Modular framework to integrate service management systems and cloud orchestrators in a hybrid cloud environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016197980-A1
Application number	US-201514589450-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 5, 2015
Priority date	Jan 5, 2015
Publication date	Jul 7, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system, method and program product are provided for integrating a plurality of cloud orchestrators and service management (SM) platforms to provide a hybrid cloud environment. A system is disclosed that includes: interface system that includes a first gateway for providing communications with SM platforms that adhere to an SM protocol and a second gateway for providing communications with the plurality of cloud orchestrators, wherein the SM protocol defines a set of management processes for handling service requests; a service request processing system that processes service requests from SM platforms using selected cloud orchestrators, wherein the service request processing system includes a set of management modules in which each management module processes activities associated with of a different one of the management processes; a rules and conditions engine that includes logic to select a cloud orchestrator to be used to service an inputted service request; and a set of data conversion modules, wherein each data conversion module includes logic that converts data associated with an SM platform to a data format required by a one of the cloud orchestrators.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A modular service management (MSM) engine that integrates a plurality of cloud orchestrators and service management (SM) platforms to provide a hybrid cloud environment, comprising:
an interface system that includes a first gateway for providing communications with SM platforms that adhere to an SM protocol and a second gateway for providing communications with the plurality of cloud orchestrators, wherein the SM protocol defines a set of management processes for handling service requests; a service request processing system that processes service requests from SM platforms using selected cloud orchestrators, wherein the service request processing system includes a set of management modules in which each management module processes activities associated with of a different one of the management processes; a rules and conditions engine that includes logic to select a cloud orchestrator to be used to service an inputted service request; and a set of data conversion modules, wherein each data conversion module includes logic that converts data associated with an SM platform to a data format required by a one of the cloud orchestrators.

2 . The MSM engine of claim 1 , wherein the set of management processes includes Request Management, Change Management, Task Management and Release Management.

3 . The MSM engine of claim 1 , further comprising a script repository that includes scripts configured to implement tasks by the cloud orchestrators.

4 . The MSM engine of claim 1 , further comprising a process for generating log files of management process activities.

5 . The MSM engine of claim 1 , wherein the first gateway includes an application programmable interface (API) that allows SM platforms to connect to the MSM engine, and web services that listens for service requests generated by the SM platforms.

6 . The MSM engine of claim 1 , wherein the service request includes a request selected from the group consisting of: provisioning memory, provisioning a network, provisioning a server, and provisioning an application.

7 . The MSM engine of claim 1 , wherein the second gateway utilizes web services to detect status changes of the cloud orchestrators, and in response to a status change, updates a management process of a respective SM platform.

8 . A program product stored on a computer readable medium, which when executed by a computer system, integrates a plurality of cloud orchestrators and service management (SM) platforms to provide a hybrid cloud environment, comprising:
program code that implements a first gateway for providing communications with SM platforms that adhere to an SM protocol and a second gateway for providing communications with the plurality of cloud orchestrators, wherein the SM protocol defines a set of management processes for handling service requests; program code that processes service requests from SM platforms using selected cloud orchestrators, and includes a set of management modules in which each management module processes activities associated with of a different one of the management processes; program code that selects a cloud orchestrator to service an inputted service request based on a set of rules and conditions; and program code for implementing a set of data conversion modules, wherein each data conversion module includes logic that converts data associated with an SM platform to a data format required by one of the cloud orchestrators.

9 . The program product of claim 8 , wherein the set of management processes includes Request Management, Change Management, Task Management and Release Management.

10 . The program product of claim 8 , further comprising program code for implementing a script repository that includes scripts configured to implement tasks by the cloud orchestrators.

11 . The program product of claim 8 , further comprising program code for generating log files of management process activities.

12 . The program product of claim 8 , wherein the first gateway includes an application programmable interface (API) that allows SM platforms to connect to the MSM engine, and web services that listens for service requests generated by the SM platforms.

13 . The program product of claim 8 , wherein the service request includes a request selected from the group consisting of: provisioning memory, provisioning a network, provisioning a server, and provisioning an application.

14 . The program product of claim 8 , wherein the second gateway utilizes web services to detect status changes of the cloud orchestrators, and in response to a status change, updates a management process of a respective SM platform.

15 . A method for integrating a plurality of cloud orchestrators and service management (SM) platforms to provide a hybrid cloud environment, comprising:
providing a first gateway for providing communications with SM platforms that adhere to an SM protocol, wherein the SM protocol defines a set of management processes for handling service requests; providing a second gateway for providing communications with the plurality of cloud orchestrators; processing an inputted service request from an SM platform using a selected cloud orchestrator, wherein the processing utilizes a set of management modules in which each management module processes activities associated with of a different one of the management processes; wherein a rules and conditions engine is utilized to select a cloud orchestrator to service the inputted service request; and wherein the processing utilizes a data conversion module from a set of data conversion modules that includes logic to convert data associated with the SM platform to a data format required by a selected cloud orchestrators.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the set of management processes includes Request Management, Change Management, Task Management and Release Management.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the processing generates a log file of management process activities associated with provisioning the service request.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first gateway includes an application programmable interface (API) that allows SM platforms to connect to the MSM engine, and web services that listens for service requests generated by the SM platforms.

19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the service request includes a request selected from the group consisting of: provisioning memory, provisioning a network, provisioning a server, and provisioning an application.

20 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the second gateway utilizes web services to detect status changes of the cloud orchestrators, and in response to a status change, updates a management process of a respective SM platform.

21 . A method for deploying an application for integrating a plurality of cloud orchestrators and service management (SM) platforms to provide a hybrid cloud environment, comprising:
providing a computer infrastructure being operable to:
provide a first gateway for implementing communications with SM platforms that adhere to an SM protocol, wherein the SM protocol defines a set of management processes for handling service requests;
provide a second gateway for implementing communications with the plurality of cloud orchestrators;
process an inputted service request from an SM platform using a selected cloud orchestrator,
wherein the processing utilizes a set of management modules in which each management module processes activities associated with

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Durairajan Suresh
• Kolluri Venkata Sesha Saiprasad
• Parthasarathy Sundar

Classifications

• H04L41/02

  Standardisation; Integration · CPC title

• H04L67/10 Primary

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title

• H04L41/5041

  characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service · CPC title

• H04L41/0809

  Plug-and-play configuration · CPC title

• H04L41/0253

  using browsers or web-pages for accessing management information · CPC title