Proposal program, proposal method, and information processing device

Abstract

To provide a proposal program, a proposal method, and an information processor that efficiently extract a component and make an appropriate proposal.SOLUTION: A proposal program causes a computer to perform processing of: retrieving customer data for sales result data; acquiring system configuration data of a system corresponding to the customer data; and extracting, from among components included in the system configuration data, in response to a reply to an inquiry to a customer based on a relation between the components, a component to be included in contents of a proposal to the customer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a proposal program, a proposal method, and an information processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are known techniques for supporting system construction, such as a technique for proposing a combination of elements for system construction by referring to the suitability ranking of combinations of design information of systems designed in the past. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-110325 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the conventional technology described above, since no questions are asked about the customer's needs, there is a possibility that the proposed content will not include the functions desired by the customer. In response to this, there is a method in which, when proposing a system, the customer is asked whether or not a listed element is necessary based on the results of an interview with the customer about their needs, etc., and the proposed content is then determined. However, with this method, if there are many types of candidate elements, the number of exchanges of questions and answers increases, which is time-consuming.

[0005] In one aspect, the present invention aims to efficiently extract elements and make appropriate suggestions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In one embodiment, This is data in which customer data and system configuration data are associated with each other. Sales performance data , the aboveThis is a proposal program that causes a computer to execute the following process: searching customer data, obtaining system configuration data for a system corresponding to the customer data, and extracting components from the components included in the system configuration data to be included in a proposal to the customer in accordance with answers to questions posed to the customer based on the relationships between the components. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] It is possible to efficiently extract elements and make appropriate suggestions. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of a proposed system. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing device. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a sales performance storage unit. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a component relationship storage unit. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a question storage unit. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating functions of a proposal processing unit included in the information processing device. [Figure 7] 10 is a first flowchart illustrating processing by the information processing device. [Figure 8] 10 is a second flowchart illustrating the processing of the information processing device. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a first diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a second diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a third diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a fourth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a fifth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a sixth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. [Figure 15] FIG. 7 is a seventh diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. [Figure 16] FIG. 13 is an eighth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. [Figure 17] FIG. 13 is a ninth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a tenth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. [Figure 19] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display on a terminal device. [Figure 20] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of determining that a component is unnecessary. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following describes the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of the proposed system.

[0010] The proposal system 100 of this embodiment includes an information processing device 200 and a terminal device 300. The information processing device 200 and the terminal device 300 are connected via a network or the like.

[0011] The information processing device 200 of this embodiment may be, for example, an information processing device managed by a system provider. The terminal device 300 may be, for example, a terminal device used by a customer who receives a proposal for a new system.

[0012] The information processing device 200 of this embodiment includes a sales record storage unit 210 , a component relationship storage unit 220 , a question storage unit 230 , and a proposal processing unit 240 .

[0013] The sales performance storage unit 210 stores sales performance data relating to systems previously sold by the system provider managing the information processing device 200. The component relationship storage unit 220 stores component relationship data generated from the sales performance data. The question storage unit 230 stores question data relating to questions to be output to the terminal device 300.

[0014] When the proposal processing unit 240 receives a proposal request for a new system from the terminal device 300, it generates component relation data by referring to the sales performance data and extracts candidate components to be included in the new system. In this embodiment, the system specifications and functions to be incorporated into the system are expressed as components.

[0015] Furthermore, the proposal processing unit 240 outputs to the terminal device 300, in order, a question asking whether each of the extracted candidate constituent elements is necessary.

[0016] At this time, the proposal processing unit 240 identifies unnecessary components from among the extracted candidate components according to the response obtained from the terminal device 300 .

[0017] In other words, the proposal processor 240 extracts components that may be needed in a new system from the answers to the questions.

[0018] Then, the proposal processing unit 240 generates a question asking whether or not components that may be needed in the new system are necessary, and outputs the question to the terminal device 300.

[0019] Therefore, according to this embodiment, questions are not asked about components that are determined to be unnecessary, which reduces the number of questions about components and reduces the effort required to exchange questions and answers.

[0020] Furthermore, the proposal processing unit 240 of this embodiment asks a question about the necessity of only those components that may be needed, and extracts components to be included in the proposal from candidate components to be included in the new system according to the answer to the question. Specifically, the proposal processing unit 240 asks the customer whether they are necessary for those components that may be needed, and includes the components for which the customer answers "necessary" in the proposal.

[0021] Therefore, according to this embodiment, components can be extracted efficiently and appropriate proposals can be made.

