System and method for instrumenting a software application

BACKGROUND

The inability to quantify, demonstrate, and monitor information technology (IT) business value, or assess in a timely, reliable, and efficient manner exposure of an enterprise's business processes to risk and loss, consistently ranks among the top complaints expressed by corporate officers and business enterprise managers. To improve the efficiency of business process execution in support of corporate goals and objectives, business executives partner with IT specialists to develop custom applications, or customize commercially-available, off-the-shelf, packaged applications. However, in spite of these attempts, questions linger over whether these applications deliver the expected process benefits, whether they work as expected, or whether they create unexpected process risks.

Current techniques for measuring and monitoring factors that impact business value and risk exposure generally fall into three categories: (1) Conducting manual surveys, audits, and polls about whether the application or process in question is delivering the expected value and is sufficiently immune to risk; (2) Enhancing and changing the enterprise software application to be monitored to produce log files that contain evidence of whether the application or process in question is delivering the expected value or has been exposed to risk through negligence or abuse; and (3) Applying business intelligence or rules-based technologies to existing log files to discover whether the application or process in question is delivering the expected value or being compromised by exposure to risk.

The current techniques to measure and monitor business value and risk exposure are manual, imprecise, or homegrown ad-hoc measurement techniques that can be expensive, time consuming, unreliable, and inefficient, involving nontrivial overhead, and often resulting in significant costs and losses for the business enterprise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is therefore a need to provide systems and methods for modeling, preferably automatically, usage scenarios of one or more enterprise software applications that at least partially support, implement, or automate business process goals. It is also desirable to provide systems and methods for subsequently monitoring the enterprise applications for occurrence of these defined scenarios, and enable relevant users at the enterprise with a precise, dynamic assessment of expected-versus-actual value derived from the software applications or business processes. It is further desirable to provide systems and methods that enable the users to accurately and dynamically assess the enterprise's exposure to risk and potential or real losses related thereto.

In various embodiments, the systems and methods described herein dynamically measure effectiveness and robustness of enterprise software applications by determining, for example, the time, duration, frequency, location, environment, and context, where an application is executed, either alone or in combination with one or more other applications, and/or determining if the software applications are being used in expected or unexpected ways, and/or if the use is approved or unauthorized (and hence likely to be malicious). Reports generated by the systems and methods described herein enable business users to assess their enterprise's exposure to risk, and therefore real or potential loss.

In one aspect, the invention is directed to providing a method of instrumenting one or more software applications. The method includes: tracing events associated with an operation (usage scenario) of the software applications; determining a signature profile representative of a subset of the traced events which are correlated with the usage scenario; and inserting tags corresponding to the signature profile into the software applications for monitoring an additional operation of the software applications.

According to one practice, the method includes monitoring a second operation of the software applications at least in part by detecting a subset of the inserted tags in the second operation. In one embodiment, the monitoring includes detecting the subset of the inserted tags according to a detection sequence. In another embodiment, the monitoring includes detecting the subset of the inserted tags according to a schedule. In yet another embodiment, the monitoring includes collecting information about the second operation at one or more detected tags belonging to the detected subset of the inserted tags. The collected information may include event data associated with the second operation. In one embodiment the collected data is stored for subsequent processing.

According to one practice, the method includes matching with the signature profile one or more detected tags belonging to the detected subset of the inserted tags. In one embodiment, the method includes declaring a match between the first and second operations of the software applications if a match is determined between the detected tags and the signature profile. In another embodiment, the method includes generating a report about the match, including, for example, the second usage scenario. In a typical embodiment, the generated report includes a risk assessment associated with the second usage scenario or with the software applications in general. The report, in various other embodiments, may include a performance or value metric associated with the software applications.

According to one practice, tagging the software applications includes injecting code blocks into the software applications, wherein the injected code blocks correspond to one or more software application instructions executed as part of the usage scenario. Code injection may include coupling to a software interface of the software applications. The software interface typically includes a runtime environment interface of one or more software languages used to produce the software applications. Coupling to the software interface may include detecting a software runtime event. The software runtime event typically includes, among other events, one or more of a method call, a method return, a line number of executing software, an object creation, a memory allocation or reallocation, a COM interface call, a COM interface return, a Java Bean event, a J2EE Bean event, a library load, a library unload, a file system event, a TCP/IP stack level transmit event, a TCP/IP stack level receipt event, an SQL event, a transactional bus event, an MQ series event, an MSMQ series event, a web service event, and a notification framework event.

According to one practice, at least one of the first usage scenario and the additional usage scenario includes a plurality of temporally-distributed executions of one or more of the software applications. A usage scenario may include repetitions of one or more business processes according to one or more sets of parameters. For example, a bank teller may repeat customer account access multiple times. This multiple invocation of access privileges may be directed at one customer or multiple customers.

According to one aspect, the invention is directed to providing a software tool for instrumenting one or more software applications. The software tool is stored in a computer-readable medium and executes at least in part on an application server. Typically, the software tool includes: a tracer that traces events associated with an operation of the software applications; a signature profiler that produces a signature profile by selecting a subset of the traced events which are correlated with the usage scenario; and a code injector that inserts tags corresponding to the signature profile into the software applications for monitoring an additional usage scenario of the software application.

According to one practice, the software instrumentation tool includes a detector that detects a subset of the inserted tags in a second operation of the software applications. According to another practice, the software tool includes a matcher that matches the detected tags with the signature profile.

In one embodiment, the software tool includes a graphical user interface that provides a menu of options to enable a user to control a behavior of the software tool. In a typical embodiment, the software tool includes a repository that stores one or more of signature profile data, event data, and match data associated with the first and second usage scenarios. In yet another embodiment, the software tool includes a scheduler that schedules a time frame for monitoring the second or any additional operation of the software applications.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of illustrative embodiments and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following figures depict certain illustrative embodiments of the invention. These depicted embodiments are to be understood as illustrative of the invention and not as limiting in any way.

