and will be linked throughout the tool.
Changes are saved before moving to another screen, using the 'Save' and
'Update' icons.
Selection of the 'ETM Main' icon will take the user out of the Setup screens
and back to the
Dashboard screen.
From the System Setup screen, the user may select 'Users & Roles' to load the
screen of Fig. 4.
The user may use the scroll bar or search menu to locate and select the
desired User or Role. At
this screen, new Users may be added, deleted or amended, and Roles may be
assigned or
removed from Users.
The user may select Organizational Layout from main System Setup screen to
load the screen
depicted in Fig. 5.
The user may select the desired Business Unit or Business Area, and may add,
delete or amend
Business Areas or Business Units.
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The user may select Services from main System Setup screen to load the
Services screen
depicted in Fig. 6. New Services may be added by entering the Service name and
description
and assigning the IT owner for the Service through drop down menu selection.
Services may be
deleted or amended also.
Users may select the Vendor screen shown in Fig. 7 from the System Setup
screen. The user
may import Vendor data compatible with data upload specifications and
templates from personal
or shared drives. Vendors may be viewed, added, deleted or edited at this
screen. The user may
also add or edit Vendor Contacts, Notes or Events at this screen.
The user may select Resources at the main System Setup screen to load the
Resources screen
shown in Fig. 8. The user may import, add, delete or edit Resources through
this screen.
The user may select the Business Terms icon at the main System Setup screen to
load the
Business Terms screen of Fig. 9. The user may input its company's terms of
business
terminology, for example, its naming conventions for project and work request
types and
categories, cost types and project objectives. This allows the user's company
the freedom to use
its own terminology throughout the system. If no changes are made by the user
to the Business
Terms set up screen, standard master terminology will be used. The user may
correlate its
company's terminology to the Master terminology by selecting a Master term,
then typing the
corresponding company's term.
The user may select the Goals screen depicted in Fig. 10 from the main System
setup screen.
The system includes pre-defined objectives for convenience, including Increase
Revenue,
Reduce Costs, Employee Satisfaction, etc. Other objectives may be added by the
user.
The user may manage work requests by selecting the Work Request Central screen
of Fig. 11 to
display the Work Request Central. A work request is a job deemed by the user
to be too small to
be a project but to not be included as regular day to day work. This tab may
be used to store,
monitor and evaluate all work requests. Work Request status may be displayed
as 'Approved
Work Requests' and 'Proposed Work Requests'.
The user may enter summary information on a work request, as shown in Fig. 12
including
assigned tracking number, request name, description, and request type. For
example, the request
type may be Sustainment, a work request that needs to be completed to keep the
business
running, or Transformation, a request that makes a change to or transforms the
IT department.
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The user may assign Category, Owner, Sponsor and Business Unit to the work
request. Start and
complete dates may be entered, as may goal and other details as appropriate.
Optionally,
relevant documents may be attached to the work request.
For each Work Request, a traffic light system of indicators and completion
ticks may be selected
and displayed. A red square indicates no data provided, a yellow diamond
indicates data
partially completed, and a green circle indicates data fully completed. A tick
box may be filled
to approve or complete a work request. The user may select a desired work
request to view, edit
or enter new work requests.
The user may view, edit and input new resources, that is individuals and skill
sets. The user may
select the name of an individual then indicate if that person is a generalist
or is being selected for
one or more special skills. User may indicate resource details, including full
or part time
availability, start and end date required, and number of days per week and
number of hours per
day resource will be allocated to the work request. New resources may be added
through the
Resources tab.
Once the user saves the resource allocations, the user is returned to the Work
Request Central
screen which will now indicate a green circle for resources to indicate
completion. The user may
track and assign all costs of a work request at the Work Requests Costs
screen. Two forms are
displayed, namely, 'Add/Edit Work Request Cost' and 'Cost Summary'. Costs may
be added,
amended or deleted. The user may select 'Cost Category', and add a
description, cost
assumptions, quantity and costs, dates and other details as necessary.
Recurring costs may be
indicated. Once costs details have been amended, the user may select 'Finish
Adding Costs' to
return to the Work Request Central screen, which will now display a green
circle for Costs
status.
The user may select the 'Benefits' bar from the 'Proposed Work Request' screen
to view, edit
and input the benefits relating to a selected work request. A description and
value of all benefits
may be added. Once all resources and costs have been assigned, all status
indicators will be
green, permitting the user to approve a Work Request by selecting the tick box
for approval.
Work requests may be marked in the system as On Hold, Started, or Finalized.
Once a work
request is finished, it can be removed from the approved work request list.
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The user may manage a project pipeline from start to finish; from ranked cost
benefit appraisal
through to project completion and review, including cost-benefit assessment,
appraisal,
prioritization, approval, management, tracking, evaluation, completion and
review.