[0022] 1, the sales record storage unit 210, the component relationship storage unit 220, and the question storage unit 230 are provided in the information processing device 200, but this is not limiting. A part or all of these storage units may be provided outside the information processing device 200.

[0023] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the proposal processing unit 240 is included in the information processing device 200, but the proposal processing unit 240 may be realized by a plurality of information processing devices.

[0024] Next, a description will be given of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 200. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device.

[0025] The information processing device 200 of this embodiment is a computer including an input device 21, an output device 22, a drive device 23, an auxiliary storage device 24, a memory device 25, an arithmetic processing device 26, and an interface device 27, all of which are interconnected by a bus B1.

[0026] The input device 21 is a device for inputting various types of information and is realized by, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device, etc. The output device 22 is for outputting various types of information and is realized by, for example, a display, etc. The interface device 27 includes a LAN card, etc., and is used for connecting to a network.

[0027] The proposal program that realizes the proposal processing unit 240 possessed by the information processing device 200 is at least a part of various programs that control the information processing device 200. The proposal program is provided, for example, by distributing a recording medium 28 or by downloading from a network. The recording medium 28 on which the proposal program is recorded can be of various types, including recording media that record information optically, electrically, or magnetically, such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk, or a magneto-optical disk, and semiconductor memories that record information electrically, such as a ROM or a flash memory.

[0028] When the recording medium 28 on which the proposed program is recorded is set in the drive device 23, the proposed program recorded on the recording medium 28 is installed from the recording medium 28 into the auxiliary storage device 24 via the drive device 23. The proposed program downloaded from the network is installed into the auxiliary storage device 24 via the interface device 27.

[0029] The auxiliary storage device 24 realizes the sales record storage unit 210, the component relationship storage unit 220, the question storage unit 230, etc., of the information processing device 200, and stores the proposal program installed in the information processing device 200 as well as various files, data, etc. required by the information processing device 200. The memory device 25 reads out and stores the proposal program from the auxiliary storage device 24 when the information processing device 200 is started up. Then, the arithmetic processing device 26 realizes various processes as described below in accordance with the proposal program stored in the memory device 25.

[0030] The terminal device 300 of this embodiment is also a computer having an arithmetic processing unit and a storage unit, and its basic hardware configuration is similar to that of the information processing device 200, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0031] Next, each storage unit included in the information processing device 200 will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0032] 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sales performance storage unit. Sales performance data is stored in the sales performance storage unit 210 of this embodiment. The sales performance data of this embodiment is information about systems provided in the past by a provider of a system that manages the information processing device 200.

[0033] The sales performance data of this embodiment includes information items such as system ID, industry, business content, expected number of customers, model, number of units, and components, and the item "system ID" is associated with other items.

[0034] In this embodiment, information including the value of the item "system ID" and the values ​​of the other items is called sales performance data.

[0035] In addition, in the sales performance data of this embodiment, information including values ​​for the items "system ID," "industry," "business content," and "expected number of customers" is referred to as customer data, and information including values ​​for the items "system ID," "model," "number of units," and "component" is referred to as system configuration data. In other words, the sales performance data of this embodiment includes customer data and system configuration data. In other words, the sales performance data is data in which customer data and system configuration data are associated with each other.

[0036] The value of the "System ID" item is identification information for identifying systems that have been provided in the past. The value of the "Industry" item indicates the industry of the customer (client) to whom the system is provided. The value of the "Business Content" item indicates the business content of the client to whom the system is provided. The value of the "Expected Number of Customers" item indicates the expected number of customers for the system identified by the System ID.

[0037] The value of the item "Model" indicates the model of the server included in the system. The value of the item "Number of Servers" indicates the number of servers included in the system. The value of the item "Component" indicates the function included in the system.

[0038] In Figure 3, for example, the system identified by system ID "101" is a system in the service industry, its business is web-related, it is provided to a customer with an expected number of 1,000 customers, it includes two servers of model "M1", and has virtualization functions, backup functions, and load balancing functions.

[0039] 4 is a diagram showing an example of a component relationship storage unit. The component relationship storage unit 220 stores component relationship data. The component relationship data of this embodiment is generated using sales performance data extracted from the sales performance storage unit 210 using customer data as a search key. The component relationship data of this embodiment is data indicating the number of times two different components are simultaneously incorporated into the same system.

[0040] In the example of Figure 4, in the sales performance data extracted using certain customer data as a search key, it can be seen that the components "virtualization" and "backup" are incorporated into the same system at the same time twice, the components "virtualization" and "load balancing" are incorporated into the same system at the same time once, the components "virtualization" and "disaster recovery" and "high-performance CPU" are each incorporated into the same system at the same time once, and the components "virtualization" and "duplication" are incorporated into the same system at the same time zero times.

