GB2472736A

GB2472736A - Maintenance operation support program, maintenance operation support method and maintenance operation support device

Info

Publication number: GB2472736A
Application number: GB1020707A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Takashi Yanase
Original assignee: Fujitsu Ltd
Current assignee: Fujitsu Ltd
Priority date: 2008-06-12
Filing date: 2008-06-12
Publication date: 2011-02-16
Also published as: JPWO2009150737A1; GB201020707D0; WO2009150737A1; JP5012999B2

Abstract

An efficient maintenance procedure is provided. An arranging means (2) arranges information collecting work in order of processing priority based on data (5a) and data (6a). An assigning means (3) preferentially generates data (8) assigned as information collecting work corresponding to a solving measure from information collecting work with high use priority of the solving measure at every type of the solving measure based on the number of issues of data (6a). A display means (4) displays a procedure for terminating maintenance by showing that the processing of information collecting work is to be performed in order of processing priority, giving a previously prepared condition with respect to an exe cution result of information collecting work and performing the solving measure assigned to information collecting work performed when the condition is satisfied.

Description

DESCRIPTION

MAINTENANCE SUPPORT PROGRAM, MAINTENANCE SUPPORT METHOD,

AND MAINTENANCE SUPPORT APPARATUS 4 5

Technical Field

This invention is related to a maintenance support program, maintenance support method, and maintenance support apparatus, and more particularly to a maintenance support program, maintenance support method, and maintenance support apparatus for causing a computer to perform a process of providing a maintenance procedure.

Background Art

In computer operation service businesses, it is generally done in a maintenance operation to be performed when an error occurs that, to determine a problem-solving approach, a maintenance person collects detailed information by extracting logs, asking the third party to confirm the situation, etc. Then, he/she searches for and finds the cause of the error based on the collected information, and determines and performs an appropriate problem-solving process.

There are many kinds of information to be collected and many choices of problem-solving processes (hereinafter, referred to as "operation process"), so the maintenance person selects (determines) appropriate operation processes according to the error so as to solve the error in accordance with an appropriate flow of the operation processes.

To this end, there are known techniques of providing a prepared maintenance procedure so as to enable even an inexperienced maintenance person to perform efficient operation.

One of the known techniques of providing a prepared maintenance procedure according to an error type is that past similar error cases are searched for an error case that took a short time to solve (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1) In addition, there is also a known technique of supporting problem solving by making FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) that systematically instructs how to solve problems (for example, refer to Patent Literature 2) Patent Literature 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-313399 Patent Literature 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-72825

Disclosure of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In maintenance of computer operation services, all of considerable information may not be collected. It is more efficient that, when the cause of an error is found while information is collected, information collection is finished, and then an appropriate problem-solving process is performed.

However, for example, the invention taught in Patent Literature 1 provides a maintenance procedure, but this procedure does not indicate when to shift to a problem-solving process. Therefore, extra work may be done.

In view of the above issues, the present invention is intended to provide a maintenance support program, maintenance support method, and maintenance support apparatus which are capable of providing an efficient maintenance procedure.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to accomplish the above objective, there is provided a maintenance support program which causes a computer to perform a process of providing a maintenance procedure. This maintenance support program causes the computer to function as an arrangement means, association means, and display means.

The arrangement means determines an order of priority of process of information gathering tasks based on data stored in a first storage means and a second storage means, and arranges the information gathering tasks in the order of priority of process. The first storage means stores a processing time of each information gathering task performed in handling error cases, and the second storage means stores a process history of each error case which represents a flow of information processing tasks and a solving measure taken to solve the cause of an error after the cause is found.

The association means associates, based on a case count, an information gathering task with a solving measure of each type in such a way that the information gathering task with a high priority to use the solving measure of the type is preferentially associated with the solving measure of the type. The case count is provided for each process history and indicating that the flow of the information gathering tasks represented by the process history was performed in handling an error case.

The display means displays a procedure which instructs execution of the information gathering tasks in the order of priority of process determined by the arrangement means, analysis of an execution result of the information gathering task under conditions, and when the execution result satisfies the conditions, execution of a solving measure associated with the information gathering task to then complete maintenance operation.

By implementing such a maintenance procedure creation program, an arrangement means determines an order of priority of process of information gathering tasks, and arranges the information gathering tasks in the order of priority of process. Then, an association means associates, with a solving measure of each type, an information gathering task based on a case count in such a way that the information gathering task with a high priority to use the solving measure of the type is preferentially associated with the solving measure of the type. Then, the display means displays a maintenance procedure which instructs execution of the information gathering tasks in the order of priority of process determined by the arrangement means, analysis of an execution result of the information gathering task under prepared conditions, and when the execution result satisfies the conditions, execution of a solving measure associated with the information gathering task to then complete maintenance operation.

Advantages of the Invention The disclosed maintenance procedure creation program makes it possible to provide an efficient maintenance procedure which completes maintenance operation by executing a solving measure associated with an information gathering task.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention by way of example.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[FIG. 1] A diagram illustrating an overview of one embodiment.

[FIG. 2] A diagram showing a system configuration of the embodiment.

[FIG. 3] A diagram illustrating an example hardware configuration of a maintenance procedure creation apparatus.

[FIG. 4] A functional block diagram of the maintenance procedure creation apparatus.

[FIG. 5] A diagram illustrating an example data structure of a repair history management database.

[FIG. 6] A diagram illustrating an example data structure of an average processing time management database.

[FIG. 7] A diagram illustrating an example data structure of a process flow management database.

