“Cohort Based Resiliency Modeling” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20230056422): Patent Application

2023 MAR 15 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventors Broomhall, Matthew E. (Goffstown, NH, US); Evangelista, Philip Richard (Liverpool, NY, US); Lee, Kelly Grant (Eden Prairie, MN, US); Teichman, Dore Isadore (Lake Worth, FL, US), filed on August 19, 2021, was made available online on February 23, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application has not been assigned to a company or institution.

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Aspects of the present invention relate generally to computer system and/or application health and performance and, more particularly, to allowing the sharing of system and/or application health and performance data between entities.

“Health and performance monitoring in the digital exchange age is experiencing a transition into a much more complex state. With the increase in digital information and transaction exchanges between corporate entities, identifying issues impacting the technical health of a business ecosystem has become increasingly difficult due to the lack of visibility of information outside of organizational boundaries. A basic example of this is connecting Company A to Company B in a supply chain environment. When a problem manifests itself on Company A’s system, the impacts can be seen on Company B. In addition, Company B could also be connected to Company C. If company C develops a problem within the connected environment, this could propagate to Company A causing an application stability problem that could then impact Company B. The interconnected ecosystem results can be significant. In addition, entities are highly resistant to sharing data related to their systems of record and practices used to manage and maintain these.

“As information technology (IT) functions seek more insightful and more timely root cause analysis, that very analysis becomes increasingly more elusive. Problem solving technicians consistently operate without information that could be helpful as visibility is lost across corporate, and sometimes even business unit, boundaries. Complicating this, many corporate and other entities do not follow best practices. In some cases, personal and sensitive information is manifested in system logs. This then prohibits sharing logs outside of the company due to possible compliance violations such as, for example, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations.

“As a general rule, no two entities have the same hardware/operating system mix in their IT environments. Different operating systems, system monitors, network systems and management as well as logs and log management, and significant variations in ways in which these can be configured means each organization essentially has their own unique way of gathering, storing and analyzing system/application health and performance data. There is currently no system or method available to address this growing problem. To resolve this growing problem, a single, easily comprehensible view of system/application health and/or performance is needed to allow sharing of system log data related to the health of core applications and core infrastructure hosting these applications across organizational boundaries while still maintaining security and privacy.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “Embodiments of the invention meet the need for a single, easily comprehensible view of system/application health and/or performance to allow sharing of system log data related to the health of core applications and core infrastructure hosting these applications across organizational boundaries while still maintaining security and privacy. Embodiments meet this need by sharing system log data between members of a cohort without exposing the identity of the members or confidential data of the members. Embodiments compare and analyze the log data from different systems, applications, and/or members to identify similarities in problems or issues that are helpful in diagnosing a current issue or anticipating a future issue. In embodiments, a prior problem or issue with a first program on a first system is recognized as having similar aspects to a current problem or issue with a different program running on the same or a different system. In embodiments, a first program on a first system is recognized as having similar aspects to a current program running on the same or a different system and an expected future performance issue is identified based on these similarities.

“In a first aspect of the invention, there is a computer-implemented method including: storing, by a computing device, obfuscated metadata from a plurality of interconnected computing environments into respective data puddles; identifying, by the computing device, a behavior of a first computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments; determining, by the computing device, an expected future performance issue associated with a second computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; identifying, by the computing device, a locus of the expected future performance issue associated with the second computing environment based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; and outputting, by the computing device and to an operator of the second computing environment, an impact notification and remedial steps being taken to prevent the expected future performance issue. This aspect provides the advantage of predicting a future problem with a computing environment based on a problem previously seen in a different computing environment.

“In embodiments, the identifying the behavior of the first computing environment is based on analyzing a first data puddle of the data puddles, the first data puddle being associated with the first computing environment.

