Abstract: A system and method for problem determination using probe collections and problem classification for the technical support services monitor and collect data associated with a computer system, raise an alarm based on the monitored and collected data, probe the computer system for additional information, filter the monitored and collected data based on the additional information established from probing, and use the filtered data to label a problem associated with the raised alarm.

Abstract: A method of identifying at least one resource in a distributed computing system which is a potential root cause of performance degradation of the system includes the steps of: computing operational bounds for the system and operational bounds for at least one resource in the system; comparing current end-to-end system performance with the operational bounds for the system; when the current end-to-end system performance is outside of the operational bounds for the system, comparing current performance of the at least one resource in the system with the operational bounds for the at least one resource; and generating at least one output identifying the at least one resource in the system which is a potential root cause of performance degradation of the system.

Abstract: Installation files are annotated, which annotations may trigger system snapshots to be taken at a plurality of points during the execution of the installation files and/or collected. During a test run, the generated snapshots are examined incrementally to determine whether the installation is success or failure at that point. Checkpoint snapshots are stored, and those indicating failure are recorded with description of the error and/or remediation that suggest how the errors may be resolved or fixed. During a production run, the annotated installation files may be executed and the checkpoint snapshots generated during the production run may be compared with those stored of the test run to incrementally identify and resolve potential problems in the production run.

Abstract: An exemplary method of determining a target configuration of an infrastructure aligned with a template includes a step of representing the current configuration of the infrastructure as a graph having a plurality of vertices representing elements of the infrastructure and at least one edge representing at least one dependency between the elements, wherein a given element within a set of possible elements for the infrastructure has a set of possible equivalent elements for the given element. The exemplary method also includes a step of finding at least one cut vertex in the graph representing the current configuration of the infrastructure, wherein removal of the cut vertex will split the graph into two sub-graphs as close in size as possible.

Abstract: Troubleshooting virtual environment deployment based on two level file system signatures, in one aspect, may include creating a first level file system signature including a set of file names of files in an image of a virtual machine taken at a point in time and associated status of the files as compared with an image of the virtual machine taken at a preceding point in time. A second level file system signature may be created using file content differences of the files having modified status in the set of file names. The first level file system signature may be compared with a first level file system signature pattern associated with one or more previous deployment of the same software and related to the same point in time. Optionally, the second level file system signature may be compared with a second level file system signature pattern.

Abstract: In an illustrative embodiment, a computing system comprises a first computer coupled to one or more additional computers. Each of the one or more additional computers manages a respective set of one or more virtualized computing resources. The first computer manages the one or more additional computers.

Abstract: An illustrative embodiment includes a method for use with a computing system comprising a first computer coupled to one or more additional computers, wherein each of the one or more additional computers manages a respective set of one or more virtualized computing resources, and wherein the first computer manages the one or more additional computers. The method includes the steps of determining an assignment of at least one application to at least one of: (i) the first computer; and (ii) at least one of the one or more additional computers; and responsive to a detected condition, changing the assignment of the at least one application to the at least one of: (i) the first computer; and (ii) the at least one of the one or more additional computers.

Abstract: Techniques are provided for automatically discovering one or more features in free form heterogeneous data. In one aspect of the invention, the techniques include obtaining free form heterogeneous data, wherein the data comprises one or more data items, applying a label to each data item, using the labeled data to build a language model, wherein a word distribution associated with each label can be derived from the model, and using the word distribution associated with each label to discover one or more features in the data, wherein discovering one or more features in the data facilitates one or more operations that use at least a portion of the labeled data.

Abstract: A method for service creation based on graph mapping including constructing a graph having leaf nodes in an environment including business support nodes associated with respective services and operations support nodes including attribute models, identifying a plurality of services at a level of the leafs in the graph, extending the graph by representing existing services offerings in terms of operation level service definitions and new services at the level of the leafs, and re-combining leaf nodes to define new services at service creation time.

Abstract: Techniques for problem determination are provided. The techniques include identifying one or more configuration items in two or more systems connected to one or more networks, performing a comparison of one or more common configuration items from the one or more configuration items in the two or more systems connected to one or more networks, and using the comparison to detect deviation between one or more configuration items of one of the two or more systems and one or more respective configuration items in the other one or more systems.

Abstract: A method for service creation and mapping between at least two support systems includes provisioning a service based on a service requirement and a plurality of available data centers, collecting a value of the service requirement and a cost associated with the service, matching resource types of the data centers to resource availability, determining at least one valid data center from the plurality of data centers, and selecting a valid data center with a minimum cost for service placement and provisioning.