FIG. 1 depicts applications of the software instrumentation systems and methods of the invention to a risk mitigation and control monitoring lifecycle in a business process;

FIG. 2 depicts schematically various exemplary steps of software usage monitoring according to an embodiment of the instrumentation systems and methods;

FIG. 3 depicts schematically an exemplary sequence of steps—according to an embodiment of the software instrumentation systems and methods—from the creation of a trace to matching a signature profile with a usage scenario;

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary report, generated by the software instrumentation systems and methods, about at least a subset of the steps in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 5A-5B depict flowcharts representing various features of an embodiment of the software instrumentation methods;

FIG. 6 depicts various components of an exemplary embodiment of the software instrumentation system architecture;

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary deployment of the software instrumentation systems and methods;

FIG. 8 depicts schematically an exemplary usage scenario for bank account escheat fraud;

FIGS. 9A-9F depict exemplary computer screenshots associated with steps of an embodiment of the software instrumentation systems and methods directed to detecting bank account escheat fraud of the type depicted in FIG. 8;

FIGS. 10A-10C depict exemplary reports generated by an embodiment of the software instrumentation system and method directed to detecting bank account escheat fraud of the type depicted in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 depicts an application of the software instrumentation systems and methods directed to enhancing realization likelihood and evaluation of business process goals and objectives;

FIGS. 12A-12C depict exemplary reports produced by an embodiment of the instrumentation systems and methods that monitor an enterprise software suite implementing a healthcare network's patient management system;

FIG. 13 depicts a schematic diagram of a platform for modeling application usage scenarios according to an embodiment of the software instrumentation systems and methods;

FIG. 14 depicts schematically various layers of a modeling and measurement platform of the software instrumentation systems and methods;

FIG. 15 depicts schematically various applications of the platform of FIG. 13; and

FIG. 16 depicts schematically an application of the software instrumentation systems and methods to business value and risk measurement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

To provide an overall understanding of the invention, certain illustrative practices and embodiments will now be described, including a method for instrumenting one or more software applications and a system for doing the same. The systems and methods described herein can be adapted, modified, and applied to other contexts; such other additions, modifications, and uses will not depart from the scope hereof.

In one aspect, the systems and methods described herein are designed based on the premise that the value of an enterprise software application is realized, and its exposure to risk is reduced or eliminated, if it is used according to properly-selected, intended scenarios. These scenarios are interchangeably referred to herein as use cases, usage scenarios, or operations.

According to one practice, the invention is directed to software instrumentation systems and methods for modeling and monitoring usage scenarios of enterprise software applications that at least partially support, implement, or automate business process goals. In a particular embodiment, the systems and methods described herein employ a software engine that monitors execution of enterprise software applications for occurrence of one or more defined usage scenarios in the execution of those applications, thereby providing users with a precise, dynamic assessment of expected-versus-actual value from the applications and/or business processes. Business processes can span multiple enterprise software applications, and multiple processes can be monitored simultaneously by the systems and methods described herein.

In contrast to other technologies which are typically expensive and yield subjective, qualitative estimates of risk, the systems and methods described herein, in one embodiment, monitor enterprise business processes to provide objective and quantitative risk and loss event information having specified or desired granularity; this enables the users to accurately and dynamically assess the enterprise's exposure to risk and associated potential or real losses. By providing to the users assessments of value and/or risk, the systems and methods of the invention enable the users to redefine business processes, reengineer corresponding enterprise software applications, and adjust usage scenarios to mitigate and control risk or to improve value derived from the business processes of the enterprise.

Internal fraud, and susceptibility to it, is a form of risk exposure that poses significant, challenging, and dynamically-changing problems for a variety of business enterprises. Financial losses due to fraud are particularly palpable in the banking industry. The U.S. Department of Justice, in a 2003 FBI report titled “Financial Institution Fraud and Failure Report,” identifies a commercial banker who embezzled about $2,100,000 over a 2.5-year period. She did so at least in part by opening bank accounts under fictitious names and then transferring funds from her bank's internal expense accounts to the fictitious accounts. She raided the internal expense accounts in small increments—presumably to avoid detection—but averaged about 60-100 debits per month. According to the report, on the first of every subsequent month, the banker wrote a large check from one or more of the fictitious accounts which she subsequently deposited into her personal account. The fraud scenario highlighted above involves unusual banking activity; for example, the banker completed an average of about 60-100 transactions per month.

In one embodiment, the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein monitor the bank's business processes for—and thereby deter, control, or at least mitigate real or potential losses due to—such a rogue activity. In one aspect, the systems and methods of the invention identify and detect key indicators of risk as part of the monitoring of the business processes. To better understand how the software instrumentation systems and methods disclosed herein can be employed for risk detection, assessment, mitigation, and control, a high-level description of a business enterprise risk and control lifecycle will now be presented.

FIG. 1 depicts a risk and control lifecycle 100 illustrating challenges faced by finance, risk, audit, line-of-business, IT, and other professionals and users who want to mitigate risk and monitor controls in the business processes of the enterprise. In particular, FIG. 1 illustrates three exemplary phases—104, 108, and 110—of the lifecycle 100 where the systems and methods described herein can be employed to advantage.

The lifecycle 100 begins, in step 102, by identifying one or more areas of risk in an enterprise, and potential losses resulting from those risk areas. Typically, this task is performed by corporate executives, IT staff, or other users familiar with the business objectives and needs of the enterprise and business processes that underlie or guide the design of enterprise software applications. Once the areas of risk have been identified, the systems and methods of the invention monitor the enterprise software applications to detect and assess, in step 104, real or potential losses associated with those risks. Additionally, the systems and methods of the invention provide for an independent verification of subjective self-assessments produced by other technologies, thereby increasing the likelihood of devising and deploying, in step 106, more appropriate risk mitigation and control procedures and infrastructure for the enterprise.

In step 108 of the lifecycle 100, the software instrumentation systems and described herein monitor the risk mitigation and control procedures and infrastructure devised in step 106 to assess their effectiveness. Typically, risk control procedures and infrastructures are tested frequently: an expensive and time-consuming overhead activity. The systems and methods described herein, however, reduce or eliminate such overheads by, in one embodiment, dynamically, even continuously, monitoring the risk mitigation and controls for rogue processes that may circumvent the controls and create new or elevated risks.

Proceeding through the risk and control lifecycle 100, step 110 includes institutionalizing or otherwise adopting loss prevention or reduction measures. The software instrumentation systems and methods described herein help prevent, or substantially reduce, risk-based losses by detecting risk indicators associated with risk hypotheses propounded by enterprise business process developers or software application designers.

Many risks cannot be fully controlled, or their corresponding losses prevented, by prior art technologies, especially as enterprises adapt their business processes in response to dynamically-changing business conditions, climates, and landscapes. However, in a typical embodiment, the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein can be rapidly deployed—with little or no change to the enterprise applications—to test risk hypotheses and monitor associated quantitative indicators of risk, thereby preventing, or preemptively reducing, loss before it occurs.