[FIG. 8] A diagram illustrating an example data structure of an information gathering process order management database.

[FIG. 9] A diagram illustrating an example data structure of an effective information gathering process management database.

[FIG. 10] A diagram illustrating an example data structure of a branch condition management database.

[FIG. 11] A flowchart illustrating how the maintenance procedure creation apparatus operates.

[FIG. 12] A flowchart of average processing time calculation.

[FIG. 13] A flowchart of process flow creation.

[FIG. 14] A flowchart of information gathering process ordering.

[FIG. 15] A diagram for explaining a concrete example of an ordering process.

[FIG. 16] A diagram illustrating information gathering processing time and expected value.

[FIG. 17] A flowchart of effective information gathering process determination.

[FIG. 18] A diagram for explaining a concrete example of the effective information gathering process determination.

[FIG. 19] A flowchart of maintenance procedure creation.

[FIG. 20] A diagram for explaining a concrete example of maintenance procedure creation.

[FIG. 21] A diagram for explaining the concrete example of the maintenance procedure creation.

[FIG. 22] A diagram for explaining the concrete example of the maintenance procedure creation.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of one embodiment.

A computer 1 operates to display a maintenance procedure to a maintenance person when an error occurs in a supported computer.

To this end, this computer 1 uses data 5a and 6a that are stored in first and second storage means 5 and 6, respectively.

The data 5a includes a processing time taken to execute each information gathering task (simply, "task" in FIG. 1) in handling error cases of supported computers (in cases where an error occurs) . The processing time may be an average time of the information gathering task.

The data 6a includes a process history that represents a flow of information gathering tasks and a solving measure (simply, "measure" in FIG. 1) . The solving measure is a measure (a final process) taken after the cause of an error is found. The data 6a also includes a case count for each process history, which represents the number of error cases handled in accordance with the flow of the information gathering tasks and solving measure specified by the process history.

The computer 1 includes an arrangement means 2, an association means 3, and a display means 4.

The arrangement means 2 arranges information gathering tasks in order of priority of process based on the data 5a and 6a.

More specifically, the arrangement means 2 calculates the time taken for processing in accordance with each process history, based on the processing times included in the data 5a, and arranges the information gathering tasks in increasing order of processing time that is an order of priority of process, thereby generating data 7.

The association means 3 associates, based on the case counts included in the data 6a, an information gathering task with a solving measure of each type in such a way that an information gathering task with a high priority to use the solving measure of the type (that is, an information gathering task which was most used together with the solving means) is preferentially associated with the solving measure of the type, thereby generating data 8.

The display means 4 displays a procedure which instructs execution of information gathering tasks in order of priority of process, analysis of the execution result of an information gathering task under conditions previously stored in a third storage means 4a, and if the result satisfies the conditions, execution of a solving measure associated with the information gathering task to then complete the maintenance operation.

FIG. 1 illustrates a flowchart 9 as an example maintenance procedure. More specifically, process boxes are arranged so that "information gathering task "a" and "information gathering task "b" are placed in order of priority of process, and a decision box is placed (inserted) subsequent to the process box of "information gathering task "a" (between the process boxes of the -10 -winformation gathering task "a" and "information gathering

Then, a prepared conditional statement of "Is

condition 1 satisfied?" is set in this decision box. Then, a process box for "solving measure "X" associated with the information gathering task "a" is placed based on the data 8 as a next process that follows when the condition 1 is satisfied. In addition, a decision box is placed (inserted) subsequent to the process box of "information gathering task "b". Then, a prepared conditional statement of "Is condition 2 satisfied?" is set in this decision box. Then, a process box for "solving measure "Y" associated with the information gathering task "b" is placed based on the data 8 as a next process that follows when the condition 2 is satisfied.

The conditional statements and preconditions (Yes

or No) to be set are given based on data prepared and stored in advance in the third storage means 4a.

Thus created flowchart 9 enables a maintenance person to conduct maintenance operation more efficiently.

More specifically, the maintenance person determines whether the condition 1 is satisfied after the first "information gathering task "a" is finished, and then if the condition 1 is satisfied, he/she completes this maintenance operation by conducting the solving measure X without the further maintenance operation.

Accordingly, extra work (information gathering task "b") does not need to be done, which can improve the -11 -efficiency of the maintenance operation.

Referring to FIG. 1, the data 5a and 6a are externally given to the computer 1. Alternatively, these data may be generated based on history information of errors within the computer 1. In addition, the third storage means 4a is provided in the computer I. Alternatively, this means may be provided outside the computer 1.

The following describes the embodiment in more detail.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system configuration of the embodiment.

A system 1000 includes a maintenance procedure creation apparatus 100, a plurality of terminal devices lOa to lOc, a case information management server 200, a repair history management database 300, an enterprise system 400, an access log database 500, and an administrator's terminal device 600.

The maintenance procedure creation apparatus 100 is connected to the terminal devices lOa to lOc, case information management server 200, enterprise system 400, and administrator's terminal device 600 over a network 50.

The terminal devices lOa to lOc are operated by maintenance people who handle contacts from customers (clients) The maintenance procedure creation apparatus 100 operates in response to a maintenance person operating the -12 -terminal device lOa to lOc. More specifically, the maintenance procedure creation apparatus 100 consults the repair history management database 300 to create an optimal maintenance procedure (flowchart in this embodiment) for solving an error of a supported computer, based on the stored repair history information, and then provides the created maintenance procedure to the terminal device lOa to lOc.