[0041] 4, it can be seen that the component "backup" and the component "load balancing" are incorporated into the same system at the same time twice, the component "backup" and the components "disaster recovery" and "duplication" are each incorporated into the same system at the same time once, and the component "backup" and the component "high performance CPU" are each incorporated into the same system at the same time twice. Details of the process for generating component relationship data will be described later.

[0042] 5 is a diagram showing an example of a question storage unit. Question data is stored in the question storage unit 230 of this embodiment. The question data of this embodiment is data in which a question sentence is associated with each component.

[0043] The question data of this embodiment includes, as information items, components and question sentences, which are associated with each other.

[0044] The value of the item "element" indicates the element corresponding to the question sentence. The value of the item "question sentence" is text data indicating the question sentence corresponding to the element.

[0045] In the example of Fig. 5, the component "virtualization" is associated with the question "Is system virtualization necessary?". Also, in the example of Fig. 5, the component "backup" is associated with the question "Is a system backup function necessary?".

[0046] Next, the function of the proposal processing unit 240 included in the information processing device 200 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the function of the proposal processing unit included in the information processing device.

[0047] The proposal processing unit 240 of the information processing device 200 of this embodiment has an input receiving unit 241, a search unit 242, a data generation unit 243, a configuration selection unit 244, a question generation unit 245, a judgment unit 246, an information update unit 247, a proposal generation unit 248, and an output unit 249.

[0048] The input receiving unit 241 receives input of various types of information to the information processing device 200. Specifically, the input receiving unit 241 receives input of customer data from the terminal device 300. The input receiving unit 241 also receives input of answers to questions from the terminal device 300.

[0049] When the input receiving unit 241 receives the input of customer data, the search unit 242 searches the sales record storage unit 210 for this customer data and extracts system configuration data that matches the customer data. The components extracted here become candidates for components to be included in the new system.

[0050] The data generation unit 243 generates the component relationship storage unit 220 based on the system configuration data extracted by the search unit 242. Specifically, the data generation unit 243 refers to the components included in the system configuration data extracted by the search unit 242, and counts, for each component, the number of times that the component is incorporated into the same system simultaneously with other components. Then, the data generation unit 243 generates component relationship data that associates combinations of components with the counted number of times.

[0051] The component selection unit 244 selects a component for which a question about necessity will be asked from among the candidate components extracted by the search unit 242 .

[0052] The question generation unit 245 refers to the question storage unit 230 and generates a question corresponding to the component selected by the component selection unit 244. Specifically, the question generation unit 245 refers to the question storage unit 230 and identifies text data corresponding to the selected component.

[0053] Upon receiving an answer to the question generated by the question generation unit 245, the determination unit 246 determines unnecessary components from among the candidate components according to the answer. Furthermore, the determination unit 246 determines whether or not each component included in the candidate components is likely to be required in the system according to the answer to the question.

[0054] Then, the determination unit 246 extracts components determined to be possibly required in the system from the candidate components. Therefore, the determination unit 246 of this embodiment is an example of an extraction unit that extracts components determined to be possibly required in the system.

[0055] The information update unit 247 updates the component relation data so that, among the candidate components, the components for which the question generation unit 245 has generated a question become queried components.

[0056] The proposal generator 248 generates information indicating the proposal content to be output to the terminal device 300 .

[0057] The output unit 249 transmits the text data identified by the question generation unit 245 and information indicating the proposal content generated by the proposal generation unit 248 to the terminal device 300.

[0058] Next, the processing of the information processing device 200 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a first flowchart illustrating the processing of the information processing device.

[0059] The proposal processing unit 240 of the information processing device 200 of this embodiment receives an input of a system proposal request from the terminal device 300 via the input receiving unit 241 (step S701). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the input of customer data is received as the system proposal request.

[0060] Next, the proposal processing unit 240 causes the search unit 242 to search the sales record storage unit 210 using the customer data, and acquires a list of system configuration data that matches the customer data (step S702).

[0061] Next, the proposal processing unit 240 causes the data generating unit 243 to generate component relationship data based on the list of system configuration data, and stores the generated data in the component relationship storage unit 220 (step S703).

[0062] Next, the proposal processing unit 240 performs a process of generating information indicating the content of a proposal to the terminal device 300 that has made the proposal request (step S704). The details of step S704 will be described later.

[0063] Next, the proposal processing unit 240 causes the output unit 249 to output information indicating the generated proposal content to the terminal device 300 (step S705).

