Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
CAPABILITY BASED PLANNING
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This disclosure is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S.
application number
15/723,766, filed on October 3, 2017, which claims priority to U.S.
provisional application no.
62/502,244 filed on May 5, 2017.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] Embodiments described herein generally relate to capability based
planning.
BACKGROUND ART
[0003] Cloud computing relates to the sharing of computing resources that
are generally
accessed via the Internet. In particular, the cloud computing infrastructure
allows users, such as
individuals and/or enterprises, to access a shared pool of computing
resources, such as servers,
storage devices, networks, applications, and/or other computing based
services. By doing so, users
are able to access computing resources on demand that are located at remote
locations in order to
perform a variety computing functions that include storing and/or processing
computing data. For
users that are enterprises and other organizations, cloud computing provides
flexibility in accessing
cloud computing resources without accruing up-front costs, such as purchasing
network
equipment, and investing time in establishing a private network
infrastructure. Instead, by utilizing
cloud computing resources, users are able redirect their resources to focus on
core enterprise
functions.
[0004] In today's communication networks, examples of cloud computing
services a user may
utilize include software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS)
technologies. SaaS is
a delivery model that provides software as a service rather than an end
product. Instead of utilizing
a local network or individual software installations, software is typically
licensed on a subscription
basis, hosted on a remote machine, and accessed as needed. For example, users
are generally able
to access a variety of enterprise and/or information technology (IT) related
software via a web
browser. PaaS acts an extension of SaaS that goes beyond providing software
services by offering
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customizability and expandability features to meet a user's needs. For
example, PaaS can provide
a cloud based developmental platform for users to develop, modify, and/or
customize applications
and/or automating enterprise operations without maintaining network
infrastructure and/or
allocating computing resources normally associated with these functions.
100051 Enterprises support increasingly large number of capabilities. For
example, an
enterprise may have a "sales" capability, a "product" capability, and a
"legal" capability. As these
capabilities become more complex, managing the people, processes, and
technology that support
the capabilities may become more difficult. In particular, it may be difficult
to determine which
people, processes, and technology may be improved to increase performance of
the capabilities.
SUMMARY
[0006] The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosed subject
matter in order
to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the subject matter
disclosed herein. This
summary is not an exhaustive overview of the technology disclosed herein. It
is not intended to
identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope
of the invention. Its sole
purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the
more detailed
description that is discussed later.
[0007] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method
includes receiving,
at a service platform customer instance, hierarchy data indicating a
capability hierarchy associated
with a customer network, the capability hierarchy indicating that a first
capability is a sub-
capability of a second capability. The method further includes receiving, at
the service platform
customer instance, application data from a management, instrumentation, and
discover (MID)
server of the customer network, the application data associated with an
application utilized by the
customer network for the first capability. The method further includes
determining, based on the
application data, an application score indicating an effectiveness level of
the application for the
first capability. The method further includes determining, based on the
application score, a first
capability score associated with the first capability, the first capability
score indicating a health
metric of the first capability within the customer network. The method further
includes
determining, based on the first capability score and the capability hierarchy,
a second capability
score of the second capability, the second capability score indicating a
health metric of the second
capability within the customer network.
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[0008] In another embodiment, the method may be embodied in computer
executable program
code and stored in a non-transitory storage device. In yet another embodiment,
the method may
be implemented in an electronic device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0009] For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is
now made to the
following brief description, taken in connection with the accompanying
drawings and detailed
description, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts.
100101 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for capability based
planning;
[0011] FIG. 2A is a first screen of a graphical user interface (GUI) that
may be generated by
the system for capability based planning;
[0012] FIG. 2B is a second screen of the GUI that may be generated by the
system for
capability based planning;
[0013] FIG. 2C is a third screen of the GUI that may be generated by the
system for capability
based planning;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a screen of the GUI that may be generated by the system to
indicate technology
risks:
[0015] FIG. 4 is diagram illustrating service platform customer instances
sharing data;
[0016] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for capability based planning; and
100171 FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a computing device for use
with techniques
described herein.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0018] In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous
specific details are
set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments
disclosed herein. It will
be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the disclosed embodiments
may be practiced
without these specific details. In other instances, structure and devices are
shown in block diagram
form in order to avoid obscuring the disclosed embodiments. References to
numbers without
subscripts or suffixes are understood to reference all instance of subscripts
and suffixes
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corresponding to the referenced number. Moreover, the language used in this
disclosure has been
principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not
have been selected to
delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter, resort to the claims
being necessary to
determine such inventive subject matter. Reference in the specification to
"one embodiment" or
to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or
characteristic described in
connection with the embodiments is included in at least one embodiment.
[0019] The terms "a," "an," and "the" are not intended to refer to a
singular entity unless
explicitly so defined, but include the general class of which a specific
example may be used for
illustration. The use of the terms "a" or "an" may therefore mean any number
that is at least one,
including "one," "one or more," "at least one," and "one or more than one."
The term "or" means
any of the alternatives and any combination of the alternatives, including all
of the alternatives,
unless the alternatives are explicitly indicated as mutually exclusive. The
phrase "at least one of'
when combined with a list of items, means a single item from the list or any
combination of items
in the list. The phrase does not require all of the listed items unless
explicitly so defined.