Abstract: A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying instructions executed by a processor to perform a method for service creation and mapping between at least two support systems includes receiving a request for a new service, wherein the request includes resource requirement information and QOS requirement information corresponding to the new service, determining a location that the request originated from, identifying at least one data center within a communication range of the location, identifying at least one data center having resources complying with the resource requirement information, identifying at least one data center complying with the QOS requirement information, and deploying the new service into each data center that is within the communication range of the location, that has resources complying with the resource requirement information, and that complies with the QOS requirement information.

Abstract: Troubleshooting virtual environment deployment based on two level file system signatures, in one aspect, may include creating a first level file system signature including a set of file names of files in an image of a virtual machine taken at a point in time and associated status of the files as compared with an image of the virtual machine taken at a preceding point in time. A second level file system signature may be created using file content differences of the files having modified status in the set of file names. The first level file system signature may be compared with a first level file system signature pattern associated with one or more previous deployment of the same software and related to the same point in time. Optionally, the second level file system signature may be compared with a second level file system signature pattern.

Abstract: A system and method for method for assessing configurations includes steps or acts of: receiving configuration data related to configuration items and problem data related to problem tickets; classifying the configuration data into configuration classes; computing a class probability of the configuration classes; associating each configuration class with the problem tickets related to said configuration class; computing a ticket probability distribution of the problem tickets based on number of incidents; evaluating problem ticket characteristics per configuration class to determine a coefficient of trouble value for each configuration class; ranking the configuration classes according to their coefficient of trouble; wherein a highest ranking has the least coefficient of trouble; determining potentially optimal configurations based on the rankings; and providing to a user migration paths corresponding to the potentially optimal configurations.

Abstract: A method of providing support services as a service is presented. For example, the method includes providing to a service provider one or more service modules operative to provide the support services to the service provider. The one or more service modules are provided by one or more suppliers of the support services and include instruction code operative to be performed on a processor device and one or more application programming interfaces operative for programmatic access to the one or more service module. The service modules may further include one or more user interfaces operative for interactive access to a respective service module. The one or more service modules may include, for example, one or more of a profile service module, an offering service module, a customer service module, a process service module, a user interface service module and a revenue service module.

Abstract: In accordance with one aspect of the embodiments of this invention there is a method to operate a network mapping tool. The method includes performing a network mapping operation over a first set of ports to generate a list of hosts that are found to be alive; performing a sequential scan on only those hosts in the list to detect the operating system of each host in the list; and performing a parallel port scan to detect characteristics of only those hosts in the list. The characteristics can include an identification of at least applications and services running on the hosts in the list. The second set of ports can be a full set of ports.

Abstract: In accordance with one aspect of the embodiments of this invention there is a method to initiate remote managed infrastructure services for a customer infrastructure site. The method includes, in response to an inquiry from a potential customer, provisioning the potential customer with a remote managed infrastructure services software client; using the provisioned software client, performing an automated process to detect specifics of a customer information technology infrastructure; in response to the customer confirming the detected specifics of customer information technology infrastructure, configuring a remote managed infrastructure service to monitor and manage all or a subset of the detected and confirmed customer information technology infrastructure.

Abstract: Installation files are annotated, which annotations may trigger system snapshots to be taken at a plurality of points during the execution of the installation files and/or collected. During a test run, the generated snapshots are examined incrementally to determine whether the installation is success or failure at that point. Checkpoint snapshots are stored, and those indicating failure are recorded with description of the error and/or remediation that suggest how the errors may be resolved or fixed. During a production run, the annotated installation files may be executed and the checkpoint snapshots generated during the production run may be compared with those stored of the test run to incrementally identify and resolve potential problems in the production run.

Abstract: A provider of remote information technology infrastructure monitoring services obtains, from a customer, via a remote managed infrastructure services web site, a choice of at least one remote managed information technology infrastructure monitoring service for an information technology infrastructure of the customer, and corresponding data necessary to provide the at least one service. Based on the choice and the necessary data, the provider determines at least two different options for providing the at least one monitoring service, including at least price and service coverage. The provider obtains from the customer, via the remote managed infrastructure services web site, a selection of one of the at least two options.

Abstract: Registration of a plurality of customers, each having an information technology infrastructure, with a manager of remote services is facilitated. Registration of a plurality of service partners with the manager is also facilitated. The manager detects an issue with a given one of the information technology infrastructures of a given one of the customers. Responsive to the detecting, responses from a subset of the service partners for potential selection to address the issue are facilitated. The partners in the subset are ranked based at least in part on ratings of the service partners in a rating database. A top-ranked one of the service partners is assigned to address the issue.