WO2007072501A2

WO2007072501A2 - A system and a methodology for providing integrated business performance management platform

Info

Publication number: WO2007072501A2
Application number: PCT/IN2006/000494
Authority: WO
Inventors: Geetha Koushik; Sreevidya B. Kompella
Original assignee: Mphasis Bfl Limited
Priority date: 2005-12-19
Filing date: 2006-12-18
Publication date: 2007-06-28
Also published as: WO2007072501A3

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and a method for providing an improved in the business performance management and process on an ongoing basis. In one embodiment of the present invention, a business performance management system is provided. The business performance management system comprises an instrumentation layer that is configured for deriving plurality of measurement information from multiple sources and integrating said measurement information in a canonical format. A consolidation layer is configured for filtering and preprocessing instrumentation layer output and capturing all measurement information in operational data storage. A business-modeling layer is configured for processing said measurement information. A presentation layer configured for dispersing said measurement information. The presentation layer is configured to provide different forms and channels of distribution of Information to different end users. The data provided by the presentation layer can be both real-time and historic data.

Description

A [SYSTEM AND A METHODOLOGY FOR PROVIDING INTEGRATED BUSINESS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PLATFORM.

FIELD QF THE INVENTION:

This invention relates to the field of business performance management for improving business processes on an ongoing basis.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BACKGROUND:

The computer information systems, and improvements in software and technology, has guided to many improvements and gains in business and society over the last few decades. However, majority of business organization lack automated performance management system.

An organization such as a BPO needs performance management system to clearly identify, articulate, and execute their strategic goals. To effectively achieve these goals, organizations need to measure and manage actual business performance in a highly coordinated manner. In the process, it is critically important for management to create a culture of accountability, clearly communicating, both strategy and goals, meeting all data access and information delivery requirements, and involving everyone from employees

^'.'to Senior Management in a closed-loop process of continual improvement. While developing and communicating a strategy is one thing, successfully executing it is - another. Fortune magazine studies show that in more, than 70 percent of cases where businesses fail, it isn't the strategy but the execution that went awry. In fact, fewer than 10 percent of effectively developed strategies are effectively implemented. To ensure that they execute their goals successfully, organizations need to measure and manage actual business performance against those goals in a highly coordinated manner. Performance management incorporates both top-down and bottom-up accountability and visibility. It involves generating tactical data around' processes_ and publishing metrics that roll up and represent the ability of the organization to meet strategic goals. Therefore there is a need for a system and a methodology to provide stronger integration across various operational systems, measurement, tracking and improvement of Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention provides a system and a method for providing an improved in the business performance management and process on an ongoing basis.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a business performance management system is provided. The business performance management system comprises an instrumentation layer that is configured for deriving plurality of measurement information from multiple sources and integrating said measurement information in a canonical format. A consolidation layer is configured for filtering and preprocessing instrumentation layer output and capturing all measurement information in operational data storage. A business-modeling layer is configured for processing said measurement information. A

, presentation layer configured for dispersing said measurement information. The presentation layer is configured to provide different forms and channels of distribution of Information to different end users. The data provided by the presentation layer can be , both real-time and historic data

As per the present invention, the multiple sources include relational database, multidimensional database, flat, modern and legacy database, enterprise applications, mainframe entries and the like. Further, the measurement information is integrated in the instrumentation layer by cleansing, validation, auditing and synchronizing the derived data through ETL/EA) tool.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the consolidation layer comprises of multiple databases including Knowledge Management and E-learning Repository, Metadata, Event Store, OLAP, ODS, Data Mart, and Data Warehouse. The business- modeling layer is configured to provide plurality of Business Definitions, Performance Measurement Events, Roles and Rules for consumption of content and information, Administration and Security. The business-modeling layer is basically a bridge between the consolidation layer and the presentation layer.

In^' one embodiment of the invention, the business-modeling layer is interactivity-based layer and the business-modeling layer is a business use^r usage area. The business 5 performance management system of claim 1 , wherein the presentation layer uses a message bus to support workflow, data integration and deli very to multiple channels like browser, e-mail, SMS and Wallboards.

A Business Activity Monitoring (SAM) Engine is provided in the Business modeling layer that generates real time/near real time alerts, messages, and reports for subscribed I O business users.

In one embodiment of the invention, a method for providing integrated business performance management platform is provided. TheTήetriocTcbiϋprises the steps of: deriving plurality of measurement information from multiple sources in an

. instrumentation layer; integrating said measurement information in a canonical format

15 . within the instrumentation layer; filtering and preprocessinci instrumentation layer output

¹ in a consolidation layer having an operational data storage; capturing all measurement information in said operational data storage of the consolidation layer; processing said measurement information within a business modeling layer; and dispersing said measurement information to end users through a presentation layer.

