JP2003157368A - It solution finder system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To develop a system capable of introducing an enterprises suitable for needs by checking enterprisers capable of solving problems in a computer against user needs in the Internet objectively in a unified manner. SOLUTION: Service form for introducing an enterpriser suitable for solving problems through the Internet for a client who wants to solve problems and its system are characterized in being provided with (1) a means for classifying companies capable of solving IT problems and registering them into a data base including evaluation information of each company, (2) a means for retrieving the enterpriser suitable for solving the problems among the enterprisers by checking the contents of inquiry for solving the problems related to IT from the client against the contents of the data base for the inquiry, and (3) a means for collecting evaluation and comments for the other party of both of the enterpriser and client after solving the problems, updating the evaluation information based on the evaluation and comments, and registering it into the data base.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to SI contractors, XSPs.
The present invention relates to a system for connecting clients with vendors such as vendors, hardware / software vendors, and IT-related service support providers on the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Computer users have various computer processing problems or system problems. From the creation of a single small application,
The range of requirements is wide, from system development to solution of major problems such as maintenance. It is not so easy for users to find an appropriate solution for such a wide range of demands.

[0003] In the past, a company established a system development department in the company, trained in-house from system development personnel to maintenance personnel, and launched large-scale projects.
I have built a system. Even after the system was built, the system was constantly improved and updated. However, computer technology is advancing rapidly, and the internal system department is no longer sufficient. When the economic condition or business form changes, it is natural that changes to the system and the applications that support the system will be required. Moreover, despite the decline in hardware prices, due to soaring personnel costs and increased system development and maintenance costs,
The existence of the system department has come to put pressure on the management of companies. As a result, companies that have system departments have taken measures such as separating the system departments to make them into business departments, or making them separate companies as other organizations, so-called software houses. Under such circumstances, the concept of outsourcing is currently being highlighted. In other words, the purpose of outsourcing is to reduce the cost of the system by leaving the system management and maintenance to an external organization.

Outsourcing itself is by no means a new way of thinking. Before the spread of computers, users created data and brought it to the data center,
It takes a form of requesting EDP (Electronic Data Processing) and receiving a computer calculation result. In other words, both hardware and software depended on the data center, which is an external institution. However, the point that the current outsourcing is greatly different from the data bring-in method that used the former data center mechanism is that the data creation is done on the user side, the data is sent to the external computer processing organization by computer communication, and the calculation result is received by computer communication. The method is taken. The main body of computer communication is the Internet, and external computer processing organizations can be selected and used nationwide or worldwide. Supporting this outsourcing technology is IT (Information Technology).

X has recently attracted attention as a provider of various services as outsourcing.
It is SP. XSP is a general term for various service providers, and ASP (Application Service Provider),
ISP (Internet Service Provider), MSP
Various services such as (management service provider) and SSP (storage service provider) are provided through the Internet.

A system integration (system integration (SI)) is a process in which the entire system from a local system such as a LAN or a work station to a general-purpose computer is made common and is fused.
The SI contractor is responsible for everything from design to development. SI
Work is done by software houses and major hardware manufacturers. Recently, there is also a name such as a data warehouse, and it is becoming more and more popular to use IT to perform the former data center-like processing (EDP processing by outsourcing). The engineer engaged in solving this SI is SE (System Engineer). The SI company is basically a system integration company, but in reality it is also developing small applications. Evaluation of each SI company has S
The reality is that depending on E's ability, the technical capabilities vary. For that reason, when the user tries to select an SI company, there is some uncertainty about which company to select.

On the other hand, it is the software vendor that provides the existing software and hardware, and the hardware vendor. Vendor is SE or C
Some have an E (Customer Engineer: technician who maintains information processing equipment) and have a service support department, while others only sell products (usually the latter).

It is difficult for the user to make a decision as to which trader should be selected in order to solve the problem on the computer (IT). If you make a mistake in your selection, the budget will quickly exceed, and even if the system is completed, it is often difficult or unusable. Currently, there is a service that introduces SI companies on the Internet. However, it only introduces a list of SI vendors that lists the technical fields in which they are good.