Given the magnitude of fraud in the banking industry, and to further illustrate various risk mitigation, control monitoring, and loss prevention aspects and features of the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein, examples will now be provided for detecting and preventing fraud at a retail bank. It will become apparent how the systems and methods of the invention can monitor the business processes of a financial institution—such as the bank that fell victim to the rogue activities of the banker, in the case of fraud reported by the FBI and referred to above—to avoid, substantially diminish the likelihood of, eliminate, or otherwise mitigate losses related to fraud risk.

In an exemplary application, a global retail bank faced losses from fraud committed by tellers in some branch offices. Bank security officials developed fraud hypotheses that included the following: (a) more than normal customer access by recently-hired tellers is strongly correlated with identity theft; and (b) activation of a dormant account followed by a payment from that account is an indicator of fraud. The bank's security officials determined that monitoring these teller activities allows them to collect specific risk event data and quantify real and potential losses, thereby preventing or preemptively reducing fraud before it occurs.

The software instrumentation systems and methods described herein can be quickly deployed to monitor the teller activities specified in the fraud hypotheses above. Monitoring is quick, easy, and specific. And the systems and methods of the invention allow for collection of branch-specific risk event data and teller activity.

Exemplary steps that an embodiment of the software instrumentation systems and methods of the invention perform as part of monitoring enterprise software applications will now be described. Although the description is in the context of potential fraud at a retail bank, other applications do not depart from the scope hereof.

FIG. 2 depicts three exemplary steps 200 involved in a customer service process performed by a teller. In step 202, the teller logs in and validates a customer. Then, in step 204, the teller views the customer's bank statement. In optional step 206, the teller prints a copy of the customer's bank statement or other bank record.

Each of the process steps 202, 204, and 206 is associated with a corresponding set of software events (e.g., application code instructions) in a teller-customer Account Management System 210, which includes a suite of one or more enterprise software applications. According to one practice, as each step of the customer service process is demonstrated (executed)—typically in a development environment—the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein trace the software events associated with the step. As shown in FIG. 2, events 211-219 are traced when the three steps 202, 204, and 206 of a customer service process are performed by the teller. In one embodiment, the systems and methods of the invention use the traced events (e.g., the traced application code instructions) to build a signature profile for one or more of the process steps.

For example, in the embodiment depicted by FIG. 2, the Validate Customer process 202 is represented by the signature profile defined by the application code instructions (events) 211, 212, and 216. This is also indicated by a Validate Customer trajectory 220. Also shown in the embodiment depicted by FIG. 2 is that the systems and methods described herein associate the View Statement step 204 with the signature profile specified by the events 211-214. This is also indicated by a View Statement trajectory 230. When the Print Statement step 206 is demonstrated, the systems and methods of the invention determine that the corresponding signature profile is specified by events 211-215, which collectively define the Print Statement trajectory 240.

According to FIG. 2, events 217-219 are not incorporated into the signature profile of any of the steps 202, 204, or 206. That is, the events 217-219 are discarded by the systems and methods described herein during the process of signature profile construction.

FIG. 2 also shows—using application code instruction detail—an embodiment of a View Statement signature profile 250. In this embodiment, the steps Authenticate (teller) 251, RetrieveStmnt (customer) 252, FormatStmnt (record) 253, and DisplayStmnt (statement) 254 make up the signature profile 250 representative of the View Statement process 204 (and trajectory 230). Typically, the sequence of the events 251-254 in the signature profile is important or unique, thus rendering two signatures distinct if they have the same traced events but in different sequential orders.

According to one embodiment, once a signature profile has been created, the systems and methods described herein insert, in one or more enterprise applications, tags (using software code injection, for example) corresponding to events associated with the signature profile. The systems and methods then monitor an additional usage scenario (operation) of the business processes (as represented by the one or more enterprise applications) and listen for one or more of the inserted tags. For example, when one of the process steps—for example, the View Statement process 204—is performed, the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein listen for software application instructions in the active signature profiles (i.e., in this case, the profiles for Validate Customer, View Statement, and Print Statement) and detect inserted tags corresponding to the process 204.

Optionally, the sequence of detected tags is matched against the active signature profiles and a determination is made that the additional operation is a View Statement operation. In one embodiment, the systems and methods described herein collect data at certain instructions (e.g., teller identity, customer balance, etc.). According to one practice, the collected data is reported to the user. In one embodiment, if a match is declared between the additional operation and one of the active signature profiles, information is reported to the user about the additional operation (e.g., identity of the customer whose account was viewed in the second operation).

The additional operation may include multiple executions of one or more of the process steps 202, 204, and 206, and these multiple executions may be distributed in time, occurring, for example, sequentially in time. If the teller performs a View Statement step multiple times (for one or more customers), then, in one embodiment, the systems and methods described herein detect tags associated with each execution of the View Statement operation and collect data associated with each execution of the View Statement process, including, the number of execution times, identities of the customers whose accounts were viewed, etc. This mode of monitoring is one way of detecting rogue behavior by tellers or others in a financial institution. Using the systems and methods described herein, the about 60-100 monthly fraudulent debit transactions that the commercial banker of the FBI report was performing can be discovered.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram depicting an exemplary sequence of steps 300 from the creation of a trace, corresponding to a demonstrated usage scenario/operation, to matching a monitored usage scenario/operation with a profiled signature. In particular, the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 begins with a set of usage scenarios 301a-301c that are demonstrated by the systems and methods described herein, typically in a development phase. The software instrumentation suite creates traces 302a-302c, respectively corresponding to the usage scenarios 301a-301c. As mentioned previously, these traces include software application events that occur as part of the usage scenarios. A signature profiler/editor 310 creates signature profiles 311a-311c, respectively associated with traces 302a-302c. Each signature profile includes a subset of events belonging to a corresponding one of the traces 302a-302c.