[0020] As used herein, the term "computing device" may refer to a device
that includes, but is
not limited to a single computer, host, server, laptop, and/or mobile device.
[0021] As used herein, a computer-readable storage device is an article of
manufacture.
[0022] As used herein, the term "network device" may refer to any device
that is capable of
communicating and transmitting data to another device across any type of
network.
[0023] As used herein, the term "computing system" may refer to a single
electronic
computing device or network device that includes, but is not limited to a
single computer, virtual
machine, virtual container, host, server, laptop, and/or mobile device. The
term "computing
system may also refer to a plurality of electronic computing devices and/or
network devices
working together to perform the function described as being performed on or by
the computing
system.
[0024] As used herein, the term "medium" refers to one or more non-
transitory physical media
that together store the contents described as being stored thereon.
Embodiments may include non-
volatile secondary storage, read-only memory (ROM), and/or random-access
memory (RAM).
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[0025] As used herein, the term "application" refers to one or more
computing modules,
programs, processes, workloads, threads and/or a set of computing instructions
executed by a
computing system. Example embodiments of an application include software
modules, software
objects, software instances and/or other types of executable code.
[0026] Sequences of method steps presented herein are provided as examples
and are not
meant to be limiting. Thus, methods according to the disclosure may be
performed in an order
alternative to that illustrated in the figures and described herein. To
illustrate, a method described
as including steps "A" and "B" may be performed with "A" either preceding or
following "B,"
unless a specific order is indicated.
[0027] Systems and methods according to the present disclosure may enable
capability based
planning. In particular, a system may generate capability scores for a
plurality of capabilities
associated with a customer network. In addition, the system may provide a
technology risk
assessment of applications used by the customer network for the capabilities.
[0028] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a computing system
100 (e.g., a
cloud computing system) where embodiments of the present disclosure may
operate. The
computing system 100 includes a customer network 102, a network 108, and a
service platform
network 110. In some embodiments, the customer network 102 includes a local
private network,
such as local area network (LAN) that includes a variety of network devices
(e.g., switches,
servers, routers, etc.). In some embodiments, the customer network 102
corresponds to an
enterprise network that includes one or more LANs, virtual networks, data
centers, other remote
networks, or a combination thereof As shown in FIG. 1, the customer network
102 is
communicatively coupled to client devices 104A-C so that the client devices
104A-C are able to
communicate with each other via the customer network 102. The client devices
104A-C may be
computing systems and/or other types of computing devices that access cloud
computing services,
for example, via a web browser application. FIG. 1 also illustrates that the
customer network 102
includes a management, instrumentation, and discovery (MID) server 106 that
facilitates
communication of data between the service platform network 110, other external
applications, data
sources, and services, and the customer network 102. Although not specifically
illustrated in FIG.
1, the customer network 102 may also include a connecting network device
(e.g., gateway or
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router) or a combination of devices that implement a customer firewall or
intrusion protection
system.
[0029] FIG. 1 illustrates that customer network 102 is coupled to the
network 108, which is
further coupled to the service platform network 110. The network 108 is
configured to transmit
messages between the service platform network 110 and the customer network
102, the MID server
106 and the client devices 104A-C. The network 108 includes one or more
computing networks
available today, such as other LANs, wide area networks (WAN), the Internet,
and/or other remote
networks. Each of the computing networks within the network 108 may contain
wired and/or
wireless programmable devices that operate in the electrical and/or optical
domain. For example,
the network 108 may include wireless networks, such as cellular networks
(e.g., Global System
for Mobile Communications (GSM) based cellular network) wireless fidelity (Wi-
Fig) networks,
and/or other suitable radio based network as would be appreciated by one of
ordinary skill in the
art upon viewing this disclosure. The network 108 may also employ any number
of network
communication protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and
Internet Protocol
(IP). Although not explicitly shown in FIG. 1, the network 108 may include a
variety of network
devices, such as servers, routers, network switches, and/or other network
hardware devices
configured to transport data over networks.
[0030] The service platform network 110 is a remote network (e.g., a cloud
network) that
provides one or more services to devices, such as devices associated with the
customer network
102, via the network 108. To illustrate, the service platform network 110 may
act as a platform
that provides additional computing resources to the client devices 104A-C
and/or customer
network 102. For example, by utilizing the developmental the service platform
network 110, users
of the client devices 104A-C may be able to build and execute applications,
such as automated
processes for various enterprise, information technology (IT), and/or other
organization-related
functions.
[0031] The service platform network 110 includes data centers 112A-B. Each
of the data
centers 112A-B may be located in different geographic location. Each of the
data centers 112A-
B includes one or more computing devices configured to provide one or more
instances of one or
more services.
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[0032] In the example, of FIG. 1, devices of the datacenter 112A provide
service platform
server instances 114A-B and a database instance 118A while devices of the data
center 112B
provides server instances 114C-D and a database instance 118B. Examples of
server instances
include application server instances, web server instances, etc. accessible to
customer devices (e.g.,
the client devices 104A-C). Database instances are distinct databases that
store customer data.
Each server instance 114 and each database instance 118 can be implemented on
a physical
computing system that includes a single electronic computing device (e.g., a
single physical
hardware server) or multiple-computing device (e.g., multiple physical
hardware servers). A
single computing device may provide more than one server instance 114 and/or
database instance
118.