As an open patent dealing with introduction of a contractor, there is a "construction contractor introduction system" (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-216414). According to the present invention, when the construction client transmits information such as the type of construction and the cost required for the construction to the management device as the construction information content by the terminal device, the management device stores the information from the vendor information database registered by the construction company. The information is read and compared with the received construction information content, and the matched vendor information is transmitted to the terminal device.

[0010]

The progress of computer technology has been remarkable, and it has become easy to apply computer technology to new fields, and many economic benefits can be obtained. For example, hardware has become cheaper year by year, and in terms of software, it has become possible to cover much of the existing one without developing a user's own system. Moreover, with the development of IT technology, the systems of external organizations have become easy to use. This is a form of so-called outsourcing using the Internet. As a result, the daily hassles of system development and maintenance have been released.

There are various demands for what kind of computer system a user wants in what form and what kind of system should be used.
On the other hand, there are various companies that should meet the demands of users. As seen in the prior art, there are many IT-related vendors such as SI vendors, XSP vendors, hardware / software vendors, and IT-related service support vendors. For users, the problems such as what kind of company there is and what kind of company should be selected are the most troublesome. Up until now, we have selected a vendor based on books and biography, but recently, it has become possible to search and select a vendor home page on the Internet. However, even if you search, it is difficult to find the most suitable supplier for yourself, such as what kind of technology the supplier has, what kind of experience it has, and whether there is no other suitable supplier. . This is because, in order to search for the most suitable vendor, it is necessary to search the homepages of individual vendors from among the numerous homepages.

[0012] In view of the above points, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to compare a user who solves the problem on the computer with the user's needs on the Internet, and to find a supplier who meets the user's needs. It is to develop an objective and unified introduction system. That is,
The object of the present invention is to introduce a place for securing a new customer to a trader, and to a user by uniformly and objectively evaluating a trader who solves the project requested by the user. It is to provide a place to do it.

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention makes it possible for an IT-related company to make an SI company, an XSP company,
It is classified into hardware / software vendors and service support companies, registered in the database, and made public on the Internet for users who want to solve IT problems. This user becomes a member. Hereinafter, this user will be referred to as a “client”. The present invention is not only to introduce the IT-related traders as a list on the home page, but also to select the traders most suitable for the case solution requested by the client and introduce them in a narrowed down form. That is, the present invention has the following system.

For a client who wants to solve a problem on a computer, it is the IT solution finder system of the present invention that prioritizes and introduces a contractor who can deal with a matter sent from the client through the Internet. It is composed of such three means. In other words, the IT solution finder database (SIDB) that includes the evaluation information of each company is categorized as the SI company, the XSP company, the hardware / software vendor, and the IT-related support company, and the companies that have the IT problem solution that the client has. , SED
B, case DB, vendor DB, service support DB
Etc.) means to register. In response to inquiries (projects) for solving IT-related problems from clients via the Internet, the search engine classifies the projects and selects the one with the most suitable solution by matching the client's needs and the solution ability of the company. Matching method to introduce to clients. A means for collecting evaluations and comments from clients to clients and evaluations and comments from clients to clients after problem solving, updating evaluation information based on the evaluations and comments, and registering it in the IT solution finder database. In particular, in the matching means for searching for a trader from the case presented by the client of the present invention, the case item and the scale of the trader
Weighting is performed by matching the ability and evaluation points, and the companies with the highest weight are introduced first.