Then, an optional scheduler 320 determines appropriate time frames for deploying the signature profiles 311a-311c to a detector 330 which monitors one or more enterprise software applications 340 tagged based on the signature profiles 311a-311c. The scheduler is controlled, in one embodiment, by a user who specifies the scheduled times or time windows. In some embodiments, the monitoring is to be continuously performed in time, in which case the scheduler 320 would not be employed.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the tags include the set of software runtime events 341a, corresponding to the signature profile 311a; the set 341b corresponding to the signature profile 311b; and the set 341c corresponding to the signature profile 311c. The matcher 350 then compares the tags detected by the detector 330 (when the monitored application 340 executes according to a yet-unidentified usage scenario) with a library of active signature profiles 350a (corresponding to the signature profile 311a), 350b (corresponding to the signature profile 311b), and 350c (corresponding to the signature profile 311c), and declares a match if a match with one of the active signature profiles 350a-350c is determined.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary report 400 generated by the systems and methods of the invention deployed to monitor teller activities corresponding to the risk hypotheses described in relation to FIG. 2. The figure shows account access (e.g., View Statement) by four tellers. Mary Smith is a model teller who is trusted by the bank and whose customer account management behavior is monitored for the duration of time represented by the plot 400 of FIG. 4. Her account access behavior is depicted by the curved line 401, considered to be a benchmark. Anna Jones, Jim White, and John French are three tellers whose customer account access activities are monitored at the dates shown in the figure, and are distilled in the histogram plots 402 (Anna), 404 (Jim), and 406a-406d (John), respectively.

As pointed out by the bracketed region 410 of the report 400, John's customer access behavior shown in 406b-406d are unusually high compared with the behaviors of Anna, Jim, and Mary. This may suggest fraudulent behavior by John. This is an exemplary illustration of how the report 400 generated by the systems and methods described herein assists business executives, IT staff, or other users to detect rogue or suspect behavior.

FIG. 5A depicts, in the form of a flowchart, steps 500 of an embodiment of the software instrumentation methods described herein; the steps depicted by FIG. 5A are generally considered part of the development environment described below in relation to FIG. 13. According to one practice, the development environment steps 500 begin by defining or describing one or more usage scenarios (operations) in step 501. Typically, a usage scenario is defined or described by one or more business users (e.g., members of a corporate executive team) who devise business process goals that are important to the enterprise and which are to be examined. In step 502, the systems and methods described herein demonstrate the usage scenario (operation) by running (executing) the enterprise application(s) according to the defined usage scenario.

In step 504, the systems and methods described herein listen to the demonstrated usage scenario and compile a trace of various events that occur during the demonstration of the usage scenario. These traced events typically include one or more software runtime events, such as, without limitation, a method call, a method return, a line number of executing software, an object creation, a memory allocation or reallocation, a COM interface call, a COM interface return, a Java Bean event, a J2EE Bean event, a library load, a library unload, a file system event, a TCP/IP stack level transmit event, a TCP/IP stack level receipt event, an SQL event, a transactional bus event, an MQ series event, an MSMQ series event, a web service event, and a notification framework event.

In step 506, the systems and methods described herein filter the traced events to determine a signature profile. The signature profile is a subset of the traced events that are correlated with the demonstrated usage scenario. Typically, though not necessarily, the traced events are incorporated in the signature profile according to a specific sequence/order; that is, if the traced events A, B, C are incorporated in the signature profile, they acquire a particular order in the signature profile, such that signature A, B, C would be distinct from signature A, C, B, etc.

Although typically the signature profile includes a strict subset (i.e., a fraction) of the traced events, in some embodiments all the traced events are included in the signature profile to properly indicate or represent the demonstrated usage scenario.

Once the signature profile has been determined in step 506, the the systems and methods described herein, in step 508, tag the enterprise software application(s) according to the signature profile. These tags correspond to the traced events belonging to the signature profile, that is, the events deemed correlated with, or representative or indicative of, the demonstrated usage scenario.

A purpose of inserting the software tags is to enable subsequent monitoring of a second operation (i.e., a second usage scenario) of the enterprise application. According to one practice, inserting the tags includes injecting code blocks into the enterprise software application, wherein the injected code blocks correspond to one or more software application instructions executed as part of the demonstrated usage scenario (demonstrated, first operation) of the enterprise software application(s). In a typical embodiment, injecting the code blocks includes coupling to a software interface of the enterprise application. The software interface may include a runtime environment interface of one or more software languages underlying the construction of the enterprise application.

The systems and methods described herein employ, in various embodiments, published, secure, open application instrumentation interfaces at the application's language runtime layer. At least in part because of this approach, the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein do not have to depend on application-specific interfaces (e.g., a published API for the teller system), and can be used to instrument a broad range of enterprise applications rather than integrate with specific applications.

In some contexts, users do not wish for the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein to directly address events in mainframe code. Their wish stems at least in part from concerns about instrumenting the systems of record. Accordingly, in various embodiments, the systems and methods of the invention use interfaces and wrappers around mainframe applications to assess and monitor mainframe-based processes. In this way, conflict is avoided with security, integrity, and performance issues while still providing quality, speed, depth, and granularity of information about process execution.

FIG. 5B shows steps 550 of an embodiment of the production environment of the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein. In particular, in step 552, the enterprise application executes according to an additional (e.g., a second) usage scenario (operation). The additional usage scenario may or may not be the same as the first, demonstrated usage scenario.

In one embodiment, the systems and methods of the invention detect, in step 554, one or more of the tags previously inserted in the enterprise application as part of step 508 of the development phase depicted by FIG. 5A. Optionally, the detection step 554 is influenced by a scheduling step 558, wherein one or more times or time windows (time frames) for monitoring the additional usage scenario are specified; in one embodiment, the monitoring is continuous, whereas in an alternative embodiment it is intermittent. The signature profile produced in step 506 of FIG. 5A is considered an active signature profile 556 in FIG. 5B if its constituent tags are being listened for in the detection step 554. In the embodiment wherein a scheduler determines, in step 558, the time frames for monitoring the additional usage scenario, a signature profile is considered active 556 if it is used by the systems and methods described herein as a reference signature profile during the scheduled detection time frames.

The production steps 550 include, in one embodiment, a step 560 for collecting information about the additional usage scenario. The collected information may be compiled according to a sequence in which the tags are detected in step 554 and may include information about the additional scenario at locations associated with the detected tags. Optionally, the information collected in step 560 is stored, in step 562, in a database or other computer-readable storage medium for subsequent referral. In one embodiment, the systems and methods described herein generate, in step 564, a report based on the collected information. The report can then be used by one or more users to evaluate risk, measure effectiveness of the enterprise software applications, revise the business processes underlying the enterprise applications, revise risk or value hypotheses, etc.

FIG. 5B also depicts an optional matching step 566 wherein the tags detected in step 554 are compared against the active signature profile 556 to determine whether a match exists. If, in step 568, a match is determined to exist, then the additional usage scenario of step 552 is said to be the same as the first, demonstrated usage scenario of step 502 in FIG. 5A. Following a match, a report is optionally generated in step 564. If a match is not discerned between the detected tags of step 554 and the active signature profile 556, then, optionally, yet another additional operation of the enterprise application is monitored, as depicted by link 552.