The case information management server 200 uses the repair history management database 300 to manage information on error cases of supported computers (not illustrated) that the maintenance people handled.

The repair history management database 300 stores a history of errors which occurred in the supported computers and solving the errors (hereinafter, referred to as repair history information) The enterprise system 400 is a system which the maintenance people access to perform various operations for supported systems. This enterprise system 400 uses the access log database 500 to manage access logs. This access log database 500 stores a start time, end time and so on of each process that the maintenance people performed for operating supported systems.

The administrator's terminal device 600 is a device that the administrator of a call center uses to log onto supported computers in trouble.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example hardware -13 -configuration of a maintenance procedure creation apparatus.

The maintenance procedure creation apparatus 100 is entirely controlled by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101. Connected to the CPU 101 via a bus 107 are a RAM (Random Access Memory) 102, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 103, graphics processor 104, input device interface 105, and communication interface 106.

The PAM 102 temporarily stores at least part of OS (Operating System) program and application programs to be executed by the CPU 101. The RAM 102 also stores various data for CPU processing. The HDD 103 stores the OS and application programs, and also stores program files.

The graphics processor 104 is connected to a monitor 11, and is designed to display images on the screen of the monitor 11 under the control of the CPU 101.

The input device interface 105 is connected to a keyboard 12 and a mouse 13, and is designed to transfer signals from the keyboard 12 and mouse 13 to the CPU 101 via the bus 107.

The communication interface 106 is connected to the network 50, and is designed to communicate data with another computer via the network 50.

The processing functions of this embodiment are realized with such a hardware configuration. To cause an apparatus configured as above to perform system maintenance, the maintenance procedure creation apparatus -14 -is provided with the following functions.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the maintenance procedure creation apparatus.

As described earlier, the maintenance procedure creation apparatus 100 consults the repair history management database 300 to create an optimal maintenance procedure based on the stored repair history information.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example data structure of a repair history management database.

The repair history management database 300 stores data in tabular form.

A repair history management table 301 illustrated in FIG. 5 has fields for case ID, error type, process name, process type, process start time, and process end time.

Data entries arranged in a row are associated with each other.

The case ID field contains a number uniquely

identifying an error case. Records with the same case ID make up a repair history of one error case that a maintenance person dealt with around the same time.

The error type field contains the contents of an

error that the maintenance person entered when the error occurred. Records of the same case ID have the same error type.

The process name field contains the name of a

specific process.

For instance, "case search" is a process of -15 -searching for past cases. "Log collection" is a process of collecting logs from a system in trouble. "Closing" is a process of closing a case.

The process type field contains one of

"information gathering" and "solving measure" according to the process identified in the corresponding process name

field.

"Information gathering" indicates that the process identified in the corresponding process name field is a process of gathering information (information gathering task) . "Solving measure" indicates that the process identified in the corresponding process name field is a problem-solving process which is performed after information is gathered and the cause of the error is found.

"Information gathering" or "solving measure" is previously associated with each process name, so that either one is automatically entered.

In the following description, processes identified

in the process name field corresponding to the process type of "information gathering" are collectively referred to as "information gathering process". On the other hand,

processes identified in the process name field

corresponding to the process type of "solving measure" are collectively referred to as "solving process".

It is recognized from the repair history management table 301 illustrated in FIG. 5 that, when a -16 -communication with a node failed, first "case search" and then "log collection" are performed as information gathering processes, and then any problems were not found through these processes, so a solving process of "closing" was performed.

Not specifically illustrated in FIG. 5, the information gathering processes also include "ask systems engineer" which is a process of asking another systems engineer to seek for his/her directions. In addition, the solving processes include "remote repairing" and "disabling request".

The "remote repairing" is a process in which a maintenance person at a call center remotely logs onto a supported system in trouble and deletes unnecessary files.

The "disabling request" is a process of excluding a supported computer from under monitoring of error messages because the computer has no problems.

The process start time field contains a start time

of the process identified in the corresponding process

name field.

The process end time field contains an end time of

the process identified in the corresponding process name

field.

The process start time, process end time, and process name are obtained by extracting relevant information from the access log database 500.

The description refers back to FIG. 4.

-17 -The maintenance procedure creation apparatus 100 includes an average processing time calculation unit 110, an average processing time management database 120, a process flow creation unit 130, a process flow management database 140, an information gathering process ordering unit 150, an information gathering process order management database 160, an effective information gathering process determination unit 170, an effective information gathering process management database 180, a maintenance procedure creation unit 190, and a branch condition management database 2000.

The average processing time calculation unit 110 consults the repair history management database 300 to calculate an average time (hereinafter, referred to as "average processing time") for each information gathering process involved in cases of the same error type.

The average processing time management database stores the average processing time for each information gathering process calculated by the average processing time calculation unit 110, for each error type.

The process flow creation unit 130 consults the repair history management database 300 to create process flows each indicating an order (flow) of processes to solve an error, for each error type.

The process flow creation unit 130 also consults the repair history management database 300 to count the number of cases which was dealt with in accordance with -18 -each of the created process flows (cases having the same process flow pattern) The process flow management database 140 stores the process flows created by the process flow creation unit 130 and the number of cases which was dealt with in accordance with each of the process flows, for each error type.

The information gathering process ordering unit consults the average processing time management database 120 and the process flow management database 140 to arrange information gathering processes in order of priority of process (in this embodiment, an increasing order of expected processing time) as will be described later.