The present invention has a cycle of plan, execution (do) and evaluation (see). Here,
The plan refers to the process of client search from the client's selection of a company for solution of the case to the execution thereof, the execution means the case solution process performed by the company selected by the client, and the evaluation refers to both the client and the company. Refers to the evaluation process. The IT solution finder system of the present invention is involved in the introduction process and the evaluation process. In the evaluation process, the evaluations and comments of the client by the client and the evaluations and comments of the client by the client are collected, and the priorities (weights) of the client and the client are added. The evaluations and comments are to be used as guidelines for future actions, and are for both sides to brush up. For example, in the evaluation of SE from the client, XX language proficiency level 3 points, experience 5 points, leader 4 points, etc. are evaluated.
It is registered in SEDB, and the points corresponding to the matching items at the time of matching the case and the trader are accumulated as weights, and the priority is given when introducing the trader. The basis for this is client evaluations and comments at the time of evaluation. However, when the client's evaluation is fed back to the registration database as an evaluation point, feedback that sensitively changes the evaluation point is not performed.

Although it may seem strange to evaluate a client, it is not uncommon for a client to make a system construction delay or a large budget oversight due to a client's inadequate approach. For example, the client can make a request to the SI provider in small increments, change the system at will,
It is the client's responsibility if problems later arise because they do not clearly state what they want to do. Such clients will also need attention as a trader. On the other hand, in the case of a business operator, when there is such a problem, it is necessary to clearly understand the problem of the client before constructing the system and instruct the client. If you lack that leadership, it is your responsibility. It is not uncommon for a contractor to overwhelm a client's request because it wants a job, but then the unfortunate consequences of each other (eg,
It often happens that the budget is exceeded or delivery is delayed.

Therefore, it can be said that there is a problem in both cases when the system construction fails. The first purpose is that both parties take the evaluations and comments of the contractor and client collected in the evaluation process of the present invention seriously and ask them to make improvements for the future. The other is to add a priority order to the trader based on the evaluation of the client and set the introduction order of the trader introduction to the client, as described above. Of course, this priority is not directly shown to the client or the trader, but is a ranking (weighting) when introducing the trader to the client in the process of introducing the trader of the system of the present invention. Based on the collected evaluations and comments, if there is a user who performs too malicious behavior or a business operator with inferior processing capability, the IT solution finder system provider investigates and asks the problematic user member or business operator for improvement. Sometimes. If you still can't get the improvement, we will remove the membership and delete the business registration. In this way, the system side always maintains the quality of both user members and traders.

The XSP service is a service form of a provider that solves application problems via the Internet. For example, ASP (Applicatio
n Service Provider) is a provider that provides application functions via the Internet, and users can use applications owned by ASP by using a web browser. As a result, users do not need an application or a server to install it, no maintenance work, and no in-house system personnel. This allows users to use their systems as if they were external. It is, so to speak, a form of outsourcing. The SI company is a company that develops and maintains the user's system, while the XSP company is a company that provides outsourcing. The present invention uses this X
We will also introduce SP vendors. The method is as follows.

The means for members to use the XSP service consist of the following three. That is, the client is an XSP service registered on the solution finder site (service on the Internet provided by the vendor).
You can select a suitable XSP service from the list and use it as a trial means. By registering a profile in advance by the client, you can automatically log in to the XSP service simply by connecting to the matching site. , It is a software purchase means that you can purchase XSP at the same site after trial.

X in XSP means a provider that provides various services, and there are various service providers such as ASP, ISP, MSP, and SSP. The IT solution finder system attaches a priority (weight) to a suitable trader and introduces it to the client in order to objectively judge which service provider (trader) is suitable from the client's case. However, high-priority vendors do not always meet client demands. Therefore, a means for trying the XSP service provided by the introduced company is prepared for the client.
It is possible to judge whether it can be actually used by a certain period of time, a certain number of times, or a trial of a part of the functions. If you decide that you can actually use it, you may use it in the form of outsourcing, or you can purchase the software directly and use it in your own system. Once the client has registered the profile for the XSP site that he / she decided to actually use, after that, the client can automatically log in to the XSP service of the registered site.

