Life-cycle bridges (LCB)

1 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor on a computer system, perform a method for providing virtual monitoring of a set of computing devices, the method comprising:

receiving, using a receiver, a report of a service outage incident in a computer network;

arranging a life-cycle electronic bridge to serve as an electronic staging area to respond to the service outage incident;

transmitting, using a transmitter, an Application Programming Interface (API) call to a WebEx bridge platform for all bridge information available in the computer network, said bridge information that comprises all of a plurality of electronic bridges that are currently being hosted by the WebEx bridge platform, and a plurality of responders that are currently involved in at least one of the plurality of electronic bridges;

identifying, using the processor in electronic communication with the WebEx bridge platform, a set of responders that are capable of responding to the incident, that are not listed among the plurality of responders that are currently involved in at least one of the plurality of electronic bridges, and that are electronically listed on the WebEx bridge platform as available to join electronic bridge;

using the WebEx bridge platform to send an electronic prompt to the at least one of the set of responders to join the electronic bridge;

adding the life-cycle electronic bridge to the plurality of electronic bridges that are currently being hosted by the WebEx bridge platform;

using the WebEx bridge platform to determine a root cause for each report of service outage incident in the computer network;

for each root cause:

using the WebEx bridge platform to determine an average life-cycle for an electronic bridge formed in response to the report of a service outage associated with the root cause; and

terminating the electronic bridge at an expiry time of the average life-cycle.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the average life-cycle comprises a bridge start date/time and a bridge expiry date/time.

3 . The method of claim 2 , the method further comprising determining, between the start date/time and the bridge expiry date/time, peak activity intervals.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the arranging of the electronic bridge, determining, for each root cause, whether a legacy electronic bridge exists that relates to each root cause.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, when the legacy electronic bridge that relates to a root cause exists, then classifying the legacy electronic bridge that relates to the root cause as relational to the root cause, and flagging the legacy electronic bridge with a root cause flag, said root cause flag that identifies the root cause of the legacy electronic bridge.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising adding the legacy electronic bridge that relates to the root cause to a plurality of legacy electronic bridges that relate to the root cause.

7 . A system comprising one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor on a computer system, perform virtual monitoring of a set of computing devices, the system comprising:

a receiver for receiving a report of a service outage incident in a computer network;

a life-cycle electronic bridge, said life-cycle electronic bridge arranged to serve as an electronic staging area to respond to the service outage incident;

a transmitter for transmitting an Application Programming Interface (API) call for all bridge information available in the computer network;

a WebEx bridge platform, said WebEx bridge platform for receiving the API call for bridge information, said bridge information that comprises all of a plurality of electronic bridges that are currently being hosted by the WebEx bridge platform, and for a plurality of responders that are currently involved in at least one of the plurality of electronic bridges;

wherein the processor is in electronic communication with the WebEx bridge platform, a set of responders that are capable of responding to the incident, that are not listed among the plurality of responders that are currently involved in at least one of the plurality of electronic bridges, and that are electronically listed on the WebEx bridge as available to join the life-cycle electronic bridge;

the WebEx bridge platform is further configured to send an electronic prompt to the at least one of the set of responders to join the life-cycle electronic bridge;

the WebEx bridge platform is further configured to add the life-cycle electronic bridge to the plurality of electronic bridges that are currently being hosted by the WebEx bridge platform;

the processor is further configured to determine a root cause for each report of service outage incident in the computer network;

for each root cause:

the WebEx bridge platform is configured to determine an average number of responders for an electronic bridge formed in response to the report of a service outage associated with the root cause, and based on the determination, adjust the response to the API call to be in electronic communication to obtain the average number of responders;

using the WebEx bridge platform to determine an average life-cycle for an electronic bridge formed in response to the report of a service outage associated with the root cause; and

terminating the electronic bridge at an expiry time of the average life-cycle.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the average life-cycle comprises a bridge start date/time and a bridge expiry date/time.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the WebEx bridge platform is further configured to determine, between the bridge start date/time and the bridge expiry date/time, peak activity intervals.

10 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the WebEx bridge platform is further configured to determine, prior to the arranging of the electronic bridge, for each root cause, whether a legacy electronic bridge exists that relates to each root cause.

11 . The system of claim 7 , wherein, when a legacy electronic bridge that relates to a root cause exists, the WebEx bridge platform is further configured to classify the legacy electronic bridge that relates to the root cause as relational to the root cause, and flagging the legacy electronic bridge with a root cause flag, said root cause flag that identifies the root cause of the legacy electronic bridge.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the WebEx bridge platform is further configured to add the legacy electronic bridge that relates to the root cause to a plurality of legacy electronic bridges that relate to the root cause.

13 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor on a computer system, perform a method for providing virtual monitoring of a set of computing devices, the method comprising:

receiving, using a receiver, a report of a service outage incident in a computer network;

arranging a life-cycle electronic bridge to serve as an electronic staging area to respond to the service outage incident;

transmitting, using a transmitter, an Application Programming Interface (API) call to a WebEx bridge platform for all bridge information available in the computer network, said bridge information that comprises all of a plurality of electronic bridges that are currently being hosted by the WebEx bridge platform, and a plurality of responders that are currently involved in at least one of the plurality of electronic bridges;

identifying, using the processor in electronic communication with the WebEx bridge platform, a set of responders that are capable of responding to the incident, that are not listed among the plurality of responders that are currently involved in at least one of the plurality of electronic bridges, and that are electronically listed on the WebEx bridge platform as available to join electronic bridge, said identifying comprising forming an array of responders based on a number and a qualification level of the responders and, in response to receiving a greater than threshold level of a pre-determined metric associated with the service outage incident, proportionally to the pre-determined metric, increasing the number and qualification level of the responders, said array of responders being selected from a group of responders that is larger than the array of responders;

using the WebEx bridge platform to send an electronic prompt to the at least one of the set of responders to join the electronic bridge;

adding the life-cycle electronic bridge to the plurality of electronic bridges that are currently being hosted by the WebEx bridge platform;

using the WebEx bridge platform to determine a root cause for each report of service outage incident in the computer network;

for each root cause:

using the WebEx bridge platform to determine an average life-cycle for an electronic bridge formed in response to the report of a service outage associated with the root cause; and

terminating the electronic bridge at an expiry time of the average life-cycle.

14 . The method of claim 13 , the increasing comprising increasing proportionally to a percentage amount of the computer network affected by the service outage incident, the number and/or qualification level of the responders.

15 . The method of claim 13 , the increasing comprising increasing proportionally to a percentage amount of the computer network affected by the service outage incident the number and/or qualification level of the responders.

16 . The method of claim 13 , the increasing comprising increasing proportionally to a percentage amount of computer systems in the computer network affected by the service outage incident the number and/or qualification level of the responders.

17 . The method of claim 13 , the increasing comprising increasing proportionally to a magnitude of types of systems affected by the service outage incident the number and/or qualification level of the responders.

18 . The method of claim 13 , the increasing comprising increasing proportionally to a criticality of systems affected by the service outage incident the number and/or qualification level of the responders.

19 . The method of claim 18 wherein the criticality of systems is determined based at least in part on whether the systems are end consumer-facing or not.