The information gathering process order management database 160 stores information gathering processes in an order determined by the information gathering process ordering unit 150 (hereinafter, this order is referred to as "information gathering process order") The effective information gathering process determination unit 170 consults the process flow management database 140 to associate an information gathering process with each solving process in such a manner that an information gathering process with a high priority to use a solving process is preferentially associated with the solving process. In this embodiment, an information gathering process which was most frequently -19 -done to reach a solving process is determined as the most effective information gathering process, and is associated with the solving process.

The effective information gathering process management database 180 stores the most effective information gathering processes associated with respective solving processes by the effective information gathering process determination unit 170.

The maintenance procedure creation unit 190 consults the information gathering process order management database 160, the effective information gathering process management database 180, and the branch condition management database 2000 to create a flowchart representing a maintenance procedure.

The branch condition management database 2000 previously stores the details of conditions to be set by the maintenance procedure creation unit 190 in decision boxes of flowcharts. These conditions are previously determined by administrators and/or experienced maintenance people.

The following describes in detail data stored in the average processing time management database 120, process flow management database 140, information gathering process order management database 160, effective information gathering process management database 180, and branch condition management database 2000.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example data structure of an -20 -average processing time management database.

The average processing time management database stores data in tabular form.

An average processing time management table 121 illustrated in FIG. 6 is provided for each error type.

Each average processing time management table 121 has fields for information gathering process name and average processing time. Data entries arranged in a row are associated with each other.

The information gathering process name field

contains the name of an information gathering process extracted by the average processing time calculation unit from the repair history management table 301.

The average processing time field contains the

average processing time of each information gathering process calculated by the average processing time calculation unit 110.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example data structure of a process flow management database.

The process flow management database 140 stores data in tabular form.

A process flow management table 141 is provided for each error type.

Each process flow management table 141 has fields

for process flow and case count. Data entries arranged in a row are associated with each other.

The process flow field contains a process flow

-21 -created by the process flow creation unit 130.

The case count field contains the number of cases

that involved the process flow of the corresponding

process flow field.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example data structure of an information gathering process order management database.

The information gathering process order management database 160 stores data in tabular form.

An information gathering process order management table 161 is provided for each error type.

The information gathering process order management table 161 for each error type has fields for order and information gathering process name. Data entries arranged in a row are associated with each other.

The order field stores a numerical value

indicating an order of priority of an information gathering process determined by the information gathering process ordering unit 150. Referring to FIG. 8, "1" means the highest priority while "3" means the lowest priority.

The information gathering process name field

stores the name of an information gathering process in association with the order of priority determined by the information gathering process ordering unit 150.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example data structure of an effective information gathering process management database.

An effective information gathering process -22 -management database 180 stores data in tabular form.

An effective information gathering process management table 181 is provided for each error type.

The effective information gathering process management table 181 has fields for solving process name and effective information gathering process name. Data entries arranged in a row are associated with each other.

The solving process name field contains the name

of a solving process extracted by the effective information gathering process determination unit 170 from the process flow management database 140.

The effective information gathering process name field contains the name of an information gathering process determined to be the most effective for the corresponding solving process by the effective information gathering process determination unit 170.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example data structure of a branch condition management database.

The branch condition management database 2000 stores data in tabular form.

A branch condition management table 201 has fields

for information gathering process name, solving process

name, conditional statement, and solving process

precondition. Data entries arranged in a row are associated with each other.

The information gathering process name field

contains the name of an information gathering process that -23 -is desired to be performed when an error occurs.

The solving process name field contains the name

of a solving process that is previously set (desired to be performed) in association with the information gathering process stored in the corresponding information gathering

process name field.

The conditional statement field contains

conditions to be set in a decision box of a flowchart to be created by the maintenance procedure creation unit 190.

The solving process precondition field contains a

precondition "Yes" or "No" for shifting to a solving process.

The following describes how the maintenance procedure creation apparatus 100 operates.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart illustrating how the maintenance procedure creation apparatus operates.

First, the average processing time calculation unit 110 performs average processing time calculation to calculate and store an average processing time in the average processing time management database 120 (step Si) Then, the process flow creation unit 130 performs process flow creation to create and store process flows in the process flow management database 140 (step S2) Then, the information gathering process ordering unit 150 performs information gathering process ordering to determine an order of information gathering processes, arrange the information gathering processes in the -24 -determined order, and store them in the information gathering process order management database 160 (step S3) Then, the effective information gathering process determination unit 170 performs effective information gathering process determination to determine and store a solving process corresponding to an information gathering process in the effective information gathering process management database 180 (step S4) Then, the maintenance procedure creation unit 190 performs maintenance procedure creation to create a flowchart representing a maintenance procedure (step S5) Referring to FIG. 11, the average processing time calculation and the process flow creation are performed in this order. However, this order is not limited thereto.

In addition, the information gathering process ordering and the information gathering process determination are performed in this order. However, this order is not limited thereto.

The following describes how each unit operates in detail.

First, the average processing time calculation will be described.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of average processing time calculation.

First, one record is extracted from the repair history management table 301 (step Sil) Then, with respect to the information gathering -25 -process indicated in the extracted record, a difference value (hereinafter, referred to as processing time) between the start and end times is calculated (step S12) Then, if there is an accumulated processing time for a combination of the same error type and processing name as the record in question, the calculated processing time is added to the accumulated processing time (step S13) Then, it is determined whether all records stored in the repair history management table 301 have been subjected to steps Sli to S13 (step S14) If there are still records which remain to be subjected to steps Sil to S13 (No in step S14), the procedure goes back to step Sli to extract one of such records, and executes step S12 and subsequent steps.

