Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for automated remote data collection
View Patent ↗Methods, apparatuses, computer program products and other means are provided for systems that are configured to use remote connections to, for example, provide proactive support monitoring by running scripts (such as, e.g., diagnostic tests) and/or collecting data (such as diagnostic test result data) from one or more customer machines. The collected data can be received at a centralized location. The collected data can be analyzed by one or more other machines, used by a support team, sold to clients, and/or used in any other manner. For example, technical problems discovered from diagnostic test results data may be fixed by a support team before the symptoms of the problems are experienced by at least some of the customer's machines. Some embodiments may also be configured to perform fact based decision making.
1. A method of remote data collection, comprising:
establishing a connection with a remote machine;
transmitting an executable file to the remote machine, wherein the executable file includes instructions to be executed by the remote machine;
initiating retrieval of module data from the remote machine, wherein the module data was compiled by the remote machine operating under the instructions included in the executable file;
processing the module data, with a processor, to generate usage information related to the remote machine;
establishing a connection with a plurality of additional remote machines;
transmitting the executable file to the additional remote machines;
initiating retrieval of additional module data from the additional remote machines, wherein the additional module data is compiled by the additional remote machines operating under the instructions included in the executable file; and
processing the additional module data with the module data to generate additional usage information related to additional remote machines and the remote machine, wherein the additional usage information comprises usage information representing a number of the additional remote machines of a customer site that are using a particular module, and wherein processing the additional module data comprises implementing an error policy including provisions for correcting an error on one of the additional remote machines that has not experienced an error after determining another of the additional remote machines has experienced the error.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein establishing the connection comprises:
retrieving customer information from a customer relationship management server; and
determining access information from the customer information to establish the connection with the remote machine, wherein the remote machine is located remotely from the customer relationship management server.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the module data includes generating the usage information that includes how often the remote machine uses one or more modules loaded on the remote machine.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the module data includes generating the usage information that includes diagnostic data indicating whether the remote machine has experienced any technical problems.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:
determining from the diagnostic data a particular problem the remote machine has experienced;
generating error correction data; and
in the absence of the remote machine requesting to have the particular problem corrected, transmitting the error correction data to the remote machine to correct the particular problem.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the executable file includes transmitting the instructions as limited to read-only instructions.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating suggestion data based on the module usage information, wherein the suggestion data provides suggestions relevant to the customer site's business.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising initiating the mass deployment of software to the additional remote machines across one or more customer sites.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the additional module data comprises facilitating a global benchmarking system.
10. A system comprising processor configured to:
establish a connection with a remote machine;
transmit an executable file to the remote machine, wherein the executable file includes instructions to be executed by the remote machine;
initiate retrieval of module data from the remote machine, wherein the module data was compiled by the remote machine operating under the instructions included in the executable file;
process the module data to generate usage information related to the remote machine;
establish a connection with a plurality of additional remote machines;
transmit the executable file to the additional remote machines;
initiate retrieval of additional module data from the additional remote machines, wherein the additional module data is compiled by the additional remote machines operating under the instructions included in the executable file; and
process the additional module data with the module data to generate additional usage information related to additional remote machines and the remote machine, wherein processing the additional module data comprises implementing an error policy including provisions for correcting an error on one of the additional remote machines that has not experienced an error after determining another of the additional remote machines has experienced the error.
11. The system of claim 10 further comprising a customer relationship management server that has access to a database storing access information that is used by the processor to establish the connection with the remote machine.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the usage information includes how often the remote machine uses one or more modules loaded on the remote machine.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the usage information includes diagnostic data indicating whether the remote machine has experienced any technical problems.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine from the diagnostic data a particular problem the remote machine has experienced;
generate error correction data; and
in the absence of receiving a request from the remote machine requesting to have the particular problem corrected, cause the transmission of the error correction data to the remote machine to correct the particular problem.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions are limited to read-only instructions.
16. A computer program product for conducting remote data collection, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising:
program code instructions for establishing a connection with a remote machine;
program code instructions for transmitting an executable file to the remote machine, wherein the executable file includes instructions to be executed by the remote machine;
program code instructions for initiating retrieval of module data from the remote machine, wherein the module data is compiled by the remote machine operating under the instructions included in the executable file;
program code instructions for processing the module data to generate usage information related to the remote machine;
program code instructions for establishing a connection with a plurality of additional remote machines;
program code instructions for transmitting the executable file to the additional remote machines;
program code instructions for initiating retrieval of additional module data from the additional remote machines, wherein the additional module data is compiled by the additional remote machines operating under the instructions included in the executable file; and
program code instructions for processing the additional module data with the module data to generate additional usage information related to additional remote machines and the remote machine, wherein the program code instructions for processing the additional module data comprises program code instructions to implement an error policy including provisions to correct an error on one of the additional remote machines that has not experienced an error after determining another of the additional remote machines has experienced the error.
17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the program code instructions for establishing the connection comprises:
program code instructions for retrieving customer information from a customer relationship management server; and
program code instructions for determining access information from the customer information to establish the connection with the remote machine, wherein the remote machine is located remotely from the customer relationship management server.
18. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the program code instructions for processing the module data includes program code instructions for generating the usage information that includes how often the remote machine uses one or more modules loaded on the remote machine.
19. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the program code instructions for processing the module data includes program code instructions for generating the usage information that includes diagnostic data indicating whether the remote machine has experienced any technical problems.