[0064] Next, a process for generating information indicating proposal details will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a second flowchart illustrating the process of the information processing device. Fig. 8 shows details of the process of step S704 in Fig. 7.

[0065] The proposal processing unit 240 of the information processing device 200 of this embodiment selects, by the configuration selection unit 244, a component A for which no question has been generated from the component relation data (step S801).

[0066] Next, the proposal processing unit 240 causes the question generating unit 245 to refer to the question storage unit 230, identifies text data corresponding to the selected component A, and outputs the identified text data to the terminal device 300 via the output unit 249 (step S802). The text data output here is a question asking whether component A is necessary.

[0067] Next, the proposal processing unit 240 causes the information updating unit 247 to set the data corresponding to the component A in the component relationship data stored in the component relationship storage unit 220 to a queried state (step S803).

[0068] Next, when the input receiving unit 241 of the proposal processing unit 240 receives a response from the terminal device 300, the proposal generating unit 248 determines whether or not the response is "Component A is necessary" (step S804).

[0069] If the answer in step S804 is "component A is necessary," the proposal generator 248 adds component A to a list of components necessary for the system (step S805), and proceeds to step S811, which will be described later.

[0070] In step S804, if the answer is "Component A is unnecessary," the proposal processing unit 240 causes the configuration selection unit 244 to select another component B for which no question has been generated from the component relationship data (step S806).

[0071] Next, the proposal processing unit 240 determines, by the determining unit 246, whether the component A is the component that has the maximum number of times of being simultaneously incorporated into the same system as the component B in the component relation data (step S807).

[0072] In step S807, if component A is the relevant component, the judgment unit 246 judges that component B is an unnecessary component for the system, and the information update unit 247 sets the data corresponding to component B in the component relationship data stored in the component relationship storage unit 220 to a queried state (step S808), and the process proceeds to step S810.

[0073] If the component A is not the corresponding component in step S807, the determining unit 246 determines whether the component A is the only component that is incorporated into the same system as the component B at the same time (step S809).

[0074] In step S809, if component A is the only component that will be incorporated into the same system as component B at the same time, the determining unit 246 determines that component B is an unnecessary component for the system, and the process proceeds to step S808.

[0075] In step S809, if there are components other than component A that will be incorporated into the same system at the same time as component B, the configuration selection unit 244 determines whether the processing up to step S809 has been performed for all components included in the component relationship data (step S810).

[0076] In other words, the component selecting unit 244 determines whether or not all components other than the component A included in the component relation data have been selected as the component B.

[0077] That is, here, the proposal processing unit 240 determines that the component B selected in step S806 is a component that may be needed in the new system.

[0078] In step S810, if all the components have not been selected as component B, the proposal processing unit 240 returns to step S806.

[0079] In step S810, if all components are selected as component B, the proposal processing unit 240 determines whether there are any components that have not been marked as “asked” in the component relationship data stored in the component relationship storage unit 220 (step S811).

[0080] If a corresponding component exists in step S811, the proposal processing unit 240 returns to step S801. If a corresponding component does not exist in step S811, that is, if all components included in the component relation data have been queried, the proposal processing unit 240 ends the process.

[0081] In this manner, in this embodiment, system configuration data of a system similar in configuration to the system for which a proposal request has been received is extracted from the customer data and sales performance data of the customer who has made the system proposal request.

[0082] In this embodiment, among the components included in the extracted system configuration data, the components that are judged to be unnecessary by the customer and the components that are most frequently incorporated into the same system at the same time are determined to be unnecessary components.

[0083] Furthermore, in this embodiment, among the components included in the extracted system configuration data, only the components that are determined to be unnecessary by the customer and the components that are incorporated into the same system at the same time are determined to be unnecessary components.

[0084] In this embodiment, the component relationship data corresponding to the components determined to be unnecessary is set to a state in which a question has been asked. Therefore, in this embodiment, the customer is not asked whether or not the components determined to be unnecessary are necessary. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the customer from being asked whether or not all candidate components are necessary, thereby reducing the number of questions asked to the customer.

[0085] In this embodiment, the component relationship data is used to ask the customer whether they need the components that have been determined to be potentially needed in the new system, and the components to be included in the proposal are identified based on the customer's response. The components that have been determined to be potentially needed in the new system are, in other words, components that may be requested by the customer.

[0086] Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to efficiently extract components to be included in the proposal content, and to propose an appropriate system configuration that meets the customer's needs.

[0087] The processing in Fig. 9 will be specifically described below with reference to Fig. 9 to Fig. 18. Fig. 9 is a first diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit.