If all records have been subjected to steps S11 to S13 (Yes in step S14), on the contrary, a total accumulated time of each information gathering process is divided by the number of added values. As a result, an average processing time is calculated for each combination of error type and process name.

Then, the calculated average processing time is stored in the average processing time management table 121 (step S15) The average processing time calculation has been described.

Now, the process flow creation will be described.

-26 -FIG. 13 is a flowchart of process flow creation.

First, the processes of one case are extracted in increasing order of start time from the repair history management database 300, and a flow of the processes is created (step 521) Then, it is determined whether the created flow includes duplicate processes (step S22) If duplicate processes do not exist (No in step S22), the procedure goes on to step S24.

If duplicate processes exist (Yes in step S22), then a process having a later start time is excluded from the flow (step S23) . For example, when an information gathering process of "case search" appears and then the same information gathering process of "case search" appears again, the later information gathering process of "case search" is excluded. Thus created flow is taken as a process flow. Then, the procedure goes on to step S24.

Eliminating duplicate processes as described can improve the accuracy of finding out an effective solving process in the information gathering process determination which is performed later.

Then, it is determined whether the process flow includes a solving process (step S24) If a solving process is not included (No in step S24), then the procedure goes back to step S21 to extract the processes of one of cases remaining to be extracted, and executes step S22 and subsequent steps.

-27 -If a solving process is included (Yes in step S24), on the contrary, the number of cases is counted for each combination of error type and process flow, and is stored in the process flow management table 141 (step S25) . More specifically, it is determined whether a process flow management table 141 exists for the error type in question.

If a negative result is obtained, a process flow management table 141 for the error type in question is created, a record of the process flow is prepared in the created process flow management table 141, and "1" is set as the case count.

If a process flow management table 141 exists for the error type in question, then it is determined whether the same process flow exists or not. If the same process flow exists, the corresponding case count is incremented.

If the same process flow does not exist, on the contrary, a record for the process flow in question is created, and "1" is set as the case count.

Then, it is determined whether all cases stored in the repair history management database 300 have been subjected to steps S2l to 25 (step S26) If there are still cases that remain to be processed (No in step S26), the procedure goes back to step S21 to extract the processes of one of such cases, and executes step S22 and subsequent steps.

If all cases have been processed (Yes in step S26), on the contrary, the procedure is completed.

-28 -The process flow creation has been described.

The following describes the information gathering process ordering.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of information gathering process ordering.

First, the information gathering processes included in process flows are extracted from the process flow management table 141 of a specified error type in the process flow management database 140 (step S31) . The error type is specified by a maintenance person operating the terminal device lOa to lOc.

Then, possible sequences are produced with all of the extracted information gathering processes (step S32) Then, one of the produced sequences of the information gathering processes is selected (step S33) Then, one process flow is selected (step S34) With respect to the selected process flow, a time (hereinafter, referred to as "information gathering processing time") to be taken in the selected sequence of the information gathering processes is calculated based on average processing times (step S35) . The details of this step will be described later.

Then, it is determined whether an information gathering processing time has been calculated for every process flow in connection with the sequence of the information gathering processes selected in step S33 (step S36) -29 -If there are still process flows that remain for calculating an information gathering processing time (No in step S36), the procedure goes back to step S34 to select one of such process flows, and executes step S35.

If an information gathering processing time has been calculated for every process flow (Yes in step S36), then the calculated information gathering processing times of all process flows are weighted in proportion to the case count, and an weighted average (hereinafter, referred to as "expected value") is calculated (step S37) . The details of this step will be described later.

Then, it is determined whether an expected value is calculated for every sequence of information gathering processes (step S38) If there are still sequences of information gathering processes that remain for calculating an expected value (No in step S38), the procedure goes back to step S33 to select one of such sequences of the information gathering processes, and executes step S34 and subsequent steps.

If an expected value has been calculated for every sequence of the information gathering processes (Yes in step S38), a sequence of the information gathering processes having the smallest expected value is selected.

Then, the information gathering processes of the selected sequence are stored in the same order in the information gathering process name field of the information gathering -30 -process order management table 161 (step S39) The information gathering process ordering has been described.

The following describes a concrete example of how to execute steps S35 and S37 of FIG. 14 (hereinafter, the two steps are referred to as "ordering process") The concrete example uses the average processing time management table 121 of FIG. 6 and the process flow management table 141 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 15 illustrates the concrete example of an ordering process.

The information gathering process ordering unit places all sequences of information gathering processes, "case search", "log collection", and "ask systems engineer" stored in the average processing time management table 121 of FIG. 6, on a work table 151. Then, the information gathering process ordering unit 150 gives number "1" to "6" identifying the sequence of each record.

In addition, the information gathering process ordering unit 150 gives code "A" to "F" identifying the process flow of each record of the process flow management table 141, on the work table 152.

The information gathering process ordering unit first targets a sequence of "1" to calculate a time taken to gather information in accordance with each process flow of "A" to "F".

Hereinafter, a time taken to gather information in -31 -accordance with a process flow of "A" with respect to the sequence of "1" is represented as a time requirement "1-A".

The following describes a time requirement "1-A" In the process flow of "A", the information gathering processes are performed in an order of "case search" and "log collection".

The average processing time management table 121 indicates that an average processing time of "case search" is 15 minutes and an average processing time of "log collection" is 30 minutes.

Therefore, the time requirement "1-A" is calculated as 15+30=45 minutes.

A time requirement "1-B" will now be described.

The process flow of "B" includes an information gathering process "case search". An average processing time of "case search" is 15 minutes, so the time requirement "1-B" is 15 minutes.