“In another aspect of the invention, there is a computer-implemented method including: storing, by a computing device, obfuscated metadata from a plurality of interconnected computing environments into respective data puddles; identifying, by the computing device, a pattern of a first computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments; determining, by the computing device, an expected future performance issue associated with a second computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments based on the identified pattern of the first computing environment; identifying, by the computing device, a locus of the expected future performance issue associated with the second computing environment based on the identified pattern of the first computing environment; and outputting, by the computing device and to an operator of the second computing environment, an impact notification and remedial steps being taken to prevent the expected future performance issue. This aspect provides the advantage of predicting a future problem with a computing environment based on a problem previously seen in a different computing environment.

“Embodiments include pairing, by the computing device, one or more problem management reports to the identified locus of the expected future performance issue based on a confidence score associated with a problem management report being above a predetermined threshold. This aspect provides the advantage of limiting the pairing to only those pairings that have at least a predetermined confidence level.

“In another aspect of the invention, there is a computer-implemented method including: storing, by a computing device, obfuscated metadata from a plurality of interconnected computing environments into respective data puddles; identifying, by the computing device, a behavior of a first computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments; determining, by the computing device, a current performance issue associated with a second computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; identifying, by the computing device, a locus of the current performance issue associated with the second computing environment based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; and outputting, by the computing device and to an operator of the second computing environment, an impact notification and remedial steps being taken to remediate the current performance issue. This aspect provides the advantage of identifying the cause of a current problem with a computing environment based on a problem previously seen in a different computing environment.

“Embodiments include pairing, by the computing device, one or more problem management reports to the identified locus of the current performance issue based on a confidence score associated with a problem management report being above a predetermined threshold. This aspect provides the advantage of limiting the pairing to only those pairings that have at least a predetermined confidence level.

“In another aspect of the invention, there is a computer program product including one or more computer readable storage media having program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media. The program instructions are executable to: store obfuscated metadata from a plurality of interconnected computing environments into respective data puddles; identify a behavior of a first computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments; determine an expected future performance issue associated with a second computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; identify a locus of the expected future performance issue associated with the second computing environment based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; and output, to an operator of the second computing environment, an impact notification and remedial steps being taken to prevent the expected future performance issue. This aspect provides the advantage of predicting a future problem with a computing environment based on a problem previously seen in a different computing environment.

“In embodiments, each of the data puddles is isolated from each of the other of the data puddles. This aspect provides the advantage of preventing confidential data related to one cohort member form being seen by another cohort member.

“In another aspect of the invention, there is a system including a processor, a computer readable memory, one or more computer readable storage media, and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media. The program instructions are executable to: store obfuscated metadata from a plurality of interconnected computing environments into respective data puddles; identify a behavior of a first computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments; determine an expected future performance issue associated with a second computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; identify a locus of the expected future performance issue associated with the second computing environment based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; and output, to an operator of the second computing environment, an impact notification and remedial steps being taken to prevent the expected future performance issue. This aspect provides the advantage of predicting a future problem with a computing environment based on a problem previously seen in a different computing environment.

“In embodiments, the expected future performance issue is associated with a computer application running in the second computing environment and the identified behavior of the first computing environment is associated with a computer application running in the first computing environment, the first computer application and the second computer application being different computer applications.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method, comprising: storing, by a computing device, obfuscated metadata from a plurality of interconnected computing environments into respective data puddles; identifying, by the computing device, a behavior of a first computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments; determining, by the computing device, an expected future performance issue associated with a second computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; identifying, by the computing device, a locus of the expected future performance issue associated with the second computing environment based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; and outputting, by the computing device and to an operator of the second computing environment, an impact notification and remedial steps being taken to prevent the expected future performance issue.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the behavior is an application behavior.

“3. The method of claim 1, wherein the behavior is a system behavior.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying the behavior of the first computing environment is based on analyzing a first data puddle of the data puddles, the first data puddle being associated with the first computing environment.

“5. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying, by the computing device, an application pattern of the first computing environment.

“6. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying, by the computing device, a system pattern of the first computing environment.

“7. The method of claim 1, further comprising pairing, by the computing device, one or more problem management reports to the identified locus of the expected future performance issue based on a confidence score associated with a problem management report being above a predetermined threshold.

“8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first computing environment operates using a first operating system and the second computing environment operates using a second operating system, the first operating system and the second operating system being different operating systems.