The user may select the Project Central screen as depicted in Fig. 13 which
displays the status of
all proposed and approved projects and allows the user to rank proposed
projects in terms of
attractiveness based on overall project score. Project score is a combination
of financial project
score and non-financial project score. A similar Traffic Light Indicator
system and Ticks is used
for Projects as is used for Work Requests. Data entry for Projects is similar
to the Work Request
data entry as described above.
Users may also view, enter or edit a Project Summary, as shown in Fig. 14. The
system is set to
default that the project is a capital cost. To over ride this, the user may
tick the cost over ride box
and select capital cost or operational cost, and may select 'Cost Category'
and 'SC Link' (service
catalog link), and add description, relevant dates, costs and other details as
necessary.
The user may evaluate return on investment (ROT) and other key financial
metrics. The user
may appraise project hurdle rates against company hurdle rates and other
proposed projects by
selecting the 'ROT/Rater' bar to display the return on investment and rank of
this project versus
others, and may select the 'ROT Calculator' button to load the ROT Calculator
speedometer
screen. ROT rates will be 0-90 if the company has not recovered its
investment, 100 if
investment equals return, break even point has been reached, and profit is
zero, and at greater
than 100 if return is greater than investment and profit is being made. For
example, an ROI of
200 indicates the company has doubled its investment and profit has equaled
investment.
The user may select the Projects Pipeline dashboard to compare and approve
proposed projects
by clicking on the navigation bar or 'Project Pipeline' tab. Once all
indicators for a Proposed
Project are green, the user may approve the project by ticking the approval
box which appears
once the project tile is selected.
Approved projects may be edited by the user manually changing the status
indicators for an
approved project. Once a project is finished, it may be finalized and removed
from the project
list by selecting the project title and ticking the box to indicate completion
of the project. Once
completed, the item will be removed from table.
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The user may track company usage of their people and skills on day-to-day
tasks, work requests
and projects in order to evaluate its labour force's spare work capacity, and
flag when staff usage
is close to full capacity, thereby identifying the need to train or recruit to
deal with business
requirements.
The user may select the Resource Central Tab to load the Resource Central
screen shown in Fig.
15. A Table of Metrics and Notes/Events are displayed, indicating the
percentage of total
resources assigned to work requests and projects; the status indication on
resource use, whether
green for low use (spare capacity) or red for high use (near capacity), and
scroll through notes
and events relating to a selected calendar quarter for planning purposes. The
user may select,
view, add, edit and delete 'People' and 'Skills'.
Contracts may be added to a resource by selecting the 'Show Contracts' icon to
display a
Contracts box under the resource list. An individual's skill set may be
amended by the user
inputting experience and competency levels for that individual.
The user may monitor budget scenarios. Budgets may be viewed from the
perspective of
projects and work requests, assets and resources, and/or time.
By selecting the 'Budgets' Tab, the user will load the Budgets Central screen
shown in Fig. 16.
The user may display Summary budget spend tables, a detailed budget spend
report, and Budget
start and end date. The user may also display Approved & Proposed tabs to view
the approved
& proposed detailed reports. The user may amend Projects & Work Request costs
and budget
periods to view differing scenarios. The user may manage and track internal
services, systems
and configuration items and how they interrelate, to enable the user to
identify items that are
reliant on one another.
The user may select the 'Service Catalog' Tab to display the Service Catalog
Central screen of
Fig. 17. Details of any item within the Services, Systems or Configuration
Items tables may be
viewed, as depicted in Figs. 18, 19, and 20. Services are pre-defined by the
administrator at set-
up, but the user may new systems and configuration items.
The user may enter information pertaining to 'Configuration Details' and
'Vendor & Asset
Details'. Configuration Items may be linked to Parent Configuration Items.
Systems may be
added or edited, and Configuration Items may be linked to Systems, and Systems
may be linked
to Services, or these links may be removed.
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Configuration Items which may be viewed and managed include applications,
databases, end
user items, facilities, network peripherals, servers, storage, and voice and
data services.
The user may also manage and organize vendors and contracts, and centrally
store all
agreements, dates, terms, details and notes. Electronic copies of contracts
and notes of any
description may be attached and centrally stored for ease of access.
The user may click on the 'Vendors' Tab to load the Vendors Management screen
depicted in
Fig. 21. The user may select and view details of a Vendor, and may view
Contracts related to the
Vendor. New Vendors and Contracts may be added or amended. Details of Contract
Costs,
Terms and Conditions, Quantities, Dates and Accountability may be entered. The
Contract may
be attached as an electronic document link. The user may indicate Term Type
and select
Payment, Performance or Provision for term type.