Client registration processing executed by the above IT solution finder system, various supplier registration processing, evaluation information collection / evaluation standard registration processing, automatic matching processing for matching the client's request with the supplier capability and introducing it to the client, XSP The IT search engine provides a means for selling related software on the Internet.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a service image focusing on the IT search engine which is the core of the IT solution finder system of the present invention. The IT agent acts as an intermediary between the trader and the client (user member). A client using the IT agent needs to be a member of the IT agent. The traders are classified into SI traders, XSP traders, hardware / software vendors, service support traders, and registered and managed in each database of the IT agent (specifically, SIDB, SEDB, vendor DB, service support DB, etc.). When registering clients and vendors, the criteria for quality of members are maintained by filtering according to the contents of each item at the time of registration. Items to be filtered are as follows.

[0023] -User members: capital, head office location, industry, employee, rating, etc. ・ Proposal registration: System contents, scale, budget, order accuracy, delivery place, etc. ・ SI registration: Capital, head office location, number of SEs, specialty, IT development history,                 Target area, other ・ XSP registration: Capital, head office location, service content, number of users,                 Evaluation contents, other ・ Vendors: Capital, head office location, number of manufacturers, standard delivery date, target area,                 Other ・ Supporters: Capital, head office location, number of service bases, support content, etc. ・ SE registration: qualification, language, proficiency, experience, specialty, operation schedule, target area, etc.

The filtering item maintains the qualitative criteria of the client and the vendor, and also serves as a reference item (weighting) at the time of matching for connecting the client and the vendor. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the matching process. When there is a matter registration S00 from the client via the Internet, the search engine classifies the matter into five S01. In other words, case S10 that requires development or customization by an SI company, case S20 that can be handled by XSP, and case S3 that can be handled by vendor products.
It is divided into 0, support service case S40, and unclassifiable case S50. The classification may be based on what the client has described, or the search engine may judge based on the content of the case and classify.

For example, an item registration form (item registration format of e-mail) as shown in FIG. 3 is prepared and the client is asked to describe the classification. In the example shown in the figure, classification items are provided in the case registration form and the client describes it. If you enter a checkmark in a category, the entries below it will also vary by category. In this example, the case of requesting an SI company is “development of electronic book filing system” as a case. Even if the client classifies the SI, if there is another solution depending on the content, the search engine may automatically judge and put it in another class.

For example, if the electronic book filing system requested by the client can be handled by XSP,
We may also introduce XSP vendors. In this case, the search engine uses "electronic book filing system", "Internet", "e-mail", "EDI", etc. as keywords, and compares them with the contents of the vendors who can handle them, and weights them (what kind of match items are available? , Also, based on the evaluation score of the supplier of the item, it is scored. It is determined which classification this weight belongs to. However, when the classification described by the client is different from the classification determined by the search engine, the classification described by the client is given the highest priority for the search. In addition to that, the search engine will present the judgment result to the client as an alternative.
If the client does not describe the classification or marks "other", the search engine performs automatic classification by the method described above.

Even so, there are cases where the search engine cannot be classified. This is because the client's case registration method is bad, and in that case, the IT agent personnel contacts the client by e-mail or telephone to perform the case creation assistance S51. After recreating the matter S52, let it go through the search engine again.

The request S10 from the SI company is a case where a matter such as system development or independent application development is included. The search engine searches for SI contractors that match the case,
The detected trader is introduced to the client S11. Search engines send emails to clients and vendors (contact S1
2) and then tie both sides together. The following is consultation S13, contract S1
4. Execution S15 (system development, application creation, etc.), or re-search S1 if the contract cannot be reached
6 This series of work is an exchange between the client and the SI company, and the IT agent is not involved. However, regardless of whether the contract / execution has been performed or not, the evaluation and comments from both the client and the trader are collected S02, and the collection result is reflected in the search engine S03.

When the item can be handled by XSP, S20 has two handling methods. One is the case where the XSP can be used as it is. In that case, the XSP that directly matches the case is detected and introduced S210 to the client. If the client desires to try it, a trial S213 is performed, and if it is useful as a result, an execution S212 (use of XSP, purchase of XSP application, etc.) is performed. If the client feels dissatisfied with the usability in trial S213 or determines that the requested problem cannot be solved, it becomes a search S215 of another XSP.