A time requirement "1-C" will now be described.

The process flow of "C" includes an information gathering process "log collection". The sequence of "1" includes the information gathering process "case search" before the information gathering process "log collection".

Therefore, by adding an average processing time of this previously performed information gathering process "case search", the time requirement "1-C" is calculated as 15+30=45 minutes.

A time requirement "1-D" will now be described.

-32 -In the process flow of "D", information gathering processes are performed in an order of "ask systems engineer" and "log collection". The sequence of "1" includes the information gathering processes "case search" and "log collection" before "ask systems engineer".

Therefore, by adding the average processing times of these previously performed information gathering processes "case search" and "log collection", the time requirement "1-C" is calculated as 15+30+40=85 minutes.

The process flow of "D" includes the information gathering process "log collection" after "ask systems engineer". However, an average processing time of this "log collection" is excluded from the calculation of this time requirement because this average processing time is added before the average processing time of the "ask systems engineer" is added.

Similarly, a time requirement "1-E" is calculated as 15+30+40=85 minutes. A time requirement "1-F" is calculated as 15+30+40=85 minutes.

Then, the information gathering process ordering unit 150 calculates an expected value of the information gathering processing time for the sequence of "1". More specifically, an expected value is calculated as an average value of information gathering processing times weighted in proportion to the case count. In this example, (45x15 + 15x8 + 45x6 + 85x3 + 85x2 + 85x1)/(15 + 8 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1) = 45.0.

-33 -In this way, the information gathering process ordering unit 150 calculates an expected value for every sequence of "1" to "6".

FIG. 16 illustrates information gathering processing time and expected value.

A work table 153 has information gathering processing times with sequence numbers in a row and flow codes in a line. The lowest row contains expected values.

The information gathering process ordering unit 150 selects a sequence with the smallest expected value.

Referring to FIG. 16, 45.0 is the smallest expected value, so the sequence of "1" is stored in the information gathering process order management table 161.

The following describes the effective information gathering process determination.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of effective information gathering process determination.

First, solving processes included in process flows are extracted from a process flow management table 141 for a specified error type in the process flow management database 140 (step S4l) Then, one of the extracted solving processes is selected (step S42) Then, process flows including the selected solving process are selected (step S43) Then, the case count of cases involving each information gathering process is calculated by adding -34 -values of the case count of process flows including the information gathering process (step S44) The information gathering processes corresponding to the selected solving process are compared in the case count, and the information gathering process having the greatest case count is determined as an information gathering process (effective information gathering process) for the solving process, and is associated with the solving process (step S45) Then, the solving process and its effective information gathering process are stored in the effective information gathering process management table 181 (step S46) Then, it is determined whether an effective information gathering process is determined for every solving process (step S47) If there are still solving processes that have no effective information gathering process associated therewith (No in step S47), the procedure goes back to step S42 to select one solving process having no effective information gathering process associated therewith, and executes step S43 and subsequent steps.

If an information gathering process has been determined for every solving process (Yes in step S47), this procedure is completed.

The effective information gathering process determination has been described.

-35 -In this embodiment, an effective information gathering process for a solving process is stored in the effective information gathering process management table 181 every time the effective information gathering process is determined. Alternatively, after an information gathering process is determined for every solving process, the determined information gathering processes may be stored in the effective information gathering process management table 181.

The following describes a concrete example of the effective information gathering process determination.

FIG. 18 describes a concrete example of the effective information gathering process determination.

The concrete example uses the process flow management table 141 of FIG. 7.

First, solving processes, "closing", "remote repairing", and "monitor disabling" included in process flows are extracted from the process flow management table 141 for a specified error type of "failure of communication with node".

Then, the solving process "closing" is selected, and then process flows including the solving process "closing" are selected.

In this example, process flows, "case search -> log collection -closing" and "case search -* closing" are selected.

Then, a value of the case count, "15", of the -36 -process flow "case search -* log collection -closing" and a value of the case count, "8", of the process flow "case search -3 closing" which include the information gathering process "case search" included in the selected process flows are added.

Then, the result "23" is stored as a case count of the information gathering process "case search" corresponding to the solving process "closing" in a work

table 171.

Then, a value of the case count, "15", of a process flow "case search -3 log collection -3 closing" including the information gathering process "log collection" included in the selected process flows is stored as a case count of the information gathering process "log collection" corresponding to the solving process "closing" in the work table 171.

There is no process flow which includes the information gathering process "ask systems engineer" included in the selected process flows, so a value, "0", is stored as a case count of the information gathering process "ask systems engineer" corresponding to the solving process "closing" in the work table 171.

In this way, a case count of each information gathering process corresponding to the solving process "closing" has been calculated. Then, the information gathering processes corresponding to the solving process "closing" are compared in the case count.

-37 -In this example, the information gathering process "case search" has the greatest case count of "23", so this information gathering process "case search" is determined as an information gathering process corresponding to the solving process "closing" and is associated with this solving process "closing".

This information gathering process "case search" is stored in association with the solving process "closing" in the effective information gathering process management table 181.

The above processes are performed for the solving processes "remote repairing" and "monitor disabling", so that the information gathering processes "log collection" and "ask systems engineer" are stored in association with the solving processes "remote repairing" and "monitor disabling", respectively, in the effective information gathering process management table 181.

Accordingly, the effective information gathering process management table 181 of FIG. 18 is created.

* 20 The following describes the maintenance procedure creation.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of maintenance procedure creation.

