IP Library Granted Patent US 9,213,540
Granted Patent B1
US 9,213,540 · App. 14/704,628 · Granted Dec 15, 2015

Automated workflow management system for application and data retirement

Inventors: Bryon E. Rickey (Redmond, WA); Subrata Sarkar (Redmond, WA)
Assignee: Archive Solutions Providers
G06F8/70G06F8/71
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,213,540
App. No.
14/704,628
Granted
Dec 15, 2015
Kind
B1
Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for retiring an application and any associated data, hardware assets, and software assets. A workflow management system creates and tracks the life cycle of a project for application retirement, data retirement, purge, or performance archiving. The workflow management system evaluates the cost of the project, the availability of resources for the project, and captures information about the application and associated assets. Upon deciding to initiate the project based on the evaluations, the workflow management system captures and tracks implementation of project requirements. The workflow management system further manages retirement of hardware and software assets by cancelling, repurposing, decommissioning, or bypassing the assets.

Claims (61)

1. An automated workflow management system comprising:

a hardware asset info database that stores information describing hardware assets and information identifying applications associated with the hardware assets, wherein the hardware assets comprise at least one of computer servers, network switches, and network firewalls;

one or more processors, and

memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the automated workflow management system to:

determine, at a mapping module, based at least in part on information stored in the hardware asset info database, a plurality of hardware assets associated with an application;

determine, at the mapping module, a first subset of the plurality of hardware assets to be repurposed and a second subset of the plurality of hardware assets to be decommissioned;

trigger, at the mapping module, a repurpose life cycle tracker module to address the first subset and a decommission life cycle tracker module to address the second subset;

generate, at the repurpose life cycle tracker module, one or more repurposing work request tickets corresponding to the first subset;

track, at the repurpose life cycle tracker module, repurposing of the first subset based at least in part on the one or more repurposing work request tickets;

generate, at the decommission life cycle tracker module, one or more decommissioning work request tickets corresponding to the second subset;

track, at the decommission life cycle tracker module, decommissioning of the second subset based at least in part on the one or more decommissioning work request tickets;

determine, at a retire software module, based at least in part on information stored in a software asset info database, a plurality of software assets associated with the application, wherein the software asset info database stores information describing software assets, and information identifying applications associated with the software assets;

initiate and track, at the retire software module, retirement of the one or more software assets, wherein the one of more software assets of a first type are cancelled, and wherein the one or more software assets of a second type are repurposed; wherein the decision to cancel or repurpose is made by a reaffirm archive decision module configured to make the decision based on conditions and statistics for cost, resources and the software assets; and

update the hardware and software assets info databases to reflect a final status of the first and second subsets.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the automated workflow management system to:

validate, at the mapping module, the information stored in the hardware asset info database against a corporate asset tracking system.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the automated workflow management system to:

validate the final retired status of the first and second subsets against a corporate asset tracking system.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the automated workflow management system to:

determine, at the mapping module, a third subset of the plurality of hardware assets to be bypassed by the automated workflow management system; and

update the hardware asset info database to reflect a final state of the third subset.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the first subset and the second subset are disjoint.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the first subset, the second subset, and the third subset are disjoint.

7. A method comprising:

determining, at a mapping module, based at least in part on information stored in the hardware asset info database, a plurality of hardware assets associated with an application; wherein the hardware asset info database stores information describing hardware assets and information identifying applications associated with the hardware assets;

determining, at the mapping module, a first subset of the plurality of hardware assets to be repurposed and a second subset of the plurality of hardware assets to be decommissioned;

triggering, at the mapping module, a repurpose life cycle tracker module to address the first subset and a decommission life cycle tracker module to address the second subset;

generating, at the repurpose life cycle tracker module, one or more repurposing work request tickets corresponding to the first subset;

tracking, at the repurpose life cycle tracker module, repurposing of the first subset based at least in part on the one or more repurposing work request tickets;

generating, at the decommission life cycle tracker module, one or more decommissioning work request tickets corresponding to the second subset;