If the item is compatible with the product provided by the vendor, S30 introduces the vendor corresponding to the item in S31. This vendor introduction selects vendors suitable for the case, prioritizes the vendors, and sends them to the client terminal in a list form. The client can connect to the home page of the site established by the vendor by selecting the vendor from the received list. The client looks at the homepage, determines whether there is a product requested by him or a product that can solve the problem S32, and decides whether to purchase the product.

When the item is a service support, in step S40, a company introduction S41 that can handle the item is performed. Service support includes, for example, dispatch work of system personnel, such as dispatch of CE who operates the system. Also in this case, as in the case of the vendor, the vendors that match the case are detected, the available vendors are prioritized and transmitted to the client terminal in a list format.
When the client selects a company, the client connects to the homepage established by the service support company.

In any case, regardless of whether or not the business negotiation between the client and the trader has been concluded, the evaluation and comments from the client and the trader are collected S02,
Reflected in the search engine S03, and brush up later search and introduction. Also, as mentioned above, this evaluation and comment can be utilized to improve the technology of clients and vendors.

[0033]

According to the present invention, by registering IT-related problems of a client (user member) and a solution (solution) therefor as an item, IT
The search engine of the solution finder system selects a supplier suitable for the project from SI supplier, XSP supplier, hardware vendor, software vendor, and support supplier and introduces it to the client. So far, methods such as publishing a list of vendors to allow Internet users to search, or registering / managing user requests all at once and publishing them on the homepage and applying for a vendor with that solution have been available. Has been. A feature of the present invention is that the search engine selects the most suitable trader by calculating the suitability (weight, priority order at the time of introduction) of the trader that matches the case. For this reason, unlike the time when the user and the trader were connected by the subjective judgment of the user and the intention of the trader, the client was introduced to the client by an objective standard.

The present invention has a cycle of planning (planning of a project) / execution (system development / XSP use / purchase of products etc.) / Evaluation (evaluation and comment collection for both clients and vendors). Especially evaluation
Comments have a so-called learning ability that can be used to improve the accuracy of searches by search engines, as well as being used for brushing up clients and vendors. This makes it possible to improve the service to clients.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a service image centered on an IT agent in the IT solution finder system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a matching process mainly performed by the search engine of the IT solution finder system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a case registration form (electronic case registration format) that is input to a search engine of the IT solution finder system of the present invention.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Chusuke Ise             3-77-8 Seri Nakatsudori, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa             Bashi Tsurumi 401

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a service form and its solution system, for a client (user member) who wants to solve a problem on a computer, a service provider that introduces a vendor who is most suitable for problem solving in response to an inquiry from the client via the Internet is provided. 1) SI contractor who can solve IT problems of clients,
XSP vendor, hardware / software vendor, I
A method to classify it as a T-related support company and to register it in the IT solution finder database (SIDB, SEDB, case DB, vendor DB, service support DB, etc.) including evaluation information of each company, (2) Send from the client via the Internet IT has been done
For inquiries (problems) for problem solving related to, determine whether the case belongs to the above-mentioned vendor classification by matching the content of the case with the content of the IT solution finder database, and from the classification Matching means by a search engine that searches for a suitable supplier to solve the matter, prioritizes and introduces it to the client, (3) After solving the problem, evaluation and comment from the supplier to the client, and from the client An IT solution finder system characterized by: means for collecting evaluations and comments for the vendor, updating the evaluation information based on the evaluations and comments, and registering it in the IT solution finder database. 2. The IT solution finder system according to claim 1, wherein the XSP service can be used to solve the application problem, (1) the client searches the XSP site searched by the search engine (matching site). You can select a suitable XSP service from the registered XSP services in () and try it. (2) By registering the profile in advance by the client, you can simply connect to the matching site. Single window method that can automatically log in to XSP service, (3) After trial, XSP at the same site
An IT solution finder system that features software purchasing means for purchasing service software.