Instantiating resources of an IT-service

1. A computer program product for instantiating one or more resources of an IT-service, each resource being of one of one or more resource types, each resource being provided by one of one or more resource managers of an IT-service management system, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to execute a method comprising:

analyzing, by a management engine, a service model of said IT-service, the service model comprising nodes respectively representing one of the resources and respectively being indicative of a resource type of said represented resource, each of the nodes comprising a generic API, the generic API not being specific to any particular one of the resource managers and providing at least one abstract method for instantiating the resource represented by the respective node; and

for each of the nodes, executing, by the management engine, at runtime of the IT-service management system:

determining the one of the one or more resource types being indicated by said node;

evaluating a service provider catalog, the service provider catalog being indicative of one or more of the resource managers respectively being operable to provide a resource of a given resource type, for determining one or more of the resource managers respectively being operable to provide a resource having the determined resource type, and for determining an address of each of said determined one or more resource managers;

selecting one of the one or more resource managers;

sending a request to the address of the selected resource manager, the request being a request for a description of a resource-manager-specific API of said resource manager;

receiving the requested description from the selected resource manager;

overriding said at least one abstract method by a resource-manager specific method of the resource-manager-specific API for instantiating said resource, said resource-manager specific method being specified in the received description; and

executing the overridden at least one abstract method for instantiating the resource represented by said node.

2. A system for instantiating one or more resources of an IT-service, each resource being of one of one or more resource types, each resource being provided by one of one or more resource managers of an IT-service management system, the system for instantiating the one or more resources comprising:

a management engine computer comprising a management engine being adapted for:

analyzing, by a management engine, a service model of said IT-service, the service model comprising nodes respectively representing one of the resources and respectively being indicative of a resource type of said represented resource, each of the nodes comprising a generic API, the generic API not being specific to any particular one of the resource managers and providing at least one abstract method for instantiating the resource represented by the respective node; and

for each of the nodes, executing, by the management engine, at runtime of the IT-service management system:

determining the one of the one or more resource types being indicated by said node;

evaluating a service provider catalog, the service provider catalog being indicative of one or more of the resource managers respectively being operable to provide a resource of a given resource type, for determining one or more of the resource managers respectively being operable to provide a resource having the determined resource type, and for determining an address of each of said determined one or more resource managers;

selecting one of the one or more resource managers;

sending a request to the address of the selected resource manager, the request being a request for a description of a resource-manager-specific API of said resource manager;

receiving the requested description from the selected resource manager;

overriding said at least one abstract method by a resource-manager specific method of the resource-manager-specific API for instantiating said resource, said resource-manager specific method being specified in the received description; and

executing the overridden at least one abstract method for instantiating the resource represented by said node.

3. The system for instantiating the one or more resources of claim 1 , further comprising catalog registration unit for adding, upon deployment of a further resource manager to the IT-service management system, a further entry to the service provider catalog, the further entry being indicative of the further resource manager, the resource type provided by said further resource manager, and an address of said further resource manager, wherein the further entry enables the management engine having access to the service provider catalog to send, at runtime of the IT-service management system, the request to the further resource manager.

4. The system for instantiating the one or more resources of claim 1 , wherein each resource manager is further adapted for:

upon deployment of the resource manager to the IT-service management system, adding an entry to the service provider catalog of the IT-service management system, the entry being indicative of the resource manager, of a resource type provided by said resource manager, and of an address of the resource manager;

upon receipt of a request from the management engine of the IT-service management system, sending a description of a resource manager-specific API to the management engine, the resource manager-specific API comprising at least one resource-manager specific method for instantiating said resource, wherein the entry enables the management engine having access to the service provider catalog to send, at runtime of the data processing system, the request to the address of the resource manager; and

interoperating with the management engine by the resource manager-specific API for instantiating the resource.