0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in the accompanying figures.

Fig 1 shows functional architecture of the integrated business performance management platform according to the present invention.

5 Fig. 2 shows technical architecture of the integrated business performance management platform according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows the design of the message bus according to the present invention. Fig. 4 illustrates the design of BAM module according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION QF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:

The present invention herein after is referred to as "MpasT". MpacT is an Enterprise Performance Management Platform enabling substantial improvements in performance by providing real time control and insight of the business fo - better anticipation and faster resolution of issues, stronger team collaboration and better design of processes that the businesses run on.

Using the information available from MpacT, enterprises should be able to measure, control, respond, collaborate and improve the business processes. The present invention provides an information visibility platform, for alignment of activities to KPI's (Key Performance Indicator) to objectives to organizational goals and vision.

FUNCTIONALITY OF THE INVENTION:

Figure 1 shows business performance management system 100 that comprises four tiers or layers according to one embodiment of the present invention.

1. Tier 1 : Instrumentation layer 101

2. Tier 2 : Consolidation /Storage layer 102

3. Tier 3 : Business Modeling layer 103

4. Tier 4 : Presentation layer 104

Tier 1 : Instrumentation layer 101 (refer Figure 1) is configured for deriving plurality of . measurement information from multiple data sources 110 and integrating , said measurement information in a canonical format. The instrumentation layer 101 is designed to identify, interact and get the data from any form of storage and bring it to a consolidation storage area in a (neutral) common format. Said instrumentation layer 101

■ is capable of receiving data, which is a 'Push' from source and specific custom adapters (pull). If the facility to Push is not available with the source, it has to be built in. ^• The features of this layer are:

Features Detail

Capability to interact and .transform the data to neutral measurement format from source (Push).

! Capability to define adaptors for specific sources, interact and transform the data to neutral measurement format where the source does not have capability to Push.

Capability to define and integrate both extraction methodology

Capability to define connection points to source

Capability to deploy Push / pull strategy depending on the distinction of whether the Information is Pushed from Source or needs to be Pulled.

Capability to consume the schedule rules for Pull extraction

Tier 2: Data Consolidation / Storage Layer 102 (refer Figure 1) is the key differentiator in MpacT platform. The consolidation layer is configured for filtering and preprocessing instrumentation layer output and capturing all measurement information in an operational data storage. The data should be made available for consumption by various internal .and externa¹ business consumers of the platform. Consolidation / Data layer 102 will store the data as given by Instrumentation Layer 101 in a neutral format. Identification of data, which needs to be transformed before storing for consumption, is the first step. Specific data that requires transformation, undergoes cleansing, validation, auditing, prioritizing, standardizing, transformation and finally stored in the MpacT database for consumption by MpacT consumers.

The features of this layer are listed in the table below.

Ability to link E-leaming data store with other data stores as required by business for usage.

Tier 3: Business Modeling. Layer 103 (refer Figure 'i , module 3) defines the business architecture and rules required for governing, processing the performance and measurements of the organization. This layer contains all business^" definitions, performance measurement events, roles and rules for consumption of content and information. This layer acts as the bridge between the data storage layer and the presentation layer. This is the interactivity based, business user usage area.

The features of this layer are listed in the table below.

Semantics Ability to model and define Multiple Hierarchies (Business, operational/functional, Geography, Product and People) and inter relationships.

Operational

Ability to define global time zones; currencies modeling Ability to create calendar for operations

Ability to define Business specific Dimensions

Ability to map and create reference data from source applications. If reference data is unavailable in any of the source systems;

Ability to create and manage Master data.

Ability to define and manage the Rules for processing and transformation for consumption

Ability to define and manage rules for Meta data creation

Ability to define and manage Application and Usage rules (Content and modules)

Ability to define and manage Governance rules

Strategy & Ability to define Organization Goals, Strategies across verticals Tactics Ability to model strategic pathways

Business Ability to define performance objectives j modeling

! Ability to define a Balanced scorecard mode!

Ability to define rules conduct SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) analysis

Ability to define rules and conduct What-lf -Analysis

Ability to define centralized measure model (refer measure section)

Ability to link Metrics to Performance Objectives.

Ability to create initiatives, link with metrics and assign to people, group for improvements and tracking. Abilit/ to interface with project management software and link with initiatives

Ability to link Performance objectives to Strategies and to organizational goals.

Ability to define Business work flow and change management

Ability to define Business life cycle

Ability to define transaction life cycle

Ability to manage Impact analysis for business process chanyes

Ability to view end-to-end business process impact with data governance and linkages across independent application data.