“9. A method, comprising: storing, by a computing device, obfuscated metadata from a plurality of interconnected computing environments into respective data puddles; identifying, by the computing device, a pattern of a first computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments; determining, by the computing device, an expected future performance issue associated with a second computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments based on the identified pattern of the first computing environment; identifying, by the computing device, a locus of the expected future performance issue associated with the second computing environment based on the identified pattern of the first computing environment; and outputting, by the computing device and to an operator of the second computing environment, an impact notification and remedial steps being taken to prevent the expected future performance issue.

“10. The method of claim 9, wherein the pattern is an application pattern.

“11. The method of claim 9, wherein the pattern is a system pattern.

“12. The method of claim 9, wherein the identifying the pattern of the first computing environment is based on analyzing a first data puddle of the data puddles, the first data puddle being associated with the first computing environment.

“13. The method of claim 9, further comprising pairing, by the computing device, one or more problem management reports to the identified locus of the expected future performance issue based on a confidence score associated with a problem management report being above a predetermined threshold.

“14. The method of claim 9, further comprising retrieving, by the computing device, the obfuscated metadata from the plurality of interconnected computing environments.

“15. A method, comprising: storing, by a computing device, obfuscated metadata from a plurality of interconnected computing environments into respective data puddles; identifying, by the computing device, a behavior of a first computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments; determining, by the computing device, a current performance issue associated with a second computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; identifying, by the computing device, a locus of the current performance issue associated with the second computing environment based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; and outputting, by the computing device and to an operator of the second computing environment, an impact notification and remedial steps being taken to remediate the current performance issue.

“16. The method of claim 15, further comprising pairing, by the computing device, one or more problem management reports to the identified locus of the current performance issue based on a confidence score associated with a problem management report being above a predetermined threshold.

“17. The method of claim 15, wherein the current performance issue is associated with a computer application running in the second computing environment and the identified behavior of the first computing environment is associated with a computer application running in the first computing environment, the first computer application and the second computer application being different computer applications.

“18. A computer program product comprising one or more computer readable storage media having program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions executable to: store obfuscated metadata from a plurality of interconnected computing environments into respective data puddles; identify a behavior of a first computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments; determine an expected future performance issue associated with a second computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; identify a locus of the expected future performance issue associated with the second computing environment based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; and output, to an operator of the second computing environment, an impact notification and remedial steps being taken to prevent the expected future performance issue.

“19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the identifying the behavior of the first computing environment is based on analyzing a first data puddle of the data puddles, the first data puddle being associated with the first computing environment.

“20. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising program instructions executable to pair one or more problem management reports to the identified locus of the current performance issue based on a confidence score associated with a problem management report being above a predetermined threshold.

“21. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the obfuscated metadata is stored in a central data repository system.

“22. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein each of the data puddles is isolated from each of the other of the data puddles.

“23. A system comprising: a processor, a computer readable memory, one or more computer readable storage media, and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions executable to: store obfuscated metadata from a plurality of interconnected computing environments into respective data puddles; identify a behavior of a first computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments; determine an expected future performance issue associated with a second computing environment of the plurality of interconnected computing environments based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; identify a locus of the expected future performance issue associated with the second computing environment based on the identified behavior of the first computing environment; and output, to an operator of the second computing environment, an impact notification and remedial steps being taken to prevent the expected future performance issue.

“24. The system of claim 23, wherein the identifying the behavior of the first computing environment is based on analyzing a first data puddle of the data puddles, the first data puddle being associated with the first computing environment.

“25. The system of claim 23, wherein the expected future performance issue is associated with a computer application running in the second computing environment and the identified behavior of the first computing environment is associated with a computer application running in the first computing environment, the first computer application and the second computer application being different computer applications.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Broomhall, Matthew E.; Evangelista, Philip Richard; Lee, Kelly Grant; Teichman, Dore Isadore. Cohort Based Resiliency Modeling. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230056422, filed August 19, 2021 and posted February 23, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230056422)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)