Patent Application
20200320539
The present invention relates to information handling systems. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to projecting warranty cost for an electronic product, such as an enterprise server, based on usage data.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Manufactures, retailers, OEMs, etc., provide various configurations of such information systems to their customers. Most transactions involving such information systems involve one or more warranties. In certain contracts accompanying a product transaction, the warranty provides a written promise from a company to repair, replace, and/or service a product within a particular period of time. In certain embodiments, the warranty period is calculated based on the sale date of the information system and the type of information system that is the subject of the transaction without factoring for other attributes relating to the health of the information system.
A system of one or more computers can be configured to perform particular operations or actions by virtue of having software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of them installed on the system that in operation causes or cause the system to generate and apply a model to project the warranty cost associated with the use of an electronic product. One or more computer programs can be configured to perform particular operations or actions by virtue of including instructions that, when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the apparatus to generate and apply a model to project the warranty cost associated with the use of an electronic product. Certain embodiments are directed to a computer-implemented method for determining a projected warranty cost for use of an electronic product including: generating a warranty cost projection model based on historical usage data associated with the electronic product; acquiring customer specific usage data for the electronic product of an existing customer, where the customer specific usage data includes usage data acquired from the electronic product during operation of the electronic product by the existing customer; and determining a warranty cost projection for use of the electronic product by the existing customer, where the warranty cost projection is determined by applying the customer specific usage data to the warranty cost projection model. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.
Certain embodiments are also directed to a system including: a processor; a data bus coupled to the processor; and a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium being coupled to the data bus, the computer program code interacting with a plurality of computer operations and including instructions executable by the processor and configured for: generating a warranty cost projection model based on historical usage data associated with an electronic product; acquiring customer specific usage data for use of the electronic product by an existing customer, where the customer specific usage data includes usage data acquired from the electronic product during operation of the electronic product by the existing customer; and determining a warranty cost projection for the electronic product by the existing customer, where the warranty cost projection is determined by applying the customer specific usage data to the warranty cost projection model. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.
Certain embodiments are also directed to a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, the computer program code including computer executable instructions configured for: generating a warranty cost projection model based on historical usage data associated with an electronic product; acquiring customer specific usage data for use of the electronic product by an existing customer, where the customer specific usage data includes usage data acquired from the electronic product during operation of the electronic product by the existing customer; and determining a warranty cost projection for the electronic product by the existing customer, where the warranty cost projection is determined by applying the customer specific usage data to the warranty cost projection model. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.
The present invention may be better understood, and its numerous objects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference number throughout the several figures designates a like or similar element.
A system, method, and computer-readable medium are disclosed for determining a projected warranty cost for use of an electronic information system. Certain aspects of the invention reflect an appreciation that is common for many organizations to employ a single set of warranty terms when providing an electronic information processing system in a transaction with a customer. As used herein, the term “customer” includes, without limitation, an entity purchasing the electronic information system, an entity leasing the electronic information system, an end user of the electronic information system, etc. Certain aspects of the invention also recognize that a single set of warranty terms may not be optimal in determining warranty costs transactions involving different customers. As an example, certain customers may place different degrees of workload on the information processing system. In such situations, the warranty cost associated with high workload customers may be greater than the warranty cost associated with a customer who places a lower workload on the information processing system. As a further example, certain customers may operate the electronic product in a harsh ambient environment that stresses the components of the electronic product. In certain instances, the warranty cost for supporting such customers may be greater than the warranty cost for supporting customers using the product in a more suitable, controlled ambient environment.
Certain aspects of the invention recognize that an organization may allocate its inventory, service operations, etc. in a more effective manner by customizing the warranty for an information processing system based on the manner in which the information processing system has been used by a customer in the past. As used herein, the term “organization” includes, without limitation, an entity that sells, leases, repairs, supports, etc., the use of the information processing system. As an example, an organization may stock more parts and/or allocate more resources to a customer having a higher projected warranty cost than to a customer having a lower projected warranty cost. As a further example, customers having a higher projected warranty cost may be subject to different warranty terms, service contract payments, etc., than customers having a lower projected warranty cost. As such, an accurate projection of warranty cost for a particular customer provides physical benefits associated with the allocation of inventory, warehousing, manpower, service equipment, etc.