Tier 4: Presentation layer 104 (refer Figure 1 , module 4) is the most important layer from the end users^, perspective. Presentation of MpacT can be divided into information availability in different forms and channels of distribution of Information to different users through different delivery channels .120. Based on the type of the users and the reporting requirements, information and channel will be selected. An objective of this layer io to make information visibility at Right time for Right People using Right Channel.

The features of this tier as follows:

Module Usage details

Dashboards Objective: Enterprise Performance Monitoring, Measurement

Purpose: Performance progress at a glarce across the Organizational

Presentation: Combination of different outputs - Charts, Tables, Text

Updates: Real time, Event based and periodic abstracted data

Data: Event, abstract data, Summary, Calculated data —

Dashboard is a collection of multiple widgets (Output forms) in a collaborative form, which has relevant information presented as a state.

Ability to define, view and manage Operational dashboards - Track core operational processes performance. Information to be populated on real time, Near real time and Business usage of on time-reel time. Used largely by business users for Monitoring on event based from event store.

Ability to define, view and manage Tactical dashboards - Track departmental processes and projects performance. Information required periodically. Used largely for analysis based on data marts and warehouse.

Ability to define, view and manage a strategic dashboards - Monitor execution of corporate strategies / objectives at each level. Information to be populated periodic and event based. Used largely for Management than monitoring and analysis.

Ability to provide information on KPI's using multi paned screens and multiple visual elements

Ability to have a consolidated informiation sets covering_alerts, IB (Information Broadcast), Graphs, Symbols and Indicator Charts.

Ability to drill down from highest level of information to lowest level of information across dimensions applicable to Business perspective

Ability to switch from visual to charts and tables, reports with conditional formatting

Availability of high personalization capabilities for end users.

Scorecards Objective: Enterprise Progress Charting

Purpose: Performance Progress indicator across the Organization

Presentation: Tables, Scorecard, trends, Symbols, Icons

Updates: Real time, Periodic Snapshots

Data: Summaries , Calculated scores

Scorecard is a visual / textual representation of the Progress of the organizational goals, strategies, metrics converted as a score across the functions and operations. This is a representation of comparative scores and trends. This is tightly coupled with dashboards.

Ability to define, view and manage Operational Scorecards - Track core operational performance progress. Information to be populated on real time, Near real time and Business usage of on time-real time. Used largely by business users for Progress charting based on the events converted to calculated weighted scores and trend progressions.

Ability to define, view and manage Tactical scorecards - Track departmental processes and projects progress. Information required periodically.

Ability to define, view and manage -

strategic scorecards - Monitor progress of corporate strategies / objectives at each^" level^" 7 Information to be populated periodic and event based, calculated as a balanced score card . Used largely for Management

Ability to define scores and weight ages based on KPI's using multi paηed screens, and multiple visual elements

Ability to drill down from highest level of scores to contributors of the score until the lowest level of information across dimensions applicable to Business perspective

Availability of High personalization capabilities for end users.

Strategies, Objective: Enterprise Alignment Goals, and

Purpose: Common communication and usage Objectives

Presentation: Visual , Textual and Scoring

Updates: Business change management Non real time

Data: Reference Information, Creation or Extraction from source

Ability to view the performance of KPI's Metrics against the Strategy, goals in various forms of Output (Dashboard, Scorecard, Alert, IB, Reports and graphs)

Ability to perform impact and casual effect analysis on system

Ability to do simulation of strategies and forward performance analysis

Ability to personalize the outputs and views on perspective and time Ability to have multiple views calendared on the period of viewing the Strategy Maps and drill down to lowest level of impact areas.

lnitiativ.es Objective: Initiatives for Performance improvement

Purpose: Create and Manage initiative, actions across people, Process .

Presentation: Visual, Textual, Alerting

Updates: Event, Manual, period

Data: Event . activity completion , Updating by users

Ability to view Initiatives linked to Objectives to understand the status and activities performed for performance improvement.

Ability to create initiatives and Link tcj metrics / Objectives.

Ability to create Milestones and link to .the Objectives.

Ability to prioritize initiatives based on Matrix of initiative to urgency and relative importance. Also group initiatives with relevance and milestones.

Ability to conduct impact analysis

Ability to perform Fish bone analysis.

Ability to view initiatives by Objective, people, Timeline, owners and Irηpact.

Ability to read from external ' Project documents and integrate with the internal defined initiatives both for dates and overlapping milestones.

Ability to conduct reviews, from status to root cause analysis linking with

_* current and historical metric performance.

Ability to view metric performance pre, ongoing and post initiative and linking the metric to initiative tracking.

Ability to track and send auto reminders for status based on the priority and completion status.

