Abstract: A method of and system for managing on-demand service offerings in a service delivery chain. The method comprises the steps of a service provider announcing upfront capacity pricing, an on-demand premium structure, and an on-demand exercise structure; a service distributor committing to upfront capacity and to units of on-demand options; and the service provider provisioning a number of resources to the collection of service distributors. Preferably, the upfront capacity pricing includes three components. A first component is a price structure for capacity or resources to be purchased for immediate use, a second component is an on-demand premium structure, and a third component is an on-demand usage fee structure.

Abstract: This invention introduces a method, system and computer readable media that enables a computer system or computer networked system to perform enterprise portfolio transition optimization. The invention considers several key factors that are traditionally treated informally. The invention provides a sequential decision model for enterprise portfolio transition management of computer and software resources. Using a finite state Markov Decision process, a mathematical formulation is developed to ensure an optimal enterprise portfolio transition plan, with the objective of balancing expected value and risk, that is solved numerically via an approximate dynamic programming algorithm. The output of the model is a set of recommendations in the form of a transition plan for each of the computer and software resources selected within the enterprise portfolio during each phase of a planning horizon.

Abstract: A method for managing a business. At least one relationship is determined between N business components (B1, B2, . . . , BN) and respective N costs (C1, C2, . . . , CN) and respective N values (V1, V2, . . . , VN) pertaining to the N business components. The N business components are a subset of M business components (B1, B2, . . . , BM) of a Component Based Model (CBM) of the M business components subject to M?2 and N?M. Determining the at least one relationship includes relating business components of the CBM with an Information Technology (IT) model of an IT system. The IT model includes abstract IT structures, virtual IT structures, real IT structures, or combinations thereof.