Certain aspects of the invention recognize that it may be difficult to project warranty costs for a particular customer. Certain embodiments of the invention address this technical problem by tracking usage data associated with an information processing system by a customer over time. In certain embodiments, the usage data may be employed to develop a model for projecting the warranty cost associated with future transactions involving the same and/or similar information processing system operated by the same customer. Certain aspects of the invention recognize that a warranty cost projection model may be generated based on usage data associated with the information processing system acquired during operation of the system by the customer. In certain instances, the warranty cost projection model may be generated using general usage information acquired from multiple customers operating the information processing system product under different usage conditions. In certain instances, the warranty cost projection model may be generated using customer specific usage information acquired from an existing information processing system during operation of the product by an existing customer. In certain instances, a warranty cost projection for an additional acquisition of the information processing system by the existing customer may be determined using the warranty cost projection model generated for the existing customer.
For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.
In certain embodiments, the electronic environment 200 includes a plurality of DataCenters 210, 215, and 220, which may be operated by the same or different customers in the same or different operating environments. In certain embodiments, each DataCenter 210, 215, and 220 may include one or more servers. In the example shown in
In certain embodiments, the cognitive warranty system 118 collects usage data from, for example, the servers operating at each of the DataCenters 210, 215, and 220, and stores the usage data in the repository of usage data 205. In certain embodiments, the usage data is specific to the servers used by a particular customer. In certain embodiments, the usage data may include usage data respectively associated with each of the enterprise servers at each of the DataCenters 210, 215, and 220. In such instances, the usage data specific to a given server (e.g., 212(1)) may be used to generate a model for projecting the warranty cost for a replacement of the given server. In certain embodiments, the usage data specific to a given server (e.g., 212(1)) may be used to generate a model for projecting the warranty cost for the same server type at the same DataCenter (e.g., 210). As an example, if the given server has a configuration “X”, then the usage data specific to configuration “X” may be used to generate a model for projecting a warranty cost associated with the addition of another server having configuration “X” that is to operate at the same DataCenter. In certain embodiments, usage data specific to configuration “X” may be used to generate a model for projecting warranty cost associated with the addition of a server having the same configuration at another DataCenter. Additionally, or in the alternative, the usage data may include data corresponding to the aggregate usage of the servers at a given DataCenter 210, 215, or 220. For example, usage data for servers 212(1) through 212(n) at DataCenter 210 may be aggregated to generate a single model for projecting the warranty cost for an additional or replacement server at DataCenter 210.
The exemplary server 305 may monitor various aspects of its on-site operation at its corresponding DataCenter. In certain embodiments, the server 305 may include a BIOS/application update monitor 330, which may be used to provide a record of the BIOS and application updates that have been executed on the server 305. In certain embodiments, the update information may be used in generating a warranty model that considers the cost of updating the server 305. In certain embodiments, the update information may also determine whether the customer maintains the server 305 to comply with mandatory and/or recommended updates suggested by the seller. In certain embodiments, such updates may increase the efficiency of the hardware and/or software used on the server 305, or otherwise solve problems that may be associated with the hardware and/or software. In certain embodiments, regular updates to the server 305 may reduce the time between failures. As an example, regular updates to the server 305 may reduce the number of resources needed to respond to client requests thereby extending the life of the server 305. As a further example, certain updates may result in increased efficiency of the operation of certain components (e.g., a power supply, CPU, RAM, storage devices, etc.) thereby decreasing the cost of the warranty. In contrast, some customers may fail to regularly update the BIOS and/or applications of the server 305 and, as such, introduce wear factors, that increase the cost of the warranty.
