Abstract: A schedule data structure includes a schedule of visits to a plurality of destinations over a plurality of weeks, the visits being associated with respective rider/vehicle identification (RVID) parameters corresponding to one of the plurality of riders/vehicles. The schedule may be optimized for multiple parameters but non-optimized for mirroring. The schedule data structure may be broken into a first part and a second part. A permutation of the first part may be determined and appended with the second part. A mirroring-improved schedule data structure may be determined in response to iterated permutation and appending.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for backing up data to a distributed multichannel storage system. One method includes an operation for detecting, by a distributed backup system (DBS), a request for backing up data from a host to the distributed backup system. The DBS sends a request to a backup agent executing at the host to initiate the backup. The backup agent mounts an endpoint for writing to the DBS and executes a script that writes the data for the backup to the endpoint. Further, the method includes operations for creating a file system stack at the DBS associated with the endpoint, storing data received by the file system stack at the DBS, and detecting, by the DBS, an end of the backup. The DBS sends a command to the backup agent to end the backup and terminates the file system stack at the DBS.

Abstract: Techniques and solutions are provided for determining overall effort for a package implementation program. Determining overall effort can comprise determining a program parameter complexity value for each of a plurality of program parameters, determining activities for program phases and program work streams, calculating an activity point value for each determined activity, and calculating overall effort for the package implementation program. The activity point values can be calculated using, at least in part, the program parameter complexity values. Calculating the overall effort can use, at least in part, the activity point values and a pre-determined productivity metric that is specific to a type of the package implementation program.

Abstract: Method and systems for supply chain optimization include receiving information relating to a plurality of independent process flows which make up a supply chain of a technology organization, comparing the plurality of independent process flows with an integrated supply chain process flow comprising a plurality of interconnected stages to identify gaps in the integrated supply chain process flow relative to the plurality of independent process flows, the plurality of interconnected stages corresponding to all of the processes in a supply chain, modifying the integrated supply chain process flow based at least in part on the identified gaps to generate a customized integrated supply chain process flow that is customized to the supply chain of the technology organization, receiving one or more configuration parameters corresponding to the supply chain of the technology organization, and updating the customized integrated supply chain process flow with the one or more configuration parameters.

Abstract: Techniques and solutions are provided for determining overall effort for a package implementation program. Determining overall effort can comprise determining a program parameter complexity value for each of a plurality of program parameters, determining activities for program phases and program work streams, calculating an activity point value for each determined activity, and calculating overall effort for the package implementation program. The activity point values can be calculated using, at least in part, the program parameter complexity values. Calculating the overall effort can use, at least in part, the activity point values and a pre-determined productivity metric that is specific to a type of the package implementation program.

Abstract: Method and systems for supply chain optimization include identifying at least one existing system limitation associated with a high technology organization, identifying a supply chain optimization scheme enabled by an enterprise resource planning implementation for the high technology organization on the basis of the one or more system limitations, comparing one or more process flows and requirements associated with the supply chain of the high technology organization with a plurality of pre-developed process flows and requirements, deploying a pre-developed enterprise resource planning system configuration kit for the enterprise resource planning implementation; and providing a key performance indicator framework based on best practices and benchmarks relevant to the high technology organization, wherein the key performance indicator framework comprises one or more performance metrics by which the time and cost efficiency of a supply chain is measured.

Abstract: Techniques are provided for automatic product categorization. In one aspect, the categorization is based on text and one or more other values associated with a product offering. In another aspect, a first categorization of a product offering is performed and, if the product category chosen is in a set of co-refinable product categories, then a second (or third, fourth and so on) categorization is performed among the set of co-refinable product categories. In a third aspect, products are categorized based on cost. In another aspect, after products are categorized, the products are flagged for further categorization processing if the cost for categorizing the product is beyond a predefined threshold.