Although FIGS. 5A-5B have been described in terms of one enterprise application and one demonstrated usage scenario, it is understood that other embodiments of the systems and methods described herein exist that include two or more enterprise software applications executed according to one or more demonstrated usage scenarios. In such embodiments, one or more signature profiles are produced, corresponding to the one or more demonstrated usage scenarios; the signature profiles form a library of signature profiles, which then is considered an active library of signature profiles in 556 of FIG. 5B. It is against the active library of signature profiles that the detected tags from step 554 are compared to determine which, if any, of the demonstrated usage scenarios matches the detected tags.

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary architecture 600 of the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein. In particular, the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 includes an OAL application server 610 that acts as an information exchange hub for the various components of the software instrumentation system architecture 600. A tracer 620 traces software application events according to a demonstrated usage scenario (operation) of one or more enterprise software applications 601. According to one embodiment, the tracer 620 obtains a list of application instructions for processes of the enterprise applications 601 to be monitored. In a typical embodiment, the tracer 620 is deployed on the same development server as the enterprise applications 601. The tracer may interface with a custom or commercially-available packaged software application.

A signature profiler/editor 630 determines a signature profile representative of the usage scenario from the trace produced by the tracer 620. A scheduler 650 sets at least one time or time window (time frame) for a detector 660 to monitor an additional usage scenario/operation of the enterprise software application 601. The times or time windows set by the scheduler 650 may be determined by a user operating the system 600 using a project workspace (that can include a GUI) 640. In a typical embodiment, the detector 660 monitors instructions in the additional operation of the software applications 601 corresponding to an active signature profile (i.e., a signature profile against which the additional usage scenario is to be compared, during the time frame specified by the scheduler 650). Like the tracer, the detector 660 may interface with a custom or commercially-available packaged enterprise application 601.

A matcher 680 compares the tags detected by the detector 660 with a library of one or more active signature profiles. If a match is detected, the matcher 680 optionally generates a report 690 containing information about the additional usage scenario. In one embodiment, the report contains information about the enterprise applications 601 at one or more locations associated with the detected tags. In a typical embodiment, a sequence in which the tags are detected is significant, and is used in the matching process; that is, if two detected sequences contain the same events but in different orders, the two sequences are considered different.

A database 670, which is in communication with the OAL 610 to exchange information, serves as a repository of project information, including trace, signature, scheduling, match, and reporting data, among others things. In one embodiment, the project workspace 640 (that may include a GUI or another user interface), serves as a command and control center for the user, or team of users, to manage various aspects of the system architecture 600 and the functioning thereof. In one embodiment, the project workspace is used as a primary user interface used by a project team to define projects, describe/define business processes represented by enterprise software applications, demonstrate usage scenarios, and manage signatures, reports, and alerts, among other things.

FIG. 7 depicts yet another embodiment of a deployment configuration 700 of the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein. In particular, the software instrumentation suite 702 is deployed—typically as a transparent layer—around one or more enterprise software applications 701. The deployment of the software instrumentation suite 702 generally involves little, if any, downtime for the enterprise applications 701. Overhead (if any exists) associated with the deployment and implementation of the software instrumentation suite 702 is typically not detectable by application users 710a-710d who communicate with the enterprise applications 701 via TCP/IP or other communication protocols, which may include wireless protocols.

Also shown in FIG. 7 are components 703-706 associated with the software instrumentation systems and methods 702. Typically, these components form a geographically (physically) distributed network and communicate with each other, and with the suite 702, via TCP/IP or other communication network protocols, possibly including one or more wireless protocols. The distributed components, according to one embodiment, include, for example, an object access layer (OAL) 704, described above in relation to FIG. 6. According to one practice, the OAL 704 serves as an application server that communicates with, and controls, other components of the instrumentation suite 702, such as, without limitation, a graphical user interface (GUI) 703 for controlling the software instrumentation suite 702 and a data access layer 705, which, according to one embodiment, serves as a conduit for the suite 702 to access a database 706. According to one practice, the database 706 serves as a repository of information such as, without limitation, traced event data, signature profile data, data associated with one or more matches between monitored usage scenarios (operations) of the software applications 701 and profiled scenarios (i.e., scenarios associated with the signature profiles in the repository 706), monitoring schedules, etc.

To further illustrate various features and embodiments of the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein, another example will now be described, related to another area of risk to a financial institution. One form of fraud in the banking industry is escheat fraud, wherein bank employees identify dormant accounts, process unauthorized address changes, and make fraudulent fund transfers. In various embodiments, the systems and methods described herein enable banking authorities to identify unauthorized account activities, the fraudsters involved, the monetary amounts of the fraudulent transactions, and the accounts affected, among other things.

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary process 800 followed by escheat fraudsters, exemplary software application processes 810 associated with the various steps of the process 800, and exemplary software application modules/systems 820 associated with the various steps of the process 800. In the particular embodiment depicted by FIG. 8, the bank employee, in step 802, accesses a dormant account. Then in step 804, the employee effects an address change. Subsequently, in step 806, the employee makes an unauthorized payment to an accomplice account from the dormant account.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 8, the step 802 includes processes 812 that include routine access to account systems and identifying target dormant accounts. An enterprise software application associated with the activities of step 802 is the bank's checking and savings account management system.

The Change Address step 804 involves the software process 814 of accessing the dormant account to alter one or more features of the account, for example, an address associated with the account. An enterprise software application associated with the activities of step 804 is the bank's account management system 822.

According to the embodiment depicted by FIG. 8, the Make Payment step 806 includes the software process 814 of accessing to the dormant account to make a seemingly routine payment from the dormant account to another account serving as the accomplice account. An enterprise software application associated with the activities of step 806 is the bank's account management system 822.

FIGS. 9A-9F depict, in the form of a graphical user interface (GUI), computer screenshots that illustrate features and steps of the software instrumentation systems and methods of the invention employed to detect the escheat fraud described in FIG. 8.

Exemplary screenshot 900 of FIG. 9A depicts a GUI for defining the escheat detection project. Here, the bank whose teller's activities are to be monitored is specified.

Exemplary screenshot 915 of FIG. 9B depicts a GUI for defining the processes that are deemed (according to the established fraud hypotheses) to be indicative of escheat fraud. In the depicted embodiment, these processes 916-919 include Teller Login, customer account Balance Inquiry, customer Address Update (also referred to as Address Change), and Make Payment from customer account.