100331 In the example of FIG. 1, the service platform network 110 is
arranged in a multi-
instance cloud architecture. In a multi-instance cloud architecture, the
service platform network
110 provides services to a plurality of customers and resources (e.g.,
instances) of the data centers
112A-B are grouped into service platform customer instances associated with
the plurality of
customers, where each service platform customer instance is unique to a
customer. Each resource
(e.g., instance) included in a service platform customer instance is unique to
that service platform
customer instance. Accordingly, data stored in one customer's database
instance may not be mixed
with data stored in another customer's database instance and server instances
that provide services
to one customer may not provide services to another customer. Further, one of
the datacenters
112A-B may actively provide services to a customer while the other datacenter
mirrors the active
datacenter. In response to an error or a scheduled update to the active
datacenter, the mirror
datacenter may begin actively providing services to the customer.
[0034] Because each customer has its own unique software stack (e.g.,
instances) in the multi-
instance cloud architecture, each customer's data is isolated from other
customers' data.
Accordingly, individual clients are not put at risk by security practices of
other clients. Further,
each customer may determine its own upgrade schedule. In addition, since each
client instance is
mirrored to a second datacenter, services provided by the client instances may
be more readily
available during maintenance and upgrades. In alternative embodiments, the
system 100 may have
more or fewer components arranged in different combinations. For example, the
service platform
network 110 may include more than two data centers.
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[0035] In the illustrated example, a service platform customer instance 120
is associated with
a customer who uses (e.g., owns, operates, etc.) the customer network 102. The
service platform
customer instance 120 includes the service platform server instances 114A-D
and the database
instances 118A-B. Accordingly, the service platform server instances 114A-D
and the database
instances 118A-B provide one or more services to the customer associated with
the customer
network 102. Such services may include enhancing capabilities of the customer
network 102,
providing analysis of the customer network 102, hosting information portals
accessible to the
customer network 102 and other devices (e.g., via a web interface) associated
with the client. etc.
In particular, as described herein, the service platform customer instance 120
provides capability
based planning and technology risk assessment tools to an operator of the
customer network 102.
[0036] In an illustrative example of the system 100, the service platform
server instance 114A
corresponds to a capability based planning application accessible to devices
associated with the
customer network 102 via a web interface or via other means. The database
instance 118A stores
data associated with the capability based planning application. The service
platform server
instance 114C and the database instance 118B correspond to a mirrored versions
of the service
platform server instance 114A and the database instance 118B respectively.
[0037] In operation, the client device 104A transmits hierarchy data 130 to
the service platform
server instance 114A, and the service platform server instance 114A stores the
hierarchy data 130
in the database instance 118A. For example, a user of the client device 104A
may navigate a web
browser to access a graphical user interface (GUI) 134 provided via a web
interface of the service
platform service instance 114A, and the hierarchy data 130 may correspond to
data input via the
GUI 134. The service platform network 110 mirrors the hierarchy data 130 in
the database instance
118B.
[0038] The hierarchy data 130 identifies a hierarchy of capabilities
provided by the customer
network 102 and identifies one or more applications or technologies utilized
by the customer
network to provide the capabilities. A capability is a function of an
organization. The organization
may use one or more applications or other technologies for the capability. For
example, the
organization may use a database application for a human resources capability.
The hierarchy of
capabilities identifies which capabilities are sub-capabilities of other
capabilities. An example of
a capability is "sales." That is, an organization may have a sales function. A
"change design"
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capability may be a sub-capability of the "sales" capability. A database
application may be used
by the customer network 102 to provide the sales function. In an illustrative
example, the hierarchy
data 130 indicates that a first capability is a sub-capability of a second
capability and that an
application is used by the customer network 102 to provide the first
capability. Applications used
by the customer network 102 may be executed by devices of the customer network
102, by devices
associated with the customer network 102 (e.g., the client devices 104A-C), by
devices accessible
to the customer network 102 (e.g., via the network 108), or a combination
thereof.
[0039] The service platform server instance 114A assigns a capability score
to each assessed
capability in the capability hierarchy, as described further below.
Capabilities for which
insufficient data is available may not be scored. The capability scores
indicate (e.g., correspond
to) health metrics of the capabilities of the organization. The health metrics
indicate how well
equipped an organization is to provide the capability. For example, a high
score may indicate that
the organization is well equipped to provide the associated capability.
Conversely a low score
may indicate that the organization is not well equipped to provide the
associated capability.
Accordingly, the capability scores may be used to identify "gaps" the
organization's abilities to
provide capabilities. A gap is a relative inadequacy in the organization's
ability to provide a
capability. Using the capability scores, the service platform server instance
114A may identify
which capabilities have "no gap," which capabilities have a "medium gap," and
which capabilities
have a "high gap." For example, capabilities having capability scores that
fall within a first range
may be identified as having a high gap, capabilities having capability scores
that fall within a
second range may be identified as having a medium gap, and capabilities having
scores that fall
within a third range may be identified as having no gap. High gap, medium gap,
and no gap are
examples of gap-based classifications for capabilities. Other implementations
may include more
or fewer gap-based classifications.