[0088] Fig. 9(A) shows, for example, the state of step S801 in Fig. 8. Specifically, Fig. 9(A) shows a state in which the component "virtualization" has been selected by the configuration selection unit 244 in the component relationship data 220-1 stored in the component relationship storage unit 220.

[0089] FIG. 9B shows, for example, a question 91 posed to the user (customer) of the terminal device 300 in step S802 of FIG. 8, and a response 92 from the terminal device 300.

[0090] In Fig. 9(B), the component "virtualization" is selected, so the question generation unit 245 refers to the question storage unit 230 and outputs text data corresponding to the component "virtualization" - "Is system virtualization necessary?" - as question 91 to the terminal device 300. Also, in Fig. 9(B), the answer "It is necessary" is received as answer content 92 from the terminal device 300 with respect to the component "virtualization".

[0091] FIG. 10 is a second diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. The component relationship data 220-2 shown in FIG. 10 shows the state after the question 91 has been output to the terminal device 300. In the component relationship data 220-2 shown in FIG. 10, the component relationship data corresponding to the component "virtualization" is in a state where a question has been asked. Note that in the component relationship data 220-2 of FIG. 10, the row and column corresponding to the component "virtualization" are shaded, indicating that the component relationship data corresponding to the component "virtualization" has been in a state where a question has been asked. In the following FIGS. 11 to 20, the component relationship data in which the row and column corresponding to the component are shaded indicates that the component has been in a state where a question has been asked.

[0092] In addition, in FIG. 9, the answer 92 to the question 91 indicates that the component "virtualization" is a necessary configuration for the system, and therefore the component "virtualization" is added to the list K of components necessary for the system.

[0093] The list K stores components required for the system for which the proposal request has been made. The list K may be temporarily held by the proposal generating unit 248, for example.

[0094] Fig. 11 is a third diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. Fig. 11(A) shows, for example, the state of step S801 in Fig. 8. Specifically, Fig. 11(A) shows the state in which the configuration element "backup" has been selected by the configuration selection unit 244 in the configuration element relationship data 220-2.

[0095] FIG. 11B shows, for example, a question 91A asked to the customer in step S802 of FIG. 8 and a reply 92A from the terminal device 300. In FIG.

[0096] In Fig. 11(B), the component "backup" is selected, so the question generation unit 245 refers to the question storage unit 230 and outputs text data corresponding to the component "backup", "Does the system need a backup function?", as question 91A to the terminal device 300. Also, in Fig. 11(B), the answer "No, it is not necessary" is received as answer content 92A from the terminal device 300 with respect to the component "backup".

[0097] 12 is a fourth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. Here, since the answer that the component "backup" is unnecessary is received, a determination is made as to whether each of the other four components included in the component relationship data 220-2 is unnecessary. The other four components are the components "load balancing," "disaster recovery," "duplication," and "high-performance CPU," for which no questions have been asked.

[0098] FIG. 12 explains the process of determining whether the component "load balancing" is unnecessary.

[0099] In the component relationship data 220-2, the component "load balancing" has been incorporated into the same system together with the component "backup" twice, which is the maximum number. In other words, the component "load balancing" is likely to be incorporated into the system together with the component "backup," and if the component "backup" is unnecessary, it is likely that the component "load balancing" will also be unnecessary.

[0100] Therefore, in this embodiment, the component "load balancing" is determined to be an unnecessary component based on the response that the component "backup" is unnecessary. Also, since there is no change in the required components, list K is not updated.

[0101] 13 is a fifth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit 100. For example, FIG. 13 shows the state of the component relation data 220-3 in step S808 of FIG.

[0102] In the component relation data 220-3 shown in FIG. 13, the component "load balancing" is determined to be an unnecessary component, and therefore the component relation data corresponding to the component "load balancing" is in a queried state.

[0103] FIG. 13 also shows a state in which the components "disaster prevention" and "dualization" have been selected and whether or not they are required has been determined.

[0104] Specifically, the component "disaster recovery" is incorporated into the same system simultaneously with the component "backup" once, which is the same number of times as other components and is not the maximum number. Also, the component "disaster recovery" is incorporated into the same system simultaneously with components other than the component "backup".

[0105] Therefore, the component "disaster countermeasures" is not regarded as an unnecessary component, and the component relation data corresponding to the component "disaster countermeasures" is not regarded as having been queried.

[0106] The same applies to the component "duplication", the component "duplication" is not regarded as an unnecessary component, and the component relation data corresponding to the component "duplication" is not regarded as having been queried.

[0107] Again, list K is not updated because no components required by the system are added.