Reporting Objective : Business , Management and operational reporting Purpose : Create , manage and distribute reports to .all users

Presentation : Text, charts, data table, Spreadsheets

Updates : Near real time, Batch, Period , Query based/On demand

Data : Any data in the data store

General features :

Capability to Create Standard and Ad-hoc Reports.

Capability to Create End user (View / filter) and Business user reports (Create, Schedule, Deploy)

Capability to have the Web based reports (Create and Publish)

Capability to have Real time and Historical reports

Capability to have Report Publications

Capability to export to XLS, PDF, RTF etc./ Select destination of publishing (E-mail, Portlet/Browser, FTP, Hand held device)

Capability to have alert and error management for generation/delivery and Non generation/non delivery

Capability for rich Formatting and personalization

Standard Reports features

Capability to define Templates on perspective (Product-Sales, Revenue- Cost, Agent Performance, Process performance, Line of JBusinesj-L Performance) or combination of perspectives (Product Sales - Revenue, Skill-Agent-call-revenue).

Capability to create reports based on pre-defined templates. Capability to Schedule a report for a defined period and users Capability to gerrerate on request, bash and schedule if necessary Capability to regenerate reports

Ad-hoc Reports features:

Capability to allow the reports to be created dynamically at run-time (ad-hoc reports) by selecting metrics , Reference , Transaction and pass any dimension.

Capability to allow reports to be created with parameter set that would be required to be filter report data at run time.

Schedule the Ad-hoc report if repeatability is a factor

Report Design / Creation / Publishing Features

Capability to create both free form & interactive reports. Free-form reports can have data as well as powerful -charts, while grid— reports allow for advanced analytics such as grouping, sorting, filtering,- etc. Freeform layout allows you to create flexible layouts in any form .

Capability to create Template and use different data sets for the same template. Ability to store templates and reuse.

Capability to support creation _. multiple types ^"of reports ( Crqss_jTab, Form- Style, Sub reports, conditional reports, OLAP reports, Drill down/sub reports, Conditional reports, Top/bottom reports... )

Capability to choose any metric, data column from the data store.

Capability to define/change data formatting rules

Capability to define/change data presentation rules

Capability to have Text and calculated col jmns

Capability to support standard functions and user defined calculations

Capability to support Pivot table reporting or Interface with MpacT data store for conducting Pivot table analysis

Capability on drag and drop utilities for commonly used report components such as the connection object, charts* alignment bands (header, footer, title, summary;- etc.). This should enable users to drag and drop the required objects to the layout.

Capability to visualize the report even while creating the report or preview the Report on Run time.

Capability to specify the number of records (data) to be displayed (Max Records field for reducing the loading time of the report.

Charting Objective : Business, Management and Operational Metric Status and Trend Analysis

Purpose : Create, View and conduct Analysis using charting

Presentation : Charts ( Visual )

Updates :Event Real time , Interval/period and Historical

Data : Metrics, raw and Calculated values

General features :

Capability to Create Predefined Charts and Publish for viewing

Capability to create Run time charts

Capability to create Real time ( event based ) Chart population. The charts (esp. real-time charts) should automatically refresh to present current data at a pre-defined refresh rate. This refresh rate can be set for each chart.

Chart Creation features

Capability to create Multiple chart types ( Line, Point, column, bar, pie, Area, Range, Polar, Gantt, Funnel , Combination, Statistical, funnel, Range... ) and plat against the metrics.

Capability to support for all measures and combination of measures in MpacT. Type of chart to be dependent on the Metric and applicability.

Capability to support all data elements from the data store. However a separate configuration can be provided so that at implementation time various data objects can be exposed based on the organization-specific requirements of viewing the data as a chart.

Capability to support Multiple series on all co-ordinate lines (X - Axis, Y - Axis etc.) of the chart

Capability to define multiple plotting areas, series, formats .legends, Axis and templates.

Capability to support multiple Legends , Docking and Alignment

Capability to support Date/Time series and missing points support Capability to support custom points, custom events and custom no data message formats

Capability to support Title features ( Docking, alignment, positioning, text styles snd appearance )

Capability to support multiple visual types ( 2D, 3D, Gradient, Hatching.... )

Capability to support multiple Axis^' features (Logarithmic , Lines, scaling, Tick marks... )

Capability to support color pallets,

Capability to support multiple layouts .

Capability to support Financial ; Statistical , arithmetic Operators and formulae's.

Capability to support run time formulae's.

Capability to support interactivity between charts , sub charts and drill down on metrics and dimensions.

Capability to covert chart to data tables

Capability to generate Limit charts and point charts.

Capability to export , mail and'attach the chart to documents.