[0040] A capability score of an application is determined by the service
platform server
instance 114A based on a technology score of the application, a process score
of the application,
a people score of the application, capability scores of sub-capabilities of
the application, or a
combination thereof. For example, the service platform server instance 114A
may set the
capability score of the capability to an aggregate (e.g., average) of the
technology score, the
process score, the people score, and the capability scores of the sub-
capabilities. The technology
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score is an aggregate of application scores associated with the capability.
Each application score
may be based on a cost, quality, risk, user satisfaction, business alignment,
or a combination
thereof of the associated application. Cost refers to a monetary amount.
Quality refers to a level
of excellence. Quality may be determined based on objective data (e.g., test
results generated by
the MID server 106), based on subjective data input by a user (e.g., of one of
the client devices
104A-C), or a combination thereof. Risk may refer to a liability risk, a
technology risk (as
described further herein), or a combination thereof. User satisfaction may be
based on user survey
data (e.g., provided by the MID server 106 or the client devices 104A-C).
Business alignment
indicates how well a person, process, or technology aligns with business
goals. Business alignment
may be based on data entered (e.g., by a business manager) at one of the
client devices 104A-C.
Thus, the technology score indicates an overall health score for technology
used by the
organization to provide the capability. The process score is an aggregate
score based on cost,
quality, risk, user satisfaction, business alignment, or a combination thereof
of processes used to
support the capability. Thus, the process score indicates an overall health
score for processes used
by the organization to provide the capability. The people score is an
aggregate score based on
cost, quality, risk, user satisfaction, business alignment, or a combination
thereof of people (e.g.,
employees) who provide a capability. Thus, the people score indicate an
overall health score for
people used by the organization to provide the capability. The technology
score, the process score,
the people score, or a combination thereof is determined by the service
platform server instance
114A based on data received from the customer network 102. The data may be
input by users
(e.g., of the client devices 104A-C) and/or automatically generated based on
application data (e.g.,
from the MID server).
[0041] In
the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the service platform server instance 114A
receives
application data 132 from the customer network 102. The application data 132
may include data
transmitted from the MID server 106, one or more of the client devices 104A-C,
or a combination
thereof. The application data 132 indicates metrics associated with the
application used by the
customer network 102 to provide the first capability. The application data 132
may include results
of automatically executed tests, metrics input by a user, or a combination
thereof. For example,
an administrator of the customer network 102 may configure the MID server 106
to periodically
perform one or more automated tests of the application associated with the
first capability. The
application data 132 may include results of such tests. In some examples, the
application data 132
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identifies cost, quality, risk, user satisfaction, business alignment, or a
combination thereof of one
or more applications with respect to one or more capabilities. In some
examples, the application
data 132 includes an automatically generated (e.g., by the MID server 106) of
applications used
by the customer network 102.
[0042] Based on the application data 132, the service platform server
instance 114A
determines an application score 140 of the application with regard to the
first capability. The
application score 140 indicates how well the application supports the first
capability. For example,
the application score 140 may indicate how well a database application
supports a manage
opportunities capability. The service platform server instance 114A may
determine a technology
score of the first capability based on the application score 140. To
illustrate, the technology score
of the first capability may be an aggregate (e.g., an average) of application
scores of applications
associated with the first capability and applications associated with sub-
capabilities of the first
capability. Each application score indicates whether the corresponding
application has a gap.
[0043] Based on the technology score of the first application, the service
platform server
instance 114A determines a first capability score 142 of the first capability.
For example, the
service platform server instance 114A may set the first capability score 142
to an aggregate of the
technology score of the first capability, a process score of the first
capability, and a people score
of the first capability. The aggregate may be an average of the values, a
summation of the values,
or any other value that takes into consideration the technology score, process
score, and people
score. The process score and the people score may be received from the
customer network 102
(e.g., from one of the client devices 104A-C or from the MID server 106) or
determined based on
data received from the customer network 102. For example, an administrator
(operating one of
the client devices 104A-C) may input the people score and/or the process score
via the GUI 134
provided by the service platform server instance 114A.
[0044] As described above, the capability hierarchy indicates that the
first capability is a sub-
capability of the second capability. Accordingly, the service platform server
instance 114A may
determine a second capability score 144 based on the first capability score
142 and the capability
hierarchy. For example, the second capability score 144 may correspond to an
aggregate of
capability scores of sub-capabilities of the second capability. The service
platform server instance
114A includes the application score 140, the first capability score 142, and
the second capability
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score 144 in the GUI 134, as described further below. Further, the GUI 134 may
indicate whether
the customer network 102 has a high gap, a medium gap, or no gap with regard
to the first
capability and the second capability based on the first capability score 142
and the second
capability score 144.
100451 In some examples, the service platform server instance 114A further
includes in the
GUI 134 a recommendation to improve capability scores of capabilities provided
by the customer
network 102. For example, the service platform server instance 114A may
identify an alternative
application that has a higher technology score associated with a capability.
Accordingly, the GUI
134 may indicate the alternative application. As another example, the server
platform server
instance 114A may identify training opportunities or recommendations in
response to a low people
score associated with a particular capability. As another example, the server
platform server
instance 114A may identify process improvements in response to a low process
score associated
with a particular capability.