[0108] Fig. 14 is a sixth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. Fig. 14 shows a state in which the component "high performance CPU" has been selected in the component relation data 220-3 and whether it is unnecessary or not has been determined.

[0109] The component "high-performance CPU" has been incorporated into the same system together with the component "backup" twice, which is the maximum number of times. In other words, the component "high-performance CPU" is likely to be incorporated into the system together with the component "backup," and if the component "backup" is unnecessary, it is likely that the component "load balancing" is also unnecessary.

[0110] Therefore, in this embodiment, the component "high-performance CPU" is determined to be an unnecessary component based on the response that the component "backup" is unnecessary. Also, since there is no change in the required components, list K is not updated.

[0111] Fig. 15 is a seventh diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. Fig. 15(A) shows, for example, the state of step S808 in Fig. 8. Specifically, in the component relationship data 220-4 shown in Fig. 15(A), the component relationship data corresponding to the component "high-performance CPU" that has been deemed unnecessary is in a queried state.

[0112] 15B shows, for example, a question 91B asked to the customer in step S802 of FIG. 8 and a reply 92B from the terminal device 300. In FIG.

[0113] 15(B), the component "disaster countermeasures" is selected, and the question generation unit 245 refers to the question storage unit 230 and outputs text data corresponding to the component "disaster countermeasures" - "Does the system need disaster countermeasures?" - as question 91B to the terminal device 300. Also, in FIG. 15(B), the answer "not necessary" is received from the terminal device 300 as answer content 92B regarding the component "disaster countermeasures".

[0114] 16 is an eighth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. Here, since a response is received that the component "disaster prevention" is not required, a determination is made as to whether other components included in the component relationship data 220-4 that have not been queried are unnecessary. In the component relationship data-4, the only other component that has not been queried is the component "duplication." Therefore, the processing for determining whether the component "duplication" is unnecessary will be described here.

[0115] In the component relationship data 220-4, the component "duplication" is not incorporated into the same system simultaneously with the component "disaster prevention" the maximum number of times, and is also incorporated into the same system simultaneously with components other than the component "disaster prevention".

[0116] Therefore, the component "duplication" is not regarded as an unnecessary component, and the component relation data corresponding to the component "duplication" is not regarded as having been queried.

[0117] Again, list K is not updated because no components required by the system are added.

[0118] Fig. 17 is a ninth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. Fig. 17(A) shows, for example, the state of step S808 in Fig. 8. Specifically, in the component relationship data 220-5 shown in Fig. 17(A), the component relationship data corresponding to the component "disaster prevention measures" for which a question has been asked is in a questioned state.

[0119] 17B shows, for example, a question 91C asked to the customer in step S802 of FIG. 8 and a reply 92C from the terminal device 300. In FIG.

[0120] 17(B), the component "duplication" is selected, and the question generation unit 245 refers to the question storage unit 230 and outputs text data corresponding to the component "duplication" - "Is duplication necessary for the system?" - as question 91C to the terminal device 300. Also, in FIG. 17(B), the answer "It is necessary" is received from the terminal device 300 as answer content 92C regarding the component "duplication".

[0121] Fig. 18 is a tenth diagram illustrating the processing of the proposal processing unit. The constituent element relation data 220-6 shown in Fig. 18 indicates a state in which all the constituent element relation data have been queried.

[0122] In Figure 18, since question 91C for the component "duplication" has been output, the component relationship data corresponding to the component "duplication" has been put into a queried state, and it can be seen that all component relationship data stored in the component relationship memory unit 220 has been put into a queried state.

[0123] In addition, here, the answer "It is necessary" is received as answer 92C to question 91C about the component "duplication." Therefore, "duplication" is added to list K of components as a component required for the system.

[0124] In this embodiment, as described above, the necessary or unnecessary status of candidate components included in the component relationship data extracted based on the customer data is determined, and components determined to be unnecessary are considered to have been queried.

[0125] In addition, in this embodiment, based on the component relationship data, components that are likely to be required for the new system are selected, and the customer is asked whether they need the selected components, and components for which the answer is "necessary" are added to list K.

[0126] 9 to 18, even if the component relation data contains six candidate components, the number of questions to be asked to the customer is reduced to three. In addition, in this embodiment, the components desired by the customer are included in the proposal. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to propose a system configuration that meets the customer's needs while reducing the number of questions to be asked to the customer.

[0127] Fig. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a terminal device. A screen 191 shown in Fig. 19 shows an example in which information indicating the proposal content output to the terminal device 300 in step S705 of Fig. 7 is displayed on the terminal device 300.