Analytics Objective : Data Analysis for Strategies and Performance Improvements Query and Purpose : Conduct Analysis on Data set Analysis Presentation : Text, visual

Updates : Real time , Historical , Data : Any data in data store , Metrics

Analytics is an extension of features of reporting and Charting explained above.

Reporting, charting and Analytics can be a combined functionality depending on the User requirement and complexity of usage. Support access for Multi dimensional data extraction

Support drill down, drill through, slice and dice of information

Ability for Real Time Analysis: Drag-and-drop functionality, which enables to manipulate data in real-time outputs. Collapsible outlines which define the hierarchy of information and display exactly the information that is selected.

Ability for Offline Analytics: Extracted reports / outputs to be saved and made available for any statistical / analytical tool for further analysis which are not part of MpacTV

Ability for Advanced analytics: Operations such as grouping, sorting, filtering, adding pivot tables, etc.

Ability for Filtering: Filtering options to filter the records displayed in a report and add additional dimensions and data points for producing perspective and- combination of data.

Capability for conditional formatting.

Capability to access-' data from any MpacT data store and synchronize it within a single output- ( Creation of Super record set )

Ability to create custom queries including sub queries, combined queries, and edit SQL.

Ability to Support for the vast majority of the full-client formuia and calculation functions

Ability of advanced output creation features such as data ranking and custom sorts

Alerts/IB Objective : Actionable Real time Alerting on Business metrics for Corrective and Predictive Management

Purpose : Define alerts , Deliver and Track Actions.

Preseηtation : Text, visuals

Updates : Real Time, Event, Predictive calculations, Summaries.

Data : Metrics , Events. ■ Ability to support multiple types of. Alerts

Ability to support Event based Alerting ( An event on Source system, MpacT data store )

Ability to support. Alerting on' Business process Metric Value covering people level metrics, Process level metrics and Technology asset performance metrics

Ability to alert on a data Calculated value threshold adherence

Ability to .support predicative alerting ( based on lead Metrics )

Ability to support subscription of alerts based on content and type

Ability to publishing of alerts on different- channels ( Browser, PDA, SMS, Email , Wall board Broadcast )

Ability to define the Alert description by Business user ( Alert type, Group, Applicability, Level, Measurement frequency ..)

Ability to define Alerting condition (define^" the business rules^" for alerting based on certain conditions and comparison of real-time values to the target / threshold values using arithmetic / logical operators)

Ability to define Alerting Action (define the action and action attributes for a combination of alert and alert condition anci recipients )

Ability to define Aggregations and Alert escalations based on the event, condition and recipients lists )

Ability to maintain an alert History and user should be able to search query and filter alerts on perspectives, metrics, people, Process , time period and group of Business activity.

Ability to support re-alerting based on the repetition of events , metric value thresholds as set in the definition of Alert conditions.

Ability to link Alert to detail reporting , charting for a Metric, Event, process, group , Time period for detailed analysis.

Collaboration Objective : Collaborate between different functions and people for Information , knowledge share and Actions

Purpose : Communicate and Collaborate across people and process

Presentation : Text, messaging, Visual , Documents

Updates : On Line , real time

Data : User defined , shared

General features :

A stack of collaboration tools can be integrated with MpacT depending on the requirement and usage of the tools.

Capability to integrate and interact with MpacT. ■

Capability to write information to MpacT database

Capability to have threaded discussions

Capability for file sharing.

Capability to distribute information on multiple channels.

Sample Tools and respective Functionality

Ability to Chat : Chat with the other users of MpacT and store the text chat details for further usage. Threading is required.

Support White Board : Display of drawings, pictures or documents for group discussion and comment. Participants can annotate in real time as well. Store details in MpacT database if user demands. ^'

Bulletin Board : Used to post notices 'and facilitate discussions on any topic.

Discussion Boards : Topics to be posted on MpacT for discussion and comment where participants can follow a line of discussion on a topic. ^'

File sharing : Connect to Virtual file cabinets from MpacT and allow information to be stored on web servers, and are available to anyone authorized on MpacT to use the files.

Application sharing : MpacT to be the single window and provide link for other applications .

Work Flow To be discussed ; Need direction from Product management Group to document this section

Knowledge To be discussed ; Need direction from Product management Group to Management document this section

E-Learning To be discussed ; Need direction from Product management Group tc document this section.

DESIGN QF THE INVENTION:

MpacT uses the best technology available.today, both in terms of off-the-shelf products as well as application development methodologies and tools. Best practices based on market research as well as several hundred man-years of experience have been brought in to create application and data integration within the platform. From the outset, the platform has been designed to be portable, flexible and scalable, so that it can operate effectively in diverse^' environments.