100461 In addition to capability based planning, the service platform
server instance 114A may
provide additional services. For example, the service platform server instance
114A may enable
an administrator to view technology risks based on technology life cycles. To
illustrate, the
application data 132 may include life cycle data indicating life cycles of
applications used by the
customer network 102. Life cycle data may be input by a client device via the
GUI 134 or may be
collected from the MID server 106. The life cycle data indicates life cycles
associated with one or
more of the applications used by the customer network 102 to provide the
capabilities indicated
by the hierarchy data 130. In particular, for each application the life cycle
data indicates periods
of developer (e.g., external) support and periods of internal support
associated with the application.
The periods of developer support may include a pre-release period, a general
availability period,
an end of life period, and an obsolete period. The periods of internal use may
include an early
adopter period, a mainstream period, a declining use period, and a retired
period.
[0047] The service platform server instance 114A generates a risk score for
each application
based on the life cycle data and a current time. The risk score for an
application may be determined
by the service platform server instance 114A based further on a level of
importance of the
application or of a capability that uses the application to the organization
associated with the
customer network 102. To illustrate, the risk score indicated by the life
cycle data may be weighted
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by the level of importance of the application. The level of importance may be
indicated by the
application data 132. In some examples, the server platform server instance
114A determines the
application score 140 based in part on a risk score of the application
associated with the application
score 140. Accordingly, the first capability score 142 may be based on the
risk score. In some
implementations, the server platform server instance 114A considers the
lifecycle data when
making a recommendation to improve a capability score. For example, the server
platform server
instance 114A may select a replacement application associated with life cycle
data that indicates
a relatively long duration of remaining developer support. An example GUI
screen displaying
application life cycles is illustrated in FIG. 3.
[0048] Thus, FIG. 1 illustrates how a service platform server instance in a
multi-instance cloud
architecture is able to provide information that may be used in capability
based planning by an
administrator of a customer network. The system 100 can be used by an
administrator to more
easily identify capabilities that would benefit from investment. Further, the
system 100 may
recommend particular types of investment to improve the capabilities. In
addition, the multi-
instance cloud architecture is able to provide information that may be used in
technology risk based
planning by an administrator of a customer network.
[0049] Referring to FIG. 2A, a screen 200 of the GUI 134 is shown. The
screen 200 may be
displayed at one of the client devices 104A-C. The screen 200 illustrates the
capability hierarchy
defined by the hierarchy data 130. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, a "change
design" capability 202 is
a sub-capability of a "sales" capability. The "change design" capability 202
includes the sub-
capabilities of "manage opportunities" 204, "manage accounts," and
"marketing." The
"marketing" capability includes the sub-capabilities of "partners" and
"planning" 206. As
illustrated in FIG. 2A, the "manage opportunities" capability 204 corresponds
to the first
capability, and the "change design" capability 202 corresponds to the second
capability described
above with reference to FIG. 1. The screen 200 illustrates the first
capability score 142 (e.g., 7.2)
and the second capability score 144 (e.g., 6.9). Further, the screen 200
indicates how many sub-
capabilities are associated with each capability and how many applications are
associated with
each capability. For example, the "change design" capability has five sub-
capabilities and is
associated with thirty nine applications. Eight of the thirty nine
applications are associated with
the "manage opportunities" capability 204.
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[0050] The screen 200 further includes an overall capability summary 208 of
capabilities
associated with the customer network 102. The overall capability summary 208
includes a first
element 210 indicating that the customer network 102 supports seven
capabilities. The number of
capabilities may be derived from the hierarchy data 130. The overall
capability summary 208
further includes a second element 212 indicating that six capabilities have
been assessed and a
third element 214 indicating that one capability has not been assessed. In the
illustrated example,
the "planning" capability 206 has not been assessed and has no capability
score. The "planning"
capability may not be assessed by the service platform server instance 114A
due to a lack of
information regarding the "planning" capability 206.
[0051] The overall capability summary 208 further indicates how many of the
assessed
capabilities have a major gap, how many of the assessed capabilities have a
medium gap, and how
many of the assessed capabilities have no gap. In the illustrated example, a
fourth element
indicates that two of the assessed capabilities have a major gap, a fifth
element 218 indicates that
two of the assessed capabilities have a medium gap, and a sixth element 220
indicates that two of
the assessed capabilities have no gap. Capabilities that have a capability
score of 1-4 may be
classified as having a major gap, capabilities that have a capability score of
4-7 may be classified
as having a medium gap, and capabilities that have a capability score of 7-10
may be classified as
having no gap. Accordingly, the service platform server instance 114A
classifies the "partners"
capability and the "marketing" capability as having major gaps. Further, the
service platform
server instance 114A classifies the "manage accounts" capability and the
"change design"
capability 202 as having medium gaps. Further, the service platform server
instance 114A
classifies the "sales" capability and the "manage opportunities" capability
204 as having no gaps.
[0052] In some implementations, the service platform server instance 114A
color codes
capability scores displayed in the GUI 134 based whether the capability scores
indicate a gap. To
illustrate, a background of the first capability score 142 displayed in the
screen 200 may be green
indicating that the "manage opportunities" capability 204 has no gap. A
background of the second
capability score 144 displayed in the screen 200 may be yellow indicating that
the "change design"
capability 202 has a medium gap. Similarly, a background of a capability score
of the "marketing"
capability may be red indicating that the marketing capability has a major
gap. In other
implementations, different combinations of colors may be used. Capabilities
with a major gap
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may be associated with a high upgrade priority, capabilities with medium gaps
may be associated
with an intermediate upgrade priority, and capabilities with no gaps may be
associated with a low
upgrade priority. Accordingly, an administrator viewing the screen 200 may be
able to quickly
identify upgrade priorities associated with capabilities.
[0053] The GUI 134 is interactive. Based on input received from a client
device, the service
platform server instance 114A updates the GUI 134. For example, in response to
receiving a
selection of the second element 212, the service platform server instance 114A
may update the
GUI 134 to display only information related to assessed capabilities. In
response to receiving a
selection of the third element 214, the service platform server instance 114A
may update the GUI
134 to display only information related to not assessed capabilities. In
response to receiving a
selection of the fourth element 216, the service platform server instance 114A
may update the GUI
134 to display only information related to capabilities with major gaps. In
response to receiving a
selection of the fifth element 218, the service platform server instance 114A
may update the GUI
134 to display only information related to capabilities with medium gaps. In
response to receiving
a selection of the sixth element 220, the service platform server instance
114A may update the
GUI 134 to display only information related to capabilities with no gaps.
[0054] Referring to FIG. 2B, a second screen 240 of the GUI 134 is shown.
The service
platform server instance 114A may generate the second screen 240 in response
to receiving a
selection of the "manage opportunities" capability 204 from the screen 200.
The second screen
240 includes a details panel 242 related to the selected capability (e.g., the
manage opportunities
capability 204). In particular, the details panel 242 identifies the first
capability score 142 of the
"manage opportunities" capability 204 and indicates the process score,
technology score, and
people score that the first capability score 142 is based on.
[0055] The details panel 242 further includes an applications element 244.
The applications
element 244 indicates that customer network 102 uses eight applications to
provide the "manage
opportunities" capability 204. In response to selection of the applications
element 244, the service
platform server instance 114A may generate a third screen 260. The third
screen 260 includes an
applications panel 262 that indicates an application score for each
application associated with
providing the "manage opportunities" capability 204. In particular, the third
screen 260 identifies
the application score 140 described with reference to FIG. 1. The technology
score displayed on
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the second screen 240 is an aggregate of the application scores displayed on
the third screen 260.
Further, the process score displayed on the second screen 240 may be based in
part on the
application scores displayed on the third screen 260. If the "manage
opportunities" capability 204
had sub-capabilities, the applications element 244 may include application
scores associated with
applications used by the sub-capabilities. Accordingly, a capability's
capability score may be an
aggregate of capability scores of sub-capabilities of the capability. In some
implementations, the
application scores displayed on the third screen 260 are specific to the
selected application (e.g.,
the "manage opportunities" capability 204). In other implementations, an
application score for an
application is the same for each capability that uses the application.
[0056] As described above, FIGS. 2A-C illustrate screens of a GUI that may
be generated by
a service platform server instance to enable an administrator to assess gaps
in capabilities provided
by an organization. Accordingly, an administrator may more easily identify
which areas of an
organization may benefit from investment. Because the capabilities are
arranged in a hierarchy,
the administrator is able to identify specific sub-capabilities that may
benefit from investment.
Further, the GUI enables the administrator to see which aspect (e.g., people,
process, or
technology) of a capability might benefit from investment.
[0057] Referring to FIG. 3, a screen of 300 of the GUI 134 is illustrated.
The screen 300 may
be used for technology risk planning. The screen 300 depicts an external life
cycle timeline 302
and an internal life cycle timeline 304 associated with a first database
application 301.
Additionally a marker 306 identifies today relative to the timelines 302, 304.
The external life
cycle timeline 302 indicates a prerelease period 308, a general availability
period 310, an end of
life period 312, and an obsolete period 314. The internal life cycle timeline
304 indicates early
adopter period 316, a mainstream period 318, a declining use period 320, and a
retired period 324.
The service platform server instance 114A generates the screen 300 based on
life cycle data
received from the customer network 102, as described above. The service
platform server instance
114A may further determine technology risk associated with applications based
on one or both of
the external life cycle timeline 302 and the internal life cycle timeline 304.
For example, the closer
the today marker is to the obsolete period 314 and/or the retired period 324
the higher the
technology risk score of an application may be. In some implementations, the
technology risk is
weighted based on an importance of the associated application to an
organization. Some
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applications may not have an associated internal life cycle timeline (e.g.,
because an organization
relies on the application's developer for support and does not support the
application internally).
The screen 300 indicates that the first database application 301 has a high
risk (e.g., because the
marker 306 is located in the obsolete period 314 of the external life cycle
timeline 302 and is close
to the retired period 324 of the internal life cycle timeline 304). Based on
the technology risk,
service platform server instance 114A may further display an upgrade
recommendation (not
shown). The upgrade recommendation may identify a suggested application to
upgrade, a
recommended replacement application, or a combination thereof. The recommended
replacement
application may have a relatively longer duration of developer or internal
support as compared to
the suggested application to upgrade. Thus, FIG. 3 illustrates a GUI screen
that may be used by
an administrator for planning based on technology risk.