First, the information gathering process order for a specified error type is obtained from the information gathering process order management table 161 (step S51) Then, the process boxes of a flowchart for the -38 -obtained information gathering processes are placed in the order of information gathering processes stored in the information gathering process order management table 161 (step S52) Then, one information gathering process is selected from the process boxes placed in step S52 (step S53) Then, it is determined based on the effective information gathering process management table 181 whether there is a solving process associated with the selected information gathering process (step S54) If there is no solving process associated with the selected information gathering process (No in step S54), the procedure goes on to step S57.

If there is a solving process associated with the selected information gathering process (Yes in step S54), on the contrary, a decision box is placed (inserted) subsequent to the process box of the selected information gathering process. Then, a process box for the associated solving process is arranged as a branch destination of the decision box (step S55)

Then, a conditional statement and solving process

precondition corresponding to the combination of the information gathering process and solving process are extracted from the branch condition management database

2000, and the obtained conditional statement and

precondition are set to the decision box (step S56) -39 -Then, it is determined whether all information gathering processes have been checked (step S57) If there are still information gathering processes that remain to be checked (No in step S57), the procedure goes back to step 553 to select the information gathering process of the next process box, and executes step S54 and subsequent steps.

If all information gathering processes have been checked (Yes in step S57), then a process box for "maintenance operation in accordance with existing procedure" is placed subsequent to the currently last block, and is connected to the last block (step S58) Then, a terminal (start symbol) is placed prior to the first process box (step S59) Then, a terminal (end symbol) is placed and is connected to all process boxes of solving processes. In addition, this terminal (end symbol) is connected to the process box of "maintenance operation in accordance with existing procedure" (step S60) The maintenance procedure creation has been described.

The following describes a concrete example of the maintenance procedure creation.

FIGS. 20 to 22 describe a concrete example of the maintenance procedure creation.

First, an information gathering process order is obtained from the information gathering process order -40 -management table 161. Then, the process boxes of a flowchart for the obtained information gathering processes, "case search", "log collection", and "ask systems engineer", are placed in this order. FIG. 20(a) describes the procedure up to this stage.

Then, the information gathering process "case search" is selected from the placed process boxes. Then, the effective information gathering process management table 181 is searched for a solving process associated with the information gathering process "case search".

In this example, a solving process "closing" is detected, so a decision box is placed subsequent to the process box of the information gathering process "case search", and a process box for the solving process "closing" is placed as a branch destination of the decision box. FIG. 20(b) describes the procedure up to this stage.

Then, the branch condition management table 201 is searched. In this example, a conditional statement of "are there past cases involving "closing"?" and a solving process precondition of "yes" corresponding to a combination of the information gathering process "case search" and the solving process "closing" are obtained, and the conditional statement and precondition are set to the decision box. FIG. 21(c) describes the procedure up to this stage.

The same processes are performed for the other 41 -information gathering processes "log collection" and "ask systems engineer".

Then, the last decision box and a process box of "maintenance operation in accordance with existing procedure" are connected. FIG. 21(d) describes the procedure up to this stage.

Then, a terminal (start symbol) is placed prior to the first process box.

Then, the process boxes of solving processes "closing", "remote repairing", and "monitor disabling" are connected to a terminal (end symbol) Then, the terminal (end symbol) and the process box of "maintenance operation in accordance with existing procedure" are connected.

In this way, a flowchart as illustrated in FIG. 22 is created through the maintenance procedure creation.

The concrete example of the maintenance procedure creation has been described.

As described above, the maintenance procedure creation apparatus 100 is capable of creating a flowchart that indicates when to shift maintenance operation from information gathering processes to a solving process.

More specifically, the maintenance procedure creation places process boxes for information gathering processes in increasing order of expected time, and places a process box for a most likely solving process after a branch following a process box of an information gathering process.

-42 -Following this flowchart enables a maintenance person to shift to a solving process by skipping subsequent information gathering processes after a branch condition is satisfied, to then complete the maintenance operation. This eliminates the need of performing extra information gathering processes, thereby providing efficient repair of errors.

In addition, the created flowchart includes all information gathering processes and solving processes included in the repair history management database 300, which can provide maintenance procedures which cover and certainly solve the same errors as in the past.

According to this embodiment, the process flow creation unit 130 extracts all processes. Alternatively, the process flow creation unit 130 may extract only processes that were previously determined to be extracted or processes that were specified by a maintenance person.

This streamlines and speeds up its processing.

Heretofore, the maintenance support program, maintenance support method, and maintenance support apparatus according to the present invention have been described by means of the illustrated embodiment. This invention is not limited to this and each component may be replaced with a component having the same functions. In addition, other configuration and steps can be desirably added to the invention.

In addition, two or more configurations (features) -43 -in the above embodiment may be combined.

The processing functions described above can be realized by a computer. In this case, a program is prepared, which describes processes for the functions to be performed by the maintenance procedure creation apparatus 100, The program is executed by a computer, whereupon the aforementioned processing functions are accomplished by the computer. The program describing the required processes may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Computer-readable recording media include magnetic recording devices, optical discs, magneto-optical recording media, semiconductor memories, etc. The magnetic recording devices include Hard Disk Drives (HDD), Flexible Disks (FD), magnetic tapes, etc. The optical discs include DVDs (Digital Versatile Disc), DVD-RAM (Random Access Memory), CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), CD-R (Recordable)/RW (ReWritable), etc. The magneto-optical recording media include MO (Magneto-Optical disks etc. To distribute the program, portable recording * media, such as DVDs and CD-ROMs, on which the program is recorded may be put on sale. Alternatively, the program may be stored in the storage device of a server computer and may be transferred from the server computer to other computers through a network.