Exemplary screenshot 930 of FIG. 9C depicts a GUI for setting up a signature profile for the process step 917 of FIG. 9B: account Balance Inquiry. In this embodiment, the event designated to represent the process step 917 is the application instruction BankTransactions.AccountTransaction.Balance( ) 932. The screenshot 930 also depicts event parameters 935 associated with the application instruction 932 of the signature profile 931. The parameters 935 contain information that is collected in various embodiments of the systems and methods described herein, e.g., Teller ID, Customer ID, Account No., Balance amount, Last Transaction.

FIG. 9D depicts an exemplary Account Lookup screenshot 945 provided by the GUI of the systems and methods described herein. In particular, the screenshot 945 shows a Customer Master List 946 of the bank.

Turning to FIG. 9E, an exemplary screenshot 960 is shown for Address Change. The teller uses this GUI screen to change the address 962 and/or telephone information 963 associated with a particular customer 961 who has one or more dormant bank accounts 965. Using the button 964, the fraudster teller then saves that change in the records associated with the dormant account(s) of the customer.

Turning now to FIG. 9F, an exemplary screenshot 975 is shown for making a payment 981, typically in a small amount 976, from the dormant account 977 to an accomplice 980. The accomplice 980 is typically either the teller or an associate of the teller.

FIGS. 10A-10C depict exemplary reports generated by the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein for detecting the escheat fraud described in relation to FIG. 8 and FIGS. 9A-9F. Information collected by the systems and methods of the invention in monitoring business processes are distilled or collated into the various charts shown in FIGS. 10A-10C.

In particular, FIG. 10A depicts a histogram chart 1000 showing the number, by week, of incidents indicative of escheat fraud. FIG. 10B depicts a histogram chart 1020 indicating, by perpetrator, activities indicative of escheat fraud. FIG. 10C depicts, in tabular form 1040, an exemplary report containing customers 1041 affected by activity indicative of escheat fraud, corresponding amounts transferred 1042 from their accounts, last account access dates 1043, and identities of tellers 1044 who manipulated the customers' accounts. Other embodiments exist in which other account, access, and activity information is disclosed in the report.

The systems and methods described herein produce reports according to the granularity of detail specified by the users. Business executives and other users can use the exemplary reports of FIGS. 10A-10C to assess and quantify risk, implement appropriate controls, monitor effectiveness of controls, monitor key risk indicators, and even revise risk hypotheses which would then cause a reconfiguration of the systems and methods described herein to implement revised monitoring and control procedures and infrastructure in compliance to the revised risk hypotheses. Such revisions and reconfigurations are straightforward because of the ease with which the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein can be reconfigured and deployed.

The embodiments described so far have focused on risk management utility of the software instrumentation systems and methods of the invention. FIG. 11 and FIGS. 12A-12B illustrate another advantageous aspect of the systems and methods of the invention, namely, assessment of value from enterprise applications.

FIG. 11 depicts an application 1100 of the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein, directed to enhancing a likelihood of realizing an enterprise's business goals and objectives 1102, and to measuring 1108 the enterprise's performance 1109 to determine how closely the enterprise meets those goals and objectives 1102. In various embodiments, the goals and objectives 1102 include metrics denoting tolerance for, exposure to, or protection and robustness against, risk or loss.

Prompted by a need to adapt to, or even lead, a dynamically-changing business climate, a management team of the business enterprise from time to time adjusts its strategic goals and objectives 1102. To meet the goals and objectives 1102 in the changing business environment, corporate executives design, reengineer, or otherwise drive, as shown by block 1103, business processes 1104 which are deemed conducive to meeting the enterprise's goals and objectives 1102.

As described above, business processes 1104 are supported, modeled, or otherwise represented at least in part by one or more enterprise software applications 1106, which execute to implement one or more aspects of the processes 1104. The enterprise executives typically depend on an efficient execution of the software applications 1106, limited exposure of the software applications to risk or loss, and robustness of the business processes 1104 against risk or loss, in achieving their business goals 1102. To increase process efficiency, enterprise management executives typically employ a chief information officer (CIO) and an information technology (IT) team to develop enterprise software applications 1106 to implement the business processes 1104. In various embodiments, the software applications 1106 include custom applications (e.g., an Insurance claims Processing System) or customizations of commercially-available packaged applications (e.g., Siebel Customer Relationship Management (CRM)) that automate the business processes 1104 and support process execution.

The business enterprise also expects value 1107 from the business processes 1104 implemented at least partially by the enterprise software applications 1106. Accordingly, the enterprise assesses value 1107 from the software applications 1106 and their underlying business processes 1104—aided in part by measuring 1108 the corporate performance 1109—and revising the goals and objectives 1102 as appropriate.

An example of value assessment and process effectiveness monitoring is illustrated by the sample reports generated by the systems and methods described herein, which were installed for a healthcare network. The healthcare network includes several stand-alone hospitals working in concert.

FIGS. 12A-12C respectively depict exemplary reports 1200, 1220, and 1240 generated by the systems and methods described herein to enable management of the healthcare network to assess, quantitatively and concretely, how well implemented business processes meet the network's expectations and goals. According to one practice, the business goals and objectives for this healthcare organization broadly include increasing staff productivity and reducing costs without adversely affecting quality of patient care. To meet these goals, the healthcare organization implements a Patient Visit Process—a sequence of steps that includes checking in a patient, rendering medical services to the patient, and checking out the patient—across the healthcare network, a process that is at least partially supported, implemented, or automated by a Patient Care System which includes—a suite of one or more enterprise software applications.

According to one embodiment, the Patient Visit Process includes the following steps: check in a patient; view the patient's medical chart; medically examine the patient; update the patient's chart; optionally, prescribe a drug treatment regimen to the patient; and check the patient out. In addition to improving overall staff productivity, following the steps of the Patient Visit Process—which employ the Patient Care System and the Electronic Patient Record that it generates—is expected to improve overall quality of patient care. An additional, or alternative, expectation is that on average, across the entire patient population, this process will be completed in about 25 minutes for each patient.

In one aspect, the expected value from the Patient Visit Process, and the Patient Care System that implements the Patient Visit Process, includes a drop in total Patient Cycle Time. According to one exemplary embodiment, the drop is from an average of about 55 minutes to about 25 minutes—a significant productivity increase. Additionally, or alternatively, the Patient Care System is expected to enable a significant portion of all patients (e.g., about 30%, according to one embodiment) to self-register: a reduction in patient registration by staff of close to one-third. In yet another aspect, an Electronic Patient Record produced by the Patient Care System is expected to reduce, or in some instances eliminate, incidences of adverse interactions of prescription drugs—a significant improvement in the quality of patient care.