[0058] Referring now to FIG. 4, a diagram of a system 400 is shown. FIG. 4
depicts how a
service platform customer instances may transmit some data to another service
platform customer
instance. The system 400 may correspond to the system 100. As depicted in FIG.
4, the service
platform network 402 provides a first service platform customer instance 404
to a first customer
network 410 and a second service platform customer instance 406 to the second
customer network
412. The customer networks 410, 412 may be structured similarly to the
customer network 102.
[0059] In operation, the first customer network 410 transmits first
capability data 418 to the
first service platform customer instance 404. The first capability data 418
identifies a capability
and an associated application. In addition, the first customer network 410
transmits life cycle data
420 identifying a lifecycle of the application. Based on the first capability
data 418 and the life
cycle data 420, the first service platform customer instance 404 transmits a
first upgrade
recommendation 422 to the first customer network 410 (e.g., based on a
technology risk of the
application as described above).
[0060] The second customer network 412 transmits second capability data 428
identifying a
second capability and indicating that the second customer network 412 uses the
application to
support the second capability. The second customer network 412 does not
transmit life cycle data
to the second service platform customer instance 406. As described above,
databases of the service
platform customer instances 404, 406 are distinct. Accordingly, the second
service platform
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customer instance 406 does not have access to the life cycle data 420 in the
first service platform
customer instance 404.
[0061] The second service platform customer instance 406 may send a request
419 to the first
service platform customer instance 404 for the life cycle data 420. The
request 419 may
correspond to a poll of all customer instances provided by the service
platform network 402. In
response to the request 419, the first service platform customer instance 404
transmits the life cycle
data 420 to the second service platform customer instance 406. In some
implementations, the first
service platform customer instance 404 determines access permissions
associated with the life
cycle data 420 before transmitting the life cycle data 420 to the second
service platform customer
instance 406. For example, the life cycle data 420 may be transmitted from the
first customer
network 410 with an indication of whether sharing the life cycle data 420
between customer
instances is permitted.
[0062] Based on the second capability data 428 and the life cycle data 420,
the second service
platform customer instanced 406 transmits a second upgrade recommendation 444
to the second
customer network 412 (e.g., based on a technology risk of the application as
described above).
While illustrated as life cycle data, other types of data may be shared
between the customer
instances 404, 406 based on access permissions set by a customer network that
originates the data.
For example, the first service platform customer instance 404 may receive
application data from
the second service platform customer instance 406. Based on the application
data from the second
service platform customer instance 406, the first service platform customer
instance 404 may
identify an application score associated with a replacement application. In
response to the
application score of the replacement application exceeding an application
score of an application
used by the first customer network 410 for a capability, the first service
platform customer instance
404 may transmit, to the first customer network 410, a recommendation to
replace the application
with the replacement application. Thus, FIG. 4 illustrates how customer
instances may share data
in some situations.
[0063] Referring to FIG. 5, a diagram illustrating a method 500 is shown.
The method 500
may be performed by a service platform customer instance, such as the service
platform customer
instance 120. The method 500 includes receiving, at a service platform
customer instance,
hierarchy data indicating a capability hierarchy associated with a customer
network, the capability
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hierarchy indicating that a first capability is a sub-capability of a second
capability, at 502. In an
illustrative example of the method 500, the service platform customer instance
120 of FIG. 1
receives the hierarchy data 130. The hierarchy data 130 indicates a capability
hierarchy associated
with the customer network 102. In particular, the capability hierarchy
indicates that a first
capability (e.g., the "manage opportunities" capability 104) is a sub-
capability of a second
capability (e.g., the "change design" capability 202) and that the customer
network 102 uses an
application for the first capability.
[0064] The method 500 further includes receiving, at the service platform
customer instance,
application data from a management, instrumentation, and discover (MID) server
of the customer
network, the application data associated with an application utilized by the
customer network for
the first capability, at 504. In the illustrative example of the method 500,
the service platform
customer instance 120 of FIG. 1 receives the application data 132 from the MID
server 106. The
application data is associated with the application used by the customer
network 102 for the first
capability. In other examples, the application data may also or in the
alternative be received from
one or more of the client devices 104A-C.
[0065] The method 500 further includes determining, based on the
application data, an
application score indicating an effectiveness level of the application for the
first capability, at 506.
In the illustrative example of the method 500, the service platform customer
instance 120 of FIG.
1 determines the application score 140 based on the application data 132.
[0066] The method 500 further includes determining, based on the
application score, a first
capability score associated with the first capability, the first capability
score indicating a health
metric of the first capability within the customer network, at 508. In the
illustrative example of
the method 500, the service platform customer instance 120 of FIG. 1
determines the first
capability score 142 based on the application score 140.
[0067] The method 500 further includes determining, based on the first
capability score and
the capability hierarchy, a second capability score of the second capability,
the second capability
score indicating a health metric of the second capability within the customer
network, at 510. In
the illustrative example of the method 500, the service platform customer
instance 120 of FIG. 1
determines the second capability score 144 based on the first capability score
142 and the
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capability hierarchy. Thus, FIG. 5 depicts a method of determining information
that may be used
for capability based planning.