tracking, at the decommission life cycle tracker module, decommissioning of the second subset based at least in part on the one or more decommissioning work request tickets;

determining, at a retire software module, based at least in part on information stored in a software asset info database, a plurality of software assets associated with the application, wherein the software asset info database stores information describing software assets, and information identifying applications associated with the software assets;

initiating and tracking, at the retire software module, retirement of the one or more software assets, wherein the one of more software assets of a first type are cancelled, and wherein the one or more software assets of a second type are repurposed; wherein the decision to cancel or repurpose is made by a reaffirm archive decision module configured to make the decision based on conditions and statistics for cost, resources and the software assets; and

updating the hardware and software assets info databases to reflect a final status of the first and second subsets.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

validating, at the mapping module, the information stored in the hardware asset info database against a corporate asset tracking system of the automated workflow management system.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

validating the final retired status of the first and second subsets against a corporate asset tracking system.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

determining, at the mapping module, a third subset of the plurality of hardware assets to be bypassed by the automated workflow management system; and

updating the hardware asset info database to reflect a final state of the third subset.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the first subset and the second subset are disjoint.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the first subset, the second subset, and the third subset are disjoint.

13. The method of claim 7 wherein the repurpose life cycle tracker module and the decommission life cycle tracker module are triggered in parallel by the retirement module.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions configured to cause a processor to execute operations comprising:

determining, at a mapping module, based at least in part on information stored in the hardware asset info database, a plurality of hardware assets associated with an application; wherein the hardware asset info database stores information describing hardware assets and information identifying applications associated with the hardware assets;

determining, at the mapping module, a first subset of the plurality of hardware assets to be repurposed and a second subset of the plurality of hardware assets to be decommissioned;

triggering, at the mapping module, a repurpose life cycle tracker module to address the first subset and a decommission life cycle tracker module to address the second subset;

generating, at the repurpose life cycle tracker module, one or more repurposing work request tickets corresponding to the first subset;

tracking, at the repurpose life cycle tracker module, repurposing of the first subset based at least in part on the one or more repurposing work request tickets;

generating, at the decommission life cycle tracker module, one or more decommissioning work request tickets corresponding to the second subset;

tracking, at the decommission life cycle tracker module, decommissioning of the second subset based at least in part on the one or more decommissioning work request tickets;

determining, at a retire software module, based at least in part on information stored in a software asset info database, a plurality of software assets associated with the application, wherein the software asset info database stores information describing software assets, and information identifying applications associated with the software assets;

initiating and tracking, at the retire software module, retirement of the one or more software assets, wherein the one of more software assets of a first type are cancelled, and wherein the one or more software assets of a second type are repurposed; wherein the decision to cancel or repurpose is made by a reaffirm archive decision module configured to make the decision based on conditions and statistics for cost, resources and the software assets; and

updating the hardware and software assets info databases to reflect a final status of the first and second subsets.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 further comprising: validating, at the mapping module, the information stored in the hardware asset info database against a corporate asset tracking system of the automated workflow management system.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 further comprising: validating the final retired status of the first and second subsets against a corporate asset tracking system.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 further comprising: determining, at the mapping module, a third subset of the plurality of hardware assets to be bypassed by the automated workflow management system; and updating the hardware asset info database to reflect a final state of the third subset.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 wherein the first subset and the second subset are disjoint.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the first subset, the second subset, and the third subset are disjoint.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 wherein the repurpose life cycle tracker module and the decommission life cycle tracker module are triggered in parallel by the retirement module.

Assignments (3)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 18, 2019
From: DGD SYSTEMS, INC.
To: ARCHIVE SOLUTION PROVIDERS, LLC
Reel/Frame 050412/0963 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 19, 2018
From: ARCHIVE SOLUTION PROVIDERS, LLC
To: DGD SYSTEMS, INC.
Reel/Frame 046130/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 25, 2015
From: RICKEY, BRYON E.; SARKAR, SUBRATA
To: ARCHIVE SOLUTIONS PROVIDERS
Reel/Frame 036409/0284 →