Turning to FIG. 12A, a set of results 1200 based on monitoring, in real time, the expected performance 1202 and actual performance 1204 of the Patient Visit Process is depicted. Expected results are shown by solid rhombuses depicting the various steps in the Patient Visit Process: 1202a (patient check-in), 1202b (view the patient's chart), 1202c (examine the patient and update the chart), 1202d (prescribe medication), and 1202e (patient check-out). Actual data is shown by solid circular dots 1204a-1204e, respectively corresponding to the steps associated with the expected results 1202a-1202e.

As FIG. 12A shows, the actual process 1204a-1204e averages a cycle time of about 27 minutes, reasonably close to the expected 25 minutes. Therefore, taking a primary view of the total Patient Visit Cycle Time, the data 1200 appears to indicate that the Patient Visit Process has been successfully implemented by the adopted Patient Care System. However, as indicated by the data on the vertical axes, the number of patients for whom the Patient Visit Cycle was completed in time—about 50—is a small fraction (about 20%) of the expected about 250 patients for whom the Patient Visit Cycle Time is expected to be about 25 minutes. It is evident that the healthcare organization does not see the expected staff productivity increases or the patient care benefits with this adoption rate.

FIG. 12B shows the actual process 1220 that the healthcare network's staff follows for the remaining 80% of the patient population. For a number of the patients, the electronic patient record is not viewed 1222 prior to treatment. For a vast majority of the patients, the patient record is not updated 1224. Such process breakdowns adversely impact the quality of patient care.

In addition to monitoring the entire Patient Visit Process, the healthcare network also expects that the new Patient Self-Registration features of the Patient Care System are used and adopted as expected, so as to realize desired cost-reduction goals.

Turning to FIG. 12C, expected patient self-registrations are depicted by solid rhombuses 1242; registrations by the healthcare network staff are depicted by columns 1244; and patient self-registration data is depicted by columns 1246. The data indicates that the healthcare network falls well behind its expectations for patient self-registrations, with little or no respite for hospital registration staff.

Employing the systems and methods of the invention for instrumenting software applications enables the healthcare network to, among other things, evaluate a business process and a software application used to implement the business process. Additionally, the systems and methods described herein enable the healthcare network to use the collected data to manage and adjust its strategic goals—in this case including a combination of redesigning the Patient Visit Process; redesigning the Patient Care system (software application); retraining the staff; and providing the staff and the patients with incentives to encourage adoption of the redesigned Patient Care System.

FIG. 13 shows a high-level schematic diagram of a development and production environment lifecycle 1300 according an embodiment of the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein. In step 1301, following installation of the software platform of the invention, the software platform employs a module that provides metadata or information about a usage scenario—which, as described above, includes a sequence of steps by which an application is used (executed).

When the enterprise software application executes according to a specified usage scenario (i.e., when a usage scenario of the enterprise software application is demonstrated), it produces various software application events. The monitoring engine listens for the application events and maintains a trace of the produced events. Examples of application events have been referred to above. For a particular usage scenario, the nature of software applications is that they execute the same sequence of application events every time that usage scenario is repeated; accordingly, if those events are properly tagged, the software applications can employ the tags to emit information representative of the execution of the tagged software events. This is an important observation, at least in part because a particular usage scenario is deemed to have been executed when a particular sequence of application events is recognized by the systems and methods described herein.

However, a usage scenario can produce a large number—perhaps even hundreds of thousands—of application events, which can make the event sequence running in the enterprise software application difficult and expensive to subsequently recognize or parse through. Accordingly, in one embodiment, a raw event sequence (or trace), produced in step 1301 from the demonstration of the usage scenario, is parsed to identify an important subset of application event sequences whose detection is strongly correlated with the demonstrated usage scenario. The events of the parsed trace identified as being correlated with the usage scenario form what has been referred to herein as a signature, a signature profile, or—depending on context—an active signature profile. As shown in previous figures, for example, FIGS. 9A-9F, the software platform of the systems and methods described herein contains a project workspace module, typically having a graphical user interface (GUI), which makes it possible for a user to visually convert a trace into a signature.

In the process of creating a signature profile, the user may create some ambiguity. In other words, a signature profile created from a trace may match more than one usage scenario in the enterprise software application. This ambiguity can be exploited to effect, if the user chooses to demonstrate an exemplary usage scenario, develop a signature from the resulting trace, and then use the signature to recognize not just the exemplary, but many, if not all, similar usage scenarios. In many embodiments, however, the signature profile uniquely represents the demonstrated usage scenario.

The collected application traces can be ambiguous if more than one usage scenario is demonstrated at a time. Typically, therefore, the systems and methods described herein produce signatures in a controlled, development environment, as mentioned above.

The signatures created from usage scenarios in the development environment can be employed in a production environment. At least in part because of the synergy between the existing application environments and the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein, typically no substantial changes to the application development and deployment environment in which the disclosed software platform works are required.

As shown in FIG. 13 (upper dotted half circle), one of the modules in the software instrumentation platform of the invention enables a set of signatures (representing usage scenarios, which in turn represent components of application business value or risk) to be conveyed, for example, over a network from the development environment to another software module of the platform in the production environment. Optionally, a scheduler determines one or more times or time windows (generally referred to herein as time frames) for monitoring the enterprise applications to detect usage scenarios matching the signature profile.

Referring to the embodiment of FIG. 13, in step 1303, the software module, in the production environment, receives signatures from the module in the development environment and then uses that information to dynamically insert software code into the application to be monitored. Unlike other similar techniques, the code is inserted only where needed, and as specified by the signature. The code can also be removed after use and new code can be inserted when a new or different use scenario is performed. It should be noted that detailed knowledge of the application source code is not required, so that insertion of, and changes to, the signatures can be efficiently and quickly executed without substantially affecting the execution of the enterprise software application.

Guided instrumentation, in step 1303 of FIG. 13, refers to a technique of using signatures to determine places in the application where special detection codes are to be dynamically inserted to aid subsequent detection of events that make up a signature. In an exemplary embodiment, the occurrence of an application event, a procedure call for a procedure P for example, is detected and reported. One technique to accomplish this is to get a call back for every procedure called, match against P, and then report the detection of procedure P. However, monitoring every step of the executing application slows down the performance of the application. By using the events specified in the usage scenario signature as instrumentation guides, the signature specifies the sequence of events to be detected (representing, for example, the procedure call P), and this information is used to dynamically tag special detection code to procedure P (and typically nowhere else in the application). This is an efficient detection method, since then only the procedure P plays a role in its own detection.