[0068] Referring now to FIG. 6, a block diagram illustrates a computing
device 600 that may
be used for implementing the techniques described herein in accordance with
one or more
embodiments. For example, the computing device 600 illustrated in FIG. 6 could
represent a client
device or a physical server device. The computing device may correspond to one
or more of the
client devices 104A-C, the MID server 106, the device(s) that provide the
service platform
customer instance 120, the device(s) that provide the first service platform
customer instance 404,
the device(s) that provide the second service platform customer instance 406,
the device(s) of the
first customer network 410, or the device(s) of the second customer network
412. As shown in
FIG. 6, the computing device 600 can include one or more input/output devices,
such as a network
communication unit 608 that could include a wired communication component
and/or a wireless
communications component, which can be coupled to processor element 602. The
network
communication unit 608 can utilized any of a variety of standardized network
protocols, such as
Ethernet. TCP/IP, to name a few of many protocols, to effect communications
between devices
and comprise one or more transceiver(s) that utilize the Ethernet, power line
communication
(PLC), Wi-Fi, and/or other communication methods.
[0069] The computing device 600 includes a processor element 602 that
contains one or more
hardware processors, where each hardware processor may have a single or
multiple processor
cores. In one embodiment, the processor element 602 may include at least one
shared cache that
store data (e.g., computing instructions) that are utilized by one or more
other components of
processor element 602. For example, the shared cache may be locally cache data
stored in a
memory for faster access by components of the processor elements 602. In one
or more
embodiments, the shared cache may include one or more mid-level caches, such
as level 2 (L2),
level 3 (L3), level 4 (L4), or other levels of cache, a last level cache
(LLC), or combinations
thereof. Examples of processors include, but are not limited to a central
processing unit (CPU) a
microprocessor. Although not illustrated in FIG. 6, the processor element 602
may also include
one or more other types of hardware processing components, such as graphics
processing units
(GPU), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable
gate arrays (FPGAs),
and/or digital signal processors (DSPs).
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[0070] FIG. 6 illustrates that memory 604 may be operatively coupled to
processor element 602.
Memory 604 may be a non-transitory medium configured to store various types of
data. For
example, memory 604 may include one or more memory devices that comprise a non-
volatile storage
device and/or volatile memory. Volatile memory, such as random access memory
(RAM), can be
any suitable non-permanent storage device. The non-volatile storage devices
can include one or
more disk drives, optical drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), tap drives, flash
memory, read only
memory (ROM), and/or any other type memory designed to maintain data for a
duration time after
a power loss or shut down operation. In certain instances, the non-volatile
storage device may be
used to store overflow data if allocated RAM is not large enough to hold all
working data. The non-
volatile storage device may also be used to store programs that are loaded
into the RAM when such
programs are selected for execution. In the illustrated example, the memory
604 stores planning
instructions 612. The planning instructions 612 may be executable by the
processor element 602 to
perform any of the operations of methods described with respect to FIGS. 1-5.
[0071] Persons of ordinary skill in the art are aware that software
programs may be developed,
encoded, and compiled in a variety computing languages for a variety software
platforms and/or
operating systems and subsequently loaded and executed by processor element
602. In one
embodiment, the compiling process of the software program may transform
program code written
in a programming language to another computer language such that the processor
element 602 is
able to execute the programming code. For example, the compiling process of
the software
program may generate an executable program that provides encoded instructions
(e.g., machine
code instructions) for processor element 602 to accomplish specific, non-
generic, particular
computing functions.
[0072] After the compiling process, the encoded instructions may then be
loaded as computer
executable instructions or process steps to processor element 602 from storage
(e.g., memory 604)
and/or embedded within the processor element 602 (e.g., cache). Processor
element 602 can
execute the stored instructions or process steps in order to perform
instructions or process steps to
transform the computing device into a non-generic, particular, specially
programmed machine or
apparatus. Stored data, e.g., data stored by a storage device, can be accessed
by processor element
602 during the execution of computer executable instructions or process steps
to instruct one or
more components within the computing device 600.
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100731 A user interface 610 can include a display, positional input device
(such as a mouse,
touchpad, touchscreen, or the like), keyboard, or other forms of user input
and output devices. The
user interface 610 can be coupled to processor element 602. Other output
devices that permit a
user to program or otherwise use the computing device can be provided in
addition to or as an
alternative to network communication unit 608. When the output device is or
includes a display,
the display can be implemented in various ways, including by a liquid crystal
display (LCD) or a
cathode-ray tube (CRT) or light emitting diode (LED) display, such as an OLED
display. Persons
of ordinary skill in the art are aware that the computing device 600 may
comprise other components
well known in the art, such as sensors, powers sources, and/or analog-to-
digital converters, not
explicitly shown in FIG. 6. For ease of discussion, FIG. 6 explanation of
these other components
well known in the art.
[0074] It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be
illustrative, and not
restrictive. For example, the above-described embodiments may be used in
combination with each
other. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art
upon reviewing the
above description. The scope of the invention therefore should be determined
with reference to
the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such
claims are entitled. It
should be noted that the discussion of any reference is not an admission that
it is prior art to the
present invention, especially any reference that may have a publication date
after the priority date
of this application.
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