[0128] Screen 191 includes display areas 192, 193, and 194. Display area 192 displays customer data entered as a proposal request. Display area 193 displays the system configuration. Display area 194 displays a list of components (functions) to be included in the system.

[0129] Here, the list of components displayed in the display area 194 is a list of components included in the list K of components created by the processing of the proposal processing unit 240.

[0130] Furthermore, the system configuration displayed in the display area 193 is generated by the proposal generator 248 as follows.

[0131] The proposal generating unit 248 of this embodiment, for example, identifies a system in the sales performance data that is similar to the system configuration indicated by the system configuration data corresponding to the customer data. Then, the proposal generating unit 248 determines the model and number of units that appear most frequently in the identified system as the system configuration data to be included in the proposal content.

[0132] Specifically, for example, the proposal generating unit 248 assumes that the system configuration data extracted based on the customer data is system configuration data corresponding to the system IDs "101," "102," and "103" (see FIG. 3).

[0133] In this case, the proposal generator 248 identifies these systems as systems that are similar to the system configuration indicated by the system configuration data corresponding to the customer data.

[0134] Then, the proposal generator 248 acquires the model "M1" and the number "3" that appear most frequently among these systems, and includes the system configuration data including the model "M1" and the number "3" in the proposal content.

[0135] In this embodiment, by presenting the proposal content to the terminal device 300 in this way, it is possible to propose a system configuration including the functions desired by the customer.

[0136] In this embodiment, the components that are determined to be unnecessary by the customer and the components that are most frequently incorporated into the same system at the same time, or only the components that are determined to be unnecessary by the customer and the components that are incorporated into the same system at the same time, are determined to be unnecessary, but this is not limited to this.

[0137] In this embodiment, the conditions for determining that a component is unnecessary may be conditions other than the above-mentioned conditions.

[0138] Specifically, for example, in this embodiment, a component may be determined to be unnecessary only if it is the component that has been incorporated into the same system simultaneously with a component that has been determined to be unnecessary by the customer the most times, and this number is greater than or equal to a predetermined value than the number of times that the component that has been determined to be unnecessary by the customer and other components are incorporated into the same system simultaneously.

[0139] Another example of determining that a component is unnecessary will be described below with reference to Fig. 20. Fig. 20 is a diagram for explaining another example of determining that a component is unnecessary.

[0140] 20, a case will be described in which the predetermined value is set to 2. The predetermined value may be arbitrarily set by, for example, an administrator of the proposal system 100 or the like.

[0141] In the component relation data 220-3A shown in FIG. 20, the component "high performance CPU" is selected and a determination is made as to whether it is unnecessary.

[0142] In the component relationship data 220-3A, the component "high performance CPU" is incorporated into the same system simultaneously with the component "backup" for which the question was answered as unnecessary four times. Also, the component "high performance CPU" is incorporated into the same system simultaneously with the component "disaster recovery" for which the question has not been asked once, and is incorporated into the same system simultaneously with the component "duplication" for which the question has not been asked three times.

[0143] For this reason, the component "high performance CPU" can be incorporated into the same system simultaneously with the component "backup," which was answered as unnecessary in response to the question, a maximum of four times, but the number of times it can be incorporated into the same system simultaneously with the component "duplication" cannot be greater than three times, which is the predetermined value of two times.

[0144] In other words, the component "high-performance CPU" is likely to be incorporated together with components other than the component "backup" that was answered as unnecessary, indicating that there is a relatively high possibility that it is required by the customer.

[0145] Therefore, in the example of FIG. 20, the component "high performance CPU" is not determined as an unnecessary component, but is determined as a necessary component and is added to list K of components.

[0146] In this embodiment, by changing the conditions for determining that a component is unnecessary, components that may still be needed by the customer can be included in the proposal.

[0147] In this embodiment, the predetermined value is set as a number of times, but is not limited to this, and may be set as a value indicating a ratio, for example.

[0148] In this case, a component may be determined to be unnecessary if the ratio of the number of times a component determined by a customer to another component is simultaneously incorporated into the same system is less than a predetermined value, relative to the maximum number of times a component determined by a customer to another component is simultaneously incorporated into the same system.