Certain embodiments of the server 305 may also include environmental condition sensors 335 that are configured to sense the attributes of the ambient environment in which the server 305 is operating. In certain examples, the environmental condition sensors 335 may include temperature and/or humidity sensors that provide information on the temperature and/or humidity of the ambient environment. In certain examples, the information may be provided as a non-binary function of the temperature and/or humidity in which the temperature and/or humidity is provided as a value that directly correlates with the measurement. In certain examples, the information may be provided as a binary function of the temperature and/or humidity to indicate whether the temperature and/or humidity have exceeded and/or fallen below predetermined threshold values. It will be recognized, in view of the teachings of the present disclosure, that various types of ambient environment data may be monitored and presented in various data formats, the foregoing merely being examples that are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
In certain embodiments, the server 305 may include device specific sensors 340 that monitor various operating conditions of components used within the server 305. In certain embodiments, such device specific sensors 340 may monitor the temperature(s) of one or more of a CPU, memory chip, network card, a hard disk drive, etc. In certain embodiments, the specific device sensors 340 may provide information relating to the actual failure of one or more such components. In certain embodiments, the specific device sensors 340 may provide information relating to factors (e.g., component temperatures, customer over clocking of certain devices, etc.) that may result in failure of one or more such components. In certain examples, the information may be provided as a non-binary function of the factors in which the factors are provided as values that directly correlate with the measurements. In certain examples, the information may be provided as a binary function of the factors to indicate whether the factors have exceeded and/or fallen below predetermined threshold values. It will be recognized, in view of the teachings of the present disclosure, that various types factors may be monitored and presented in various data formats, the foregoing merely being examples that are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
In certain embodiments, the server 305 may include an application workload monitor 345 configured to monitor the workload placed upon the server 305. In certain embodiments, the application workload monitor 345 may be used to monitor workload factors, such as, for example: 1) the average number of clients accessing the server 305 at a given time; 2) the average number of clients accessing the server 305 over a given time period; 3) which applications experience the most use at a given time; 4) which applications experience the most use over a given time period; 5) which applications require the most system resources (e.g., CPU time, storage access, memory, etc.) for their execution; etc. In certain examples, the information may be provided as a non-binary function in which the application workload factors are provided as a value within a range of multiple numerical values correlate with the workload factor measurement. In certain examples, the information may be provided as a binary function to indicate whether the application workload factors have exceeded and/or fallen below the predetermined threshold values. It will be recognized, in view of the teachings of the present disclosure, that various types of application workload factors may be monitored and presented in various data formats, the foregoing merely being examples that are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
Certain embodiments may include one or more self-diagnostic applications that generate self-diagnostic records 350. In certain embodiments, the self-diagnostic records 350 may include diagnostic information relating to disk drive status, memory status, etc. In certain embodiments, the self-diagnostic records may include information provided by one or more of the BIOS/application update monitor 330, the environmental condition sensors 335, the device specific sensors 340, the device specific sensors 340, and/or the application workload monitor 345.
In certain embodiments, the server 305 may include repair/service records 355 associated with repairs and/or services associated with the server 305. In certain embodiments, such records may be generated and stored on the server 305 when the server is the subject of an on-site service call and/or remote service call. In certain embodiments, records corresponding to phone calls made by the customer to the seller (e.g., calls made to a service and/or repair center relating to the server 305) may be generated at the seller and pushed to the server 305 for storage in the repair/service records 355. Additionally, or in the alternative, certain embodiments may store such repair and service records at the seller site. In certain embodiments, the repair/service records 355 may be updated manually at the server 305 through a user interface of the server by an individual who performs an on-site service and/or repair of the server. It will be recognized, in view of the teachings of the present disclosure, that various types of repair/service records may be stored and utilized in the model generation, the foregoing merely being examples that are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
Certain embodiments of the server 305 include one or more service tools 360 that can communicate with one or more of the BIOS/application update monitor 330, environmental condition sensors 335, the device specific sensors 340, the application workload monitor 345, the self-diagnostic records 350, and/or repair/service records 355. In certain embodiments, the cognitive warranty system 118 may communicate with the service tools 360 over the Internet 114 to communicate usage data specifically related to the server 305 for storage in the usage data 205. The usage data 205 for the server 305 may be used to generate a projected warranty cost model, as described herein.
In certain embodiments, the model development operations 410 result in the generation of a warranty cost model 425. In certain instances, the warranty cost model 425 may be used to project customer specific warranty costs 430, as described herein. In certain instances, the customer specific warranty costs 430 may be used to define the warranty terms that are to be used in a particular transaction involving the customer. In certain instances, the warranty terms may include, for example, the length of the warranty, the cost of service and/or repair provisions of the warranty, charges to the customer for various warranty levels, etc.
In certain embodiments, the information provided to the warranty cost model 425 may depend on whether a transaction involves a new customer or an existing customer. As shown in the example of
In certain embodiments, a determination is made at operation 440 as to whether the new transaction at operation 435 involves a new or existing customer. If the new transaction involves an existing customer, the actual customer specific usage data for and information processing system operated by the existing customer is retrieved at operation 445. In certain embodiments, the customer-specific usage data may be retrieved from the repository of usage data 205. In certain embodiments, the usage data may be retrieved in real-time from one or more information processing systems operated by the existing customer. In certain embodiments, the customer-specific usage data retrieved at operation 445 is provided as input to the warranty cost model 425, which generates corresponding customer specific warranty costs 430.
If a determination is made at operation 440 that the new transaction and operation 435 does not involve an existing customer, the default warranty provisions associated with the information processing system involved in the new transaction 435 may be used. In certain embodiments, the organization may enter a prediction for the usage data that will likely be associated with the new customer at operation 450. In certain embodiments, the organization may predict usage based on information provided by the new customer. In certain embodiments, the organization may predict usage based on a field inspection of the environment and circumstances in which the information processing system will be employed. It will be recognized, in view of the teachings of the present disclosure, that predictions that take place at operation 450 may be made in a variety of different manners.
In certain embodiments, the neural network 500 is a fully convolutional neural network. As used herein, a fully convolutional neural network is a neural network composed of convolutional layers in which every neuron in a layer is connected with every other neuron in a subsequent layer. In the specific embodiments shown in
In certain embodiments of the neural network 500, layers 510 and 515 are hidden layers. In certain embodiments, each neuron DC1 through DCn of layer 510 is configured to accept inputs from each neuron UL1 through ULn of layer 505. In certain embodiments, layer 510 is configured with data corresponding to the datacenter and geographical attributes for the information processing system. In certain embodiments, layer 510 includes neurons relating to warranty cost factors associated with the environment in which the information processing system is operated by the customer. In certain embodiments, such factors may include temperature, humidity, the level of EMI reference levels, etc., of the environment. In certain embodiments, each of these factors may be measured directly by the information processing system. Additionally, or in the alternative, the information processing system may be in communication with one or more sensors that provide data relating to these factors. In certain embodiments, neuron DC1 can be related to temperature, DC2 may be related to humidity, DC3 may be related to be EMI reference level.
In certain embodiments, the geographic region in which the information processing system is operated by the customer may be considered in the warranty cost projection. For example, it may be observed that DIMMS fail frequently in Australia, the same frequency of failures is not observed in other regions. In such instances, warranty costs associated with information processing systems having DIMMS in Australia are expected to be higher than those in other geographical regions.
In certain embodiments, each neuron DC1 through DCn of layer 510 is connected as an input to each neuron W1 through Wn of layer 515. In certain embodiments, layer 515 includes parameters that have been trained with respect to the application workload imposed on the information processing system. In certain embodiments, the workload factors may be based on, without limitation, whether the information processing system is subject to reading intensive operations, writing intensive operations, bandwidth intensive operations, etc. in certain embodiments, workload may correspond to the number of times CPU reaches certain usage capacities, how many tasks are run concurrently. In certain instances, workload factors may also relate to the number of nodes connected to the server. In certain embodiments, W1 may be associated with reading intensive factors, W2 may be associated with writing intensive factors, W3 may be related to the number of incoming requests that the information processing system handles, and W4 may be related to the number of times CPU reaches certain usage capacities.
In certain embodiments, each neuron W1 through Wn of layer 515 is connected as an input to each neuron D1 through Dn of layer 520. In certain embodiments, layer 515 includes warranty cost factor parameters that are specific to the type of information processing system product. In certain embodiments, this layer provides the detailed information of the specification of the components in a server. In certain embodiments, it may be used to map the collected device health data to device component(s) specific specifications, such as specifications for the CPUs, storage controllers, DIMM slots, NICs, etc., used in the information processing system.
In certain embodiments, the inputs to 520 layer may be validated against actual specification of the components in a device. In certain embodiments, neuron D1 may correspond to a CPU specification, D2 may correspond to a DIMM specification, D3 may correspond to storage controller specifications, etc.
In certain embodiments, the weighted selection at the output of the displaced specification layer 520 may be used as the ultimate factor from which the warranty cost is projected. In this example, the most heavily weighted path between layer 505 and layer 510 is shown at path 525 from neuron UL2 of layer 505 to neuron DC1 of layer 510. In this example, the most heavily weighted path between layer 510 and layer 515 is shown at path 530 from neuron DC1 of layer 510 to neuron W3 of layer 515. In this example, the most heavily weighted path between layer 515 and layer 520 is shown at path 535 from neuron W3 of layer 515 to neuron D2 of layer 520. In this example, the weighted output from which the warranty cost may be projected is shown at the output 540 of neuron D2.
Various activation functions may be used at the neurons of neural network 500. In certain embodiments, one or more neurons may use a SIGMOID function.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present invention may be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, embodiments of the invention may be implemented in hardware, in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or in an embodiment combining software and hardware. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium.
Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, or a magnetic storage device. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Embodiments of the invention are described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The present invention is well adapted to attain the advantages mentioned as well as others inherent therein. While the present invention has been depicted, described, and is defined by reference to particular embodiments of the invention, such references do not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The invention is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those ordinarily skilled in the pertinent arts. The depicted and described embodiments are examples only, and are not exhaustive of the scope of the invention.
Consequently, the invention is intended to be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims, giving full cognizance to equivalents in all respects.
