System and method for dynamically grouping devices based on present device conditions
View Patent ↗A method to dynamically group devices based on device information, which is associated with a system for monitoring the device information that communicates information between a device and an enterprise. Information is collected from a device information source to obtain an actual status of a device. The actual status of the device is compared to a stored status of the device. The stored status is stored on a server of the enterprise. The enterprise determines if the actual status has been changed from the stored status. When a change is detected, the method performs at least one of the acts of automatically disassociating the device from a group that reflects the stored status and automatically associating the device with a new group to reflect the actual status.
1. A method that is performed on an enterprise system comprising a server computer, the method comprising:
establishing, on the server computer, one or more group rules for grouping devices based on status;
obtaining an actual status of a device from a monitoring agent that monitors and collects information from the device, including the actual status at a given time; comparing the actual status of the device to a prior status of the device, the device initially being associated with a first group that corresponds to the prior status;
determining that the actual status is different from the prior status based on the comparing;
on the server computer, consulting a rule to determine to create a second group that corresponds to the actual status of the device, the rule to determine to create the second group being among the one or more group rules;
creating the second group automatically in accordance with the rule, the second group being associated with a group hierarchy comprised of multiple groups at different levels in the group hierarchy; and
associating the device with the second group.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending notifications when the actual status of the device corresponds to a predefined condition.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising, in response to an additional change in the status of the device, associating the device with one or more other groups and/or disassociating the device from the second group.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein a second notification is sent based on failure to receive acknowledgement of a first notification within a defined time limit.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second notification is sent to a next higher-level group in the group hierarchy than the group to which the first notification was sent.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the first group is empty after the device is disassociated from the first group; and
deleting the first group.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
disassociating the device from the first group;
disassociating first group-based business logic from the device when the device is disassociated from the first group; and
associating second group-based business logic with the device when the device is associated with the second group.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the group hierarchy comprises a static root group and one or more sub-groups, the second group being among the one or more sub-groups.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the static root group is defined manually, and the one or more sub-groups are defined dynamically.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the group hierarchy comprises at least one statically-defined group and at least one dynamically-defined group.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending successive notifications to progressively higher-level groups in the group hierarchy until acknowledgement of one of the successive notifications is received.
12. Non-transitory machine-readable storage storing instructions that are executable to perform operations comprising:
establishing, on a server computer, one or more group rules for grouping devices based on status;
obtaining an actual status of a device from a monitoring agent that monitors and collects information from the device, including the actual status at a given time;
comparing the actual status of the device to a prior status of the device, the device initially being associated with a first group that corresponds to the prior status;
determining that the actual status is different from the prior status based on the comparing;
on the server computer, consulting a rule to determine to create a second group that corresponds to the actual status of the device, the rule to determine to create the second group being among the one or more group rules;
creating the second group automatically in accordance with the rule, the second group being associated with a group hierarchy comprised of multiple groups at different levels in the group hierarchy; and
associating the device with the second group.
13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage of claim 12 , wherein the operations comprise sending notifications when the actual status of the device corresponds to a predefined condition.
14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage of claim 13 , wherein the operations comprise, in response to an additional change in the status of the device, associating the device with one or more other groups and/or disassociating the device from the second group.
15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage of claim 12 , wherein the operations comprise:
determining that the first group is empty after the device is disassociated from the first group; and
deleting the first group.
16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage of claim 12 , wherein the operations comprise:
disassociating the device from the first group;
disassociating first group-based business logic from the device when the device is disassociated from the first group; and
associating second group-based business logic with the device when the device is associated with the second group.
17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage of claim 12 , wherein the group hierarchy comprises a static root group and one or more sub-groups, the second group being among the one or more sub-groups.
18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage of claim 17 , wherein the static root group is defined manually, and the one or more sub-groups are defined dynamically.
19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage of claim 12 , wherein the group hierarchy comprises at least one statically-defined group and at least one dynamically-defined group.
20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage of claim 13 , wherein the operations comprise sending a second notification based on failure to receive acknowledgement of a first notification within a defined time limit.
21. The non-transitory machine-readable storage of claim 20 , wherein the second notification is sent to a next higher-level group in the group hierarchy than the group to which the first notification was sent.
22. The non-transitory machine-readable storage of claim 12 , further comprising:
sending successive notifications to progressively higher-level groups in the group hierarchy until acknowledgement of one of the successive notifications is received.
23. A system comprising:
a monitoring agent to monitor and to collect information from a device, including an actual status at a given time; and
a server computer to execute instructions to perform operations comprising:
on the server computer, establishing one or more group rules for grouping devices based on status;
obtaining the actual status of the device from the monitoring agent;
comparing the actual status of the device to a prior status of the device, the device initially being associated with a first group that corresponds to the prior status;
determining that the actual status is different from the prior status based on the comparing;
on the server computer, consulting a rule to determine to create a second group that corresponds to the actual status of the device, the rule to determine to create the second group being among the one or more group rules;
creating the second group automatically in accordance with the rule, the second group being associated with a group hierarchy comprised of multiple groups at different levels in the group hierarchy; and
associating the device with the second group.