The platform of the MpacT comprises off-the-shelf third party applications; best-of-breød tools and J2EE based application components, which help to maintain the reliability, availability, manageability, performance and scalability of the platform. . '

The principal architectural strategies employed ensure a reliable and scalable platform. MpacT leverages proven off-the-shelf technology components for standard functionality like portals, document management, workflow, reporting, Bl, ETL (Extract, Transform and Load), and messaging. MpacT platform achieves seamless integration among MpacT and third party applications by enabling integration at multiple levels. ETL based data integration into data stores like ODS (Operational data store) and Data warehouse to support integration of historical information for reporting and Analytics.

MpacT uses a message bus to support workflow, data integration andjtelivery to multiple channels like browser,^" e-mail, SMS and Wallboards. J2EE is- used for development of all MpacT application components. MpacT is developed with a strong focus on current and emerging industry-wide standards like WSRP (Web Services for

Remote Portlets) for application delivery through the portal, XML (Extended Markup Language) based messaging, J2EE patterns for application development and integration.

MpacT has a generic data model, which minimizes need for^" custom development. These

/ architectural principles ensure that MpacT applications and services operate in a high reliability and availability environment, yet they maintain a loose coupling with each other, so as to ensure their ability to accommodate multiple deployment environments. This helps io protect any investments customers of MpacT may have made in other applications and infrastructure.

The technical architecture is depicted in Figure 2.

As explained previously, the Mpact comprises four tiers and the first tier is the instrumentation tier, which does the function of data gathering. The Extract, Load and Transform (ETL) are the first step in the data gathering process. Data may be gathered from external sources or systems 210. The external svstems 210 include but do not limit to Human Resource System (HR) 201 , Call Management System (CMS) 202, Automatic Call Distributors (ACD) 203, Work Force Management (WFM) System 204, Quality Management System (QSM) 205, and XLS 206. Mpact's ETL can use an industry strength ETL tool like informatica or Microsoft DTS service to meet the Tier 1 functionality.

The external systems 210 use a plurality of adaptors such as DB Adapters 221 , Event Adapter 222, Screen Adapter 223, Web Services 225, and XLS, CSV 225. These adaptors work on getting data extracted through the following mechanisms.

1. HTTP - Screen Scraping

2. ODBC - connectivity to source systems

3. TCP/ IP - Listeners to ports for packet data

4. Web Service - Executing queries on systems 5. CTI Link - Gathering switch events in real time

By periodicity, there are adaptors that gatherdata as per the following time frames

1. End of Day

2. End of Interval - Half hourly

5 3. Real Time / Near Real time

According to the present invention, an Operational Data Store (ODS) 240 and a Stage 230 is provided in the Mpact architecture. The ODS 2:40 and the Stage 230 form the central store of all performance related data that is extracted from various source systems 210. The data is stored in stage 230 in a vendor neutral way so as to enable 10 integration to sources provided by various vendors. The translation of the data from each vendor to a common format is done using the linked repository.

In MpacT ODS 240 consists of both real-time and historic data. Data Integration tier or the instrumentation layer is responsible for obtaining and transforming the data from source systems 210 and loading it to the staging areε of ODS 240. The staging data i 5 would be processed by .the Transformation Module 232 (for^' lookups, establishing relationships etc.) and ,'oaded into the ODS 240. The ODS 240 provides data for various MpacT modules like security authority 250, portal (presentation layer) 280, Business Analysis Model (BAM) Engine 260, Chart/Report Component 270 as shown in figure 2.

The security authority 250 contains the details of the authorized business users 251 and 0 administrative users 252. Each authorized user 251 , 252 may access the presentation tier after the secured login.

The BAM Engine 2fiO is the Business layer engine designed to provide Build Measures 261 , Rule Engine 262, Generate Notification 263, and Dispatcher 264. The measures Events are available to BAM Engine 260 from a scheduler 290, which is used to 5 schedule events to trigger the building and evaluation of a measure. The Data Integration Layer or the instrumentation layer will provide real time events, which the BAM engine 260 will process to build and evaluate a measure. These measures are stored in measure repository 265.

ODS 240 is broadly responsible for providing a data source to the operations, providing data with the required granularity to cater Reports 281 , Charts 282, Dashboard 283, 5 Real-time Alerts & Information broadcast (IB) 284, helping in monitoring service level commitments (both external and internal Service Level Agreements "SLAs"), and providing data that is aggregated along the dimensions of time, groups, service and physical locations. The reports 281 and charts 282 are stored in the report repository 292 and the chart repository 293 respectively.

I O The time refers to actual transaction time that may consist of half an hour, a day, a week, a month, three months, or a year. The groups may comprise an agent, working unit, operations unit, or any other group. The service may inciude customer service, collections, help desk, sub-process, process, client, or organization. The physical locations may include facility, city, state, country, region.