[0149] The disclosed technology may take the following forms as described below. (Appendix 1) Searching the sales performance data with the customer data, and acquiring the system configuration data of the system corresponding to the customer data; A proposal program that causes a computer to execute a process to extract components to be included in a proposal to the customer from among the components included in the system configuration data, in accordance with answers to questions to the customer based on the relationships between the components. (Appendix 2) generating component relationship data indicating the number of times two different components are simultaneously incorporated in the system corresponding to the customer data based on the system configuration data; selecting a component to be inquired about from the customer based on the component relationship data; 2. The proposed program according to claim 1, which causes the computer to execute the process. (Appendix 3) selecting, based on the component relationship data, from among the components included in the system configuration data, components that are likely to be requested by the customer; outputting a question inquiring about the necessity of the component that is likely to be required by the customer; 3. The proposal program according to claim 2, which causes the computer to execute a process of changing the state of the component, about which the question has been asked, to a state where the question has been asked in the component relationship data. (Appendix 4) Identifying unnecessary components from among the components included in the system configuration data based on the component relationship data; In the component relationship data, the state of the component that is deemed unnecessary is set to a queried state. 4. The proposed program according to claim 2 or 3, which causes the computer to execute the process. (Appendix 5) A proposal program as described in any one of appendices 1 to 4, which outputs proposal content information including the customer data, information indicating a system configuration that is similar to the configuration of a system corresponding to the customer data, and components that are likely to be requested by the customer and for which an answer to a question asking the customer whether they are necessary is key, among components that are likely to be requested by the customer. (Appendix 6) The proposed program according to claim 4, wherein, of the components included in the component relationship data, the components that are most frequently incorporated into the same system at the same time are determined to be unnecessary components. (Appendix 7) A proposal program as described in Appendix 4 or 6, which determines, among the components included in the component relationship data, only those components that have been answered as unnecessary by the customer and those components that are incorporated into the same system at the same time as the components, as unnecessary components. (Appendix 8) A computer-implemented suggestion method, comprising: Searching the sales performance data with the customer data, and acquiring the system configuration data of the system corresponding to the customer data; A proposal method that extracts components to be included in a proposal to the customer from the components included in the system configuration data in accordance with answers to questions to the customer based on relationships between the components. (Appendix 9) a search unit that searches the sales performance data with customer data and acquires system configuration data of the system corresponding to the customer data; An information processing device having an extraction unit that extracts components to be included in a proposal to the customer from the components included in the system configuration data in accordance with answers to questions to the customer based on relationships between the components. (Appendix 10) Accepting input of customer data and acquiring system configuration data corresponding to said customer data from sales performance data; generating component relationship data indicating relationships between the components included in the system configuration data; Based on the component relationship data, components included in the system configuration data are estimated to be excluded from the components for which a question about necessity is to be asked of the customer; A program that causes a computer to execute processing that outputs questions based on the estimation results.

[0150] The invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments, but various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the appended claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0151] 100 Proposal System 200 Information processing device 210 Sales performance memory section 220 Component Relationship Memory Unit 230 Question storage section 240 Proposal Processing Unit 241 Input Reception Unit 242 Search Department 243 Data Generation Unit 244 Configuration Selection Section 245 Question generation part 246 Judgment section 247 Information Update Department 248 Proposal generation section 249 Output Section 300 Terminal Device

Claims

1. Searching for sales performance data, which is data in which customer data and system configuration data are associated with each other, using the customer data, and obtaining system configuration data of the system corresponding to the customer data; A proposal program that causes a computer to execute a process to extract components to be included in a proposal to the customer from among the components included in the system configuration data, in accordance with answers to questions to the customer based on the relationships between the components.

2. generating component relationship data indicating the number of times two different components are simultaneously incorporated in the system corresponding to the customer data based on the system configuration data; selecting a component to be inquired about from the customer based on the component relationship data; The proposal program according to claim 1 , which causes the computer to execute a process.

3. selecting, from among the components included in the system configuration data, components that are likely to be requested by the customer based on the component relationship data; outputting a question inquiring about the necessity of the component that is likely to be required by the customer; 3. The program according to claim 2, wherein the program causes the computer to execute a process of changing the state of the component, about which the question has been asked, to a state where the question has been asked in the component relationship data.

4. Identifying unnecessary components from among the components included in the system configuration data based on the component relationship data; In the component relationship data, the state of the component that is deemed unnecessary is set to a queried state. The proposal program according to claim 2 or 3, which causes the computer to execute processing.

5. 5. A proposal program as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, which outputs proposal content information including the customer data, information indicating a system configuration that is similar to the configuration of the system corresponding to the customer data, and components that are likely to be requested by the customer and for which an answer to a question asking the customer whether they are necessary is essential, among components that are likely to be requested by the customer.

6. A computer-implemented suggestion method, comprising: Searching sales performance data, which is data in which customer data and system configuration data are associated with each other, using the customer data to obtain system configuration data of the system corresponding to the customer data; A proposal method that extracts components to be included in a proