Patent Issued for System For Cloud-Based Service Outage Detection And Verification (USPTO 10,560,316)

2020 FEB 21 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Meagher, Catherine F. (West Hartford, CT); Harris, Barkley Scott (Prospect, CT), filed on July 12, 2018, was published online on February 24, 2020.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 10,560,316, is Hartford Fire Insurance Company.

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “A cloud-based service is an on-demand hosted computer infrastructure or platform, including hosted computing services provided on an infrastructure as a service (IaaS) model, software as a service (SaaS) model, or platform as a service (PaaS) model. Cloud-based services are provided remotely using a network connection, e.g., the Internet.

“Cloud-based services have taken on an important role in many businesses. Small and medium sized businesses, for example, are often reliant on cloud-based services for web hosting, transaction processing (e.g., credit card processing), communication (e.g., email services), and data storage. This is because these businesses typically do not have the resources in house to provide all of the necessary technology services required.

“Businesses that operate using cloud-based services take on risk because a third party often hosts the cloud-based service and provides the cloud-based service to many clients. If a cloud-based service becomes unavailable (e.g., a cloud-based email service experiences an outage, data stored in the cloud becomes unavailable, etc.) this may negatively impact the operation of the business.

“A conventional approach to dealing with an outage is to retain redundant services, whether through the same cloud service provider, a different cloud service provider, or via an in-house or alternate mechanism that provides an equivalent or alternate service. This provides some assurance that in the event of an outage the business will not be left without any options in terms of replacing the temporarily unavailable cloud-based service.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In summary, an embodiment provides a system for cloud-based service outage detection and verification, comprising: a network link that receives, over a data communications network, cloud service provider outage information indicating a possible cloud outage at a cloud service provider, wherein the information comprises new content on a website associated with the cloud service provider; a processor that generates outage data comprising a third party cloud service provider identification and an outage characteristic, wherein the outage characteristic is identified from the new content and identifies an outage type; the processor identifying at least one entity implicated in the possible cloud outage, wherein the identifying comprises identifying an entity that subscribes to cloud services provided by the cloud service provider by querying a database that stores information related to the cloud service provider; and the processor providing information to the at least one entity confirming the possible cloud outage, wherein the confirming is based at least in part on the new content.

“An additional embodiment provides a method for cloud-based service outage detection and verification, comprising: receiving, over a data communications network, cloud service provider outage information indicating a possible cloud outage at a cloud service provider, wherein the information comprises new content on a website associated with the cloud service provider; generating outage data comprising a third party cloud service provider identification and an outage characteristic, wherein the outage characteristic is identified from the new content and identifies an outage type; identifying at least one entity implicated in the possible cloud outage, wherein the identifying comprises identifying an entity that subscribes to cloud services provided by the cloud service provider by querying a database that stores information related to the cloud service provider; and providing information to the at least one entity confirming the possible cloud outage, wherein the confirming is based at least in part on the new content.

“A further embodiment provides a system for cloud-based service outage detection and verification, comprising: a database that stores third party cloud service outage information; a system memory; and a processor that is operatively coupled to the database and the system memory; the processor being configured to: receive, over a data communications network, cloud service provider outage information indicating a possible cloud outage at a cloud service provider, wherein the information comprises new content on a website associated with the cloud service provider; generate outage data comprising a third party cloud service provider identification and an outage characteristic, wherein the outage characteristic is identified from the new content and identifies an outage type; identify at least one entity implicated in the possible cloud outage, wherein the identifying comprises identifying an entity that subscribes to cloud services provided by the cloud service provider by querying a database that stores information related to the cloud service provider; and provide information to the at least one entity confirming the possible cloud outage, wherein the confirming is based at least in part on the new content.

“Additional embodiments are described, including other methods, as well as devices/apparatuses, systems including multiple devices, and products.

“The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications, generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting.

“For a better understanding of the embodiments, together with other and further features and advantages thereof, reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“What is claimed is:

“1. A system for cloud-based service outage detection and verification, comprising: a network link that receives, over a data communications network, cloud service provider outage information indicating a possible cloud outage at a cloud service provider, wherein the information comprises new content on a website associated with the cloud service provider; a processor that generates outage data comprising a third party cloud service provider identification and an outage characteristic, wherein the outage characteristic is identified from the new content and identifies an outage type; the processor identifying at least one entity implicated in the possible cloud outage, wherein the identifying comprises identifying an entity that subscribes to cloud services provided by the cloud service provider by querying a database that stores information related to the cloud service provider; and the processor providing information to the at least one entity confirming the possible cloud outage, wherein the confirming is based at least in part on the new content.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the providing progresses without confirming a cause for the outage.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the providing information is responsive to receiving a request from one of the at least one entities to confirm the cloud outage.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the new content is identified through monitoring of the website content, wherein the monitoring is implemented by a web browser application extension.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the web site content comprises a plurality of web pages maintained by the third party cloud service provider.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the web site content comprises a plurality of web pages maintained by other parties.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the providing proceeds automatically.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein the providing information comprises a providing a notification that redress is available.

“9. The system of claim 8, wherein the notification comprises a link to the redress offered.

“10. A method for cloud-based service outage detection and verification, comprising: receiving, over a data communications network, cloud service provider outage information indicating a possible cloud outage at a cloud service provider, wherein the information comprises new content on a website associated with the cloud service provider; generating outage data comprising a third party cloud service provider identification and an outage characteristic, wherein the outage characteristic is identified from the new content and identifies an outage type; and identifying at least one entity implicated in the possible cloud outage, wherein the identifying comprises identifying an entity that subscribes to cloud services provided by the cloud service provider by querying a database that stores information related to the cloud service provider; and providing information to the at least one entity confirming the possible cloud outage, wherein the confirming is based at least in part on the new content.

“11. The method of claim 10, wherein the providing progresses without confirming a cause for the outage.

“12. The method of claim 10, wherein the providing information is responsive to receiving a request from one of the at least one entities to confirm the cloud outage.

“13. The method of claim 10, wherein the new content is identified through monitoring of the website content, wherein the monitoring is implemented by a web browser application extension.

“14. The method of claim 10, wherein the web site content comprises a plurality of web pages maintained by the third party cloud service provider.

“15. The method of claim 10, wherein the web site content comprises a plurality of web pages maintained by other parties.

“16. The method of claim 10, wherein the providing proceeds automatically.

“17. The method of claim 10, wherein the providing information comprises a providing a notification that redress is available.

“18. The method of claim 17, wherein the notification comprises a link to the redress offered.

“19. The method of claim 10, wherein the providing information comprises a providing a notification that redress is not available.

“20. A system for cloud-based service outage detection and verification, comprising: a database that stores third party cloud service outage information; a system memory; and a processor that is operatively coupled to the database and the system memory; the processor being configured to: receive, over a data communications network, cloud service provider outage information indicating a possible cloud outage at a cloud service provider, wherein the information comprises new content on a website associated with the cloud service provider; generate outage data comprising a third party cloud service provider identification and an outage characteristic, wherein the outage characteristic is identified from the new content and identifies an outage type; identify at least one entity implicated in the possible cloud outage, wherein the identifying comprises identifying an entity that subscribes to cloud services provided by the cloud service provider by querying a database that stores information related to the cloud service provider; and provide information to the at least one entity confirming the possible cloud outage, wherein the confirming is based at least in part on the new content.”

For more information, see this patent: Meagher, Catherine F.; Harris, Barkley Scott. System For Cloud-Based Service Outage Detection And Verification. U.S. Patent Number 10,560,316, filed July 12, 2018, and published online on February 24, 2020. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10,560,316.PN.&OS=PN/10,560,316RS=PN/10,560,316

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