15 The model has subject areas that address transaction performance, employee performance and process service levels, support service levels, transaction quality, etc with reference data for each. Mpact uses this Hybrid data modeling approach, which brings in the features/capabilities of Dimensional Modeling as well as ER , (Entity Relationship) Modeling into design. This can satisfy users like Charting / Reporting who 0 requires huge volume of aggregated data as well as E3usiness Activity Monitoring "BAM" applications that needs specific sets of data. Apart from this, this model can be extended without any major impact to the existing design with this approach.

The invention allows less number of join is required compared to the 3 Normal Form Modeling (3NF modeling) to provide faster data retrieval, less Impact on model if there is 5 change in source system, rolling up and rolling down of data on dimensional data- elements without any complex queries/joins. \ The Storage layer stores data in multi dimensional, Online Analytical Processing "OLAP" schema which supports slice & dice facility aiong with drill up & down in multi dimensional analysis.

Figure 3 shows the usage of message bus and is explained as follows. The invention 5 uses messages buses as backbone for loosely coupled and flexible architecture. It uses Measurement Gathering Channel 310 to collect/ gather raw data from external systems. ^■ Also this uses another kind of message bus Measurement- Distribution Channel 320 to distribute the consolidated measure to presentation tier 104 or business analytics 103.

I O Referring again to figure 2, a Unified Measure Model (UMM) 231 is designed to cater to all the consumer applications. This is the layer . which sits in between ODS 240 and consumers or end users. It stores fetches data from ODS -240 and computes in accordance with business requirements and presents to consumers. The execution flow of UMM is shown in figure 4.

15 The uniqueness in the design of the present invention is the ability to manage the measure definition by business users. Though dimensioral model supports, sparse facts through the concept of fact dimension, the ability to coniigure the fact in fact dimension is unique to UMM 231. This has also achieved the objective of storing the aggregated measure for real time alerts.

0 Another key aspect of the UMM 231 is that it can be configured to handle any base and derived measure. It can handle queries across various ooerational areas like operations and finance. The UMM 231 is also designed to be generic to handle different kinds of dimensions.

F^:igure 4 shows the design of the Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) engine 260. The 5 E3AM engine 260 ensures the process of generation of real time/near real time alerts, messages, and reports for subscribed business users. BAM engine 260continuousiy looks for events or activities that take place within the system. Generally, measures Events are available to BAM Engine 260 from the scheduler, which is used to schedule events to trigger the building and evaluation of a measure. The Data integration Layer or the instrumentation layer 101 will provide real time events, which the BAM engine 260 will process to build and evaluate a measure.

As shown in figure 4, the BAM engine 260 is designed to perform the following functions:

• Building the measure 261 : The BAM engine 260 will use the measure repository 265 to get the data required to build the meεsure.

• Evaluating the measure: -The BAM engine 260 will build the rule expression, and the data required to process the rule, and use a rule engine 252 to evaluate the rule.

• Generating a notification: Based on the rule ^result, the BAM engine 260 will use the subscription repository 291 to generate notifications for all subscribed users.

• Dispatching the notification: The BAM engine 260 will use a dispatcher 264 to dispatch the notification- by user to the appropriate channel.

The BAM Engine 260 is a J2EE component. As it is designed generically, it can be used for any domain for Business Activity monitoring purpose). As BAM engine^~designed for loosely coupled fashion, it uses Java Messenger Service "JMS" message layer 320 for its input/ output. BAM engine 260 can be deployed in multiple servers. As the message layer uses Queue, all BAM engine 260 instances make competitive subscription to the queue. Hence one event consumed by only one BAM Engine instance alone. This fashion, the load is distributed evenly and fault tolerance also managed. Thre^'following are USP (?) of the BAM engine 260.

Rules definition

a. Activity Monitoring i. Support for Complex Event Definition Rule Definition

ii. Support for Realtime and Scheduled Events

iii. Aggregation and Consolidation

b. Action

i. Support for Multiple Delivery Modes (Alerts, IB)

ii. Support for Escalations/Re-alerting

c. Delivery

i. Subscription Based (Multi-Level, Profile based subscription) _.

ii. Support for Multiple Delivery Channels (Portal, Email, SMS)

BAM engine uses Quartz (open source) as scheduler and Rhino, an open source Java Script Engine, is used for processing the rule. BAM engine uses OS cache (open source) as caching framework.

Referring again to figure 2, the presentation tier 104 provides an integrated Reporting 281 , Charting 282, Dash boarding 283 and Alerts/IB 284 framework. This helps users to visualize the health of the contact center. The framev/ork provides profile-based access to information that can be customized to groups need and personalized to user's need. The presentation tier 104 is written in J2EE and is generic to provide the information required for third party reporting and dash boarding tools.

The foregoing description of the invention has been described for purposes of clarity and ^• understanding. It is not intended to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Various modifications may be possible within the scope and equivalence of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A business performance management system comprising:

an instrumentation layer configured for deriving plurality of measurement information from multiple sources and integrating said measurement information 5 in a canonical format;

a consolidation layer configured for filtering and preprocessing instrumentation layer output and capturing all measurement information in an operational data storage;

a business modeling layer configured for processing said measurement I O information;

a presentation layer configured for dispersing said measurement information.

2. The business performance management system of claim 1 , wherein the multiple sources include relational database, multi-dimensional database, flat, modem and

1.5 legacy database, enterprise applications, mainframe eniries and the like.

3. The business performance management system of claim 1 , wherein, the measurement information is integrated in the instrumentation layer by cleansing, validation, auditing and synchronizing_, the derived data through ETL/EAI tool.

4. The business performance management system of claim 1 , v/herein 20 consolidation layer comprises of multiple databases including Knowledge Management and E-leaming Repository, Metadata, Event Store, OLAP, ODS, Data Mart, and Data Warehouse.

5. The business performance management system of claim 1 , wherein the business modeling layer is configured to provide plurality of Business Definitions, Performance

25 Measurement Events, Roles and Rules for consumption of content and information,

Administration and Security.

6. The business performance management system of claim 1 , wherein the business modeling layer is a bridge between the consolidation layer and the presentation layer.

7. The business performance management system of claim 1 , wherein the business modeling layer is interactivity based layer.

5 8. The business performance management system of claim i , wherein the business modeling layer is a business user usage area.

9. The business performance management system of claim 1 , wherein the presentation layer is configured to provide different forms and channels of distribution of Information to different end users.

10 10. The business performance management system of claim 1 , wherein the presentation layer uses a message bus to support workflow, data integration and delivery to multiple channels like browser, e-mail, SMS and Wallboards.

11. The business performance management system or claim 1, wherein the presentation layer provides both real-time and historic data.

^' 15 12. The business performance management system of claim 1 , wherein a Business

Activity Monitoring (3AM) Engine is provided in the Eusiness modeling layer.

13. The business performance management system of claim 12, wherein the BAM engine is configured to generate real time/near real ':ime alerts, messages, and reports for subscribed business users.

20 14. A method for providing integrated business performance management platform, the method comprising the steps of:

deriving plurality of measurement information from multiple sources in an instrumentation layer;

integrating said measurement irforma'iion in a canonical format within the 25 instrumentation layer;

19 filtering and preprocessing instrumentation layer output in a consolidation layer having an operational data storage;

capturing all measurement information in said operational data storage of the consolidation layer;

processing said measurement information within a business modeling layer; and

dispersing said measurement information to end users through a presentation layer.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the multiple sources include relational database, multi-dimensional database, flat, modern and legacy database, enterprise applications, mainframe entries and the like.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the measurement information is integrated in the instrumentation layer by cleansing, validation, auditing and synchronizing the derived data through ETL/EAI tool.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein consolidation layer comprises of multiple databases including Knowledge Management and E-learning Repository, Metadata, Event Store, OLAP, ODS, Data Mart, and Data Λ'arehouse.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the business modeling layer is configured to provide plurality of Business Definitions, Performance Measurement Events, Roies and Rules for consumption of content and information, Administration and Security.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the business-modeling layer is a bridge between the consolidation layer and the presentation layer.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the business-modeling layer is interactivity based layer.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the business modeling layer is a business user usage area.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the presentction layer is configured to provide different forms and channels of distribution of Information to different end users.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein the presentation layer uses a message bus to support workflow, data integration and delivery to multiple channels like browser, e-mail,

5 SMS and Wallboards.

24. The method of claim 14, wherein the presentation layer provides both real-time and historic data.

25. The method of claim 14, wherein a Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) Engine is provided in the Business-modeling layer.

10 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the BAM engine is configured to generate real time/near real time alerts, messages, and reports for subscribed business users.

27. A computer program product embodied on a computer readable medium for providing integrated business performance management platform, the computer program product comprising computer instructions for:

i 5 configuring an instrumentation layer for deriving plurality of measurement information from multiple sources and integrating said measurement information in a canonical format;

configuring a consolidation layer for filtering and preprocessing instrumentation layer output and capturing all measurement information in an 0 operationai data storage;

configuring a business modeling layer for processing said measurement information; and

configuring a presentation layer for dispersing said measurement information.

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