As seen in step 1304 of FIG. 13, with the instrumentation in place, any time an expected usage scenario is triggered by a user, the modules of the system of the invention efficiently detect individual events, and then match signatures that represent sequences of events. When a detected sequence of events is matched to a defined signature profile, a module can store event data associated with the match, including parameters associated with events of the matched usage scenario. The matches can be stored in a database record that can subsequently be used for evaluating and/or reporting the performance of the executing software application(s) or a measure or risk or potential loss.

The remaining figures illustrate various embodiments illustrative of how the systems and methods described herein can be configured to interact or integrate with various features of enterprise software applications.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a high-level architecture 1400 of the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein. As shown in the figure, the systems and methods of the invention are shown as functional layers wrapped around one or more enterprise applications 1401. Each functional layer represents one or more instrumentation method steps or system elements. The top portion 1410 of FIG. 14 shows a modeling (development) environment, and the bottom portion 1420 a measurement (production) environment.

In particular, according to a typical embodiment, the modeling environment 1410 includes a functional layer 1412 wherein benefits, risks, and usage scenarios (i.e., operations) of the enterprise applications 1401 are described or defined—with due consideration of the goals and objectives of the enterprise. In functional layer 1414, the systems and methods described herein demonstrate the usage scenarios defined in the development layer 1412; trace events associated with the demonstrated scenarios; and from the traced events produce signature profiles associated with demonstrated scenarios. Layer 1416 depicts tagging of (instrumenting) the enterprise applications 1410 according to the signatures produced in the layer 1414.

The measurement (production) environment 1420 illustrates an instrumentation layer 1422 wherein the enterprise applications 1410 execute according to a usage scenario (operation) which is to be subsequently identified with (i.e., matched to) a subset of a library of usage scenarios defined or described in the modeling environment 1410. In the layer 1422, a subset of the tags that were inserted in the modeling (development) environment's instrumentation layer 1416 are detected in the yet unidentified scenario (operation). At the functional layer 1424, the detected tags are matched to known usage scenarios defined in the modeling environment. In a typical embodiment, the systems and methods described herein also include a functional layer 1422 that produces a report indicative of how closely the goals and objectives of the enterprise have been met by the enterprise applications 1410 or what level of risk exposure the enterprise faces. The reports can also flag enterprise executives and authorized users of any suspicious process activity, for example, by showing bank officials that a particular teller has accessed customer accounts in an unusual manner.

FIG. 15 depicts another high-level schematic representation of various applications 1500 of the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein. The software instrumentation systems and methods 1502 are shown in the figure as being deployed around one or more enterprise applications 1501. In various embodiments, the software instrumentation systems and methods 1502 are deployed to interact with one or more platforms for measuring security 1511, compliance 1512, and defects 1513 of the enterprise applications 1501; for vendor evaluation 1514 and return on investment (ROI) 1515; for business process reporting 1516 and resource utilization and adoption 1517; and for assessment of risk, exposure to risk, and anomalies 1518 and the like. These platforms are mere examples and that other application monitoring processes can be efficiently and rapidly performed with the systems and methods described herein.

FIG. 16 depicts another high-level diagram of an exemplary application of the software instrumentation systems and methods of the invention and their integration in a business value measurement environment. In particular, FIG. 16 shows, according to one practice, an enterprise application lifecycle 1600 which includes a development portion 1605 (left portion of the figure) and a deployment portion 1606 (right portion of the figure). One or more enterprise software applications 1601 are at the core of the lifecycle 1600, wrapped in various business value measurement functional tool layers.

In one exemplary embodiment, the development portion 1605 of the lifecycle 1600 includes a layer 1611 denoting software development lifecycle tools such as, without limitation, IBM Rational software (IBM Corp., White Plains, N.Y.), CaliberRM (Borland Software Corp., Scotts Valley, Calif.), Compuware Application Development Software (Compuware Corp., Detroit, Mich.), Mercury Application Development Environment (Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. (Chelmsford, Mass.), and others. In this embodiment, the lifecycle 1600 includes a layer 1612 denoting professional services automation tools such as, without limitation, Kintana (Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.), Changepoint (Compuware Corp.), PlanView Portfolio Management Software (PlanView United States, Austin, Tex.), Microsoft Business Solutions (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash.), and others.

The deployment portion 1606 of the lifecycle 1600, according to this embodiment, includes a layer 1613 of business intelligence tools such as, without limitation, SAS Business Intelligence Client Tools (SAS Institute GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany), MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Software Solutions (MicroStrategy, Inc., McLean, Va.), Cognos (Cognos Business Intelligence and Performance Management Software Solutions (Cognos, Ottawa, ON, Canada), Informatica (Informatica Corp., Redwood City, Calif.), and others.

Another layer of the deployment portion 1606 of this embodiment of the lifecycle 1600 is the systems management tools layer 1614, which includes, for example and without limitation, BMC (BMC Software, Houston, Tex.), IBM-Tivoli (IBM Corp., White Plains, N.Y.), HP-OpenView (HP, Palo Alto, Calif.), CA (Computer Associates, Islandia, N.Y.), and others. Another layer of the deployment portion 1606 of this embodiment of the lifecycle 1600 is the business value measurement (and risk assessment) layer 1615 where the software instrumentation systems and methods described herein are deployed. Yet another layer of this embodiment includes an embedded analytics tolls layer 1616.

Exemplary platforms that the systems and methods described herein support include, but are not limited to, the following: Windows XP for the project workspace and the OAL; Oracle or SQL Server for the Repository (Database) management; applications written in Java, C++, using environments such as J2EE, COM, NET, and on platforms such as Windows XP/2000, AIX, HP-UX, Linux, and Solaris for the tracer, signature profiler, detector, scheduler, and matcher.

The contents of all references—including, but not limited to, patents and patent applications—cited throughout this specification, are hereby incorporated by reference in entirety.

Many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention and the specific methods and practices associated with the systems and methods described herein exist. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited to the embodiments, methods, and practices described herein, but is to be understood from the following claims, which are to be interpreted as broadly as allowed under the law.

System and method for instrumenting a software application

Information

Publication Number

Date Filed

Date Published

Inventors

Original Assignees

CPC

US Classifications

International Classifications

Abstract

Description

Claims

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Provisional Applications (1)