A computer which is to execute the maintenance support program stores in its storage device the program -44 -recorded on a portable recording medium or transferred from the server computer, for example. Then, the computer runs the program. The computer may run the program directly from the portable recording medium. Also, while receiving the program being transferred from the server computer, the computer may sequentially run this program.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principle of the present invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and applications shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be regarded as falling within the scope of the invention in the appended claims and their equivalents.

Description of Reference Numerals

1 Computer 2 Arrangement means 3 Association means 4 Display means 4a Third storage means First storage means 6 Second storage means 5a, 6a, 7, and 8 Data 9 Flowchart lOa to lOc Terminal device -45 -Maintenance procedure creation apparatus Average processing time calculation unit Average processing time management database 121 Average processing time management table 130 Process flow creation unit Process flow management database 141 Process flow management table Information gathering process ordering unit 151 to 153 and 171 Work table 160 Information gathering process order management database 161 Information gathering process order management table Effective information gathering process determination unit 180 Effective information gathering process management database 181 Effective information gathering process management

table

Maintenance procedure creation unit 200 Case information management server 201 Branch condition management table 300 Repair history management database 301 Repair history management table 400 Operating system 500 Access log database 600 Administrator's terminal device 1000 System -46 - 2000 Branch condition management database

Claims

-47 -CLAIMS1. A maintenance support program causing a computer to perform a process of providing a maintenance procedure, the maintenance support program causing the computer to function as: arrangement means to determine an order of priority of process of information gathering tasks based on data stored in first storage means and second storage means, and arrange the information gathering tasks in the order of priority of process, the first storage means storing a processing time of each of the information gathering tasks performed in handling error cases, the second storage means storing a process history of each of the error cases which represents a flow of information processing tasks and a solving measure taken to solve a cause of an error after the cause is found; association means to associate, based on a case count, an information gathering task with a solving measure of each type in such a way that the information gathering task with a high priority to use the solving measure of the each type is preferentially associated with the solving measure of the each type, the case count provided for each process history and indicating that the flow of the information gathering tasks represented by the each process history was performed in handling an error case; and display means to display the maintenance procedure -48 -which instructs execution of the information gathering tasks in the order of priority of process determined by the arrangement means, analysis of an execution result of the information gathering task under conditions previously stored in third storage means, and when the execution result satisfies the conditions, execution of the solving measure associated with the information gathering task to then complete maintenance operation.
2. The maintenance support program according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement means produces all possible sequences of the information gathering tasks included in the process history, calculates an index for each of the sequences, and arranges the information gathering tasks in a same order as a sequence with a smallest index, the index indicating a processing time taken to execute the information gathering tasks included in the process history in accordance with the each sequence.
3. The maintenance support program according to claim 1, wherein the association means associates, with the solving measure of the each type, the information gathering task which was most used together with the solving measure of the each type
4. The maintenance support program according to -49 -claim 3, wherein the association means counts the case count for each of the information gathering tasks included in process histories including a same solving measure, and associates, with the solving measure of the each type, the information gathering task having a greatest case count.
5. The maintenance support program according to claim 2, wherein the index is calculated by weighting a sum of processing times of the information gathering tasks included in the process history in proportion to the case count of the process history.
6. A maintenance support method for causing a computer to perform a process of providing a maintenance procedure, the maintenance support method comprising: operating arrangement means to determine an order of priority of process of information gathering tasks based on data stored in first storage means and second storage means, and arrange the information gathering tasks * 20 in the order of priority of process, the first storage means storing a processing time of each of the information gathering tasks performed in handling error cases, the second storage means storing a process history of each of the error cases which represents a flow of information processing tasks and a solving measure taken to solve a cause of an error after the cause is found; operating association means to associate, based on -50 -a case count, an information gathering task with a solving measure of each type in such a way that the information gathering task with a high priority to use the solving measure of the each type is preferentially associated with the solving measure of the each type, the case count provided for each process history and indicating that the flow of the information gathering tasks represented by the each process history was performed in handling an error case; and operating display means to display the maintenance procedure which instructs execution of the information gathering tasks in the order of priority of process determined by the arrangement means, analysis of an execution result of the information gathering task under conditions previously stored in third storage means, and when the execution result satisfies the conditions, execution of the solving measure associated with the information gathering task to then complete maintenance operation.
7. A maintenance support apparatus for causing a computer to perform a process of providing a maintenance procedure, the maintenance support apparatus comprising: arrangement means to determine an order of priority of process of information gathering tasks based on data stored in first storage means and second storage means, and arrange the information gathering tasks in the -51 -order of priority of process, the first storage means storing a processing time of each of the information gathering tasks performed in handling error cases, the second storage means storing a process history of each of the error cases which represents a flow of information processing tasks and a solving measure taken to solve a cause of an error after the cause is found; association means to associate, based on a case count, an information gathering task with a solving measure of each type in such a way that the information gathering task with a high priority to use the solving measure of the each type is preferentially associated with the solving measure of the each type, the case count provided for each process history and indicating that the flow of the information gathering tasks represented by the each process history was performed in handling an error case; and display means to display the maintenance procedure which instructs execution of the information gathering tasks in the order of priority of process determined by the arrangement means, analysis of an execution result of the information gathering task under conditions previously stored in third storage means, and when the execution result satisfies the conditions, execution of the solving measure associated with the information gathering task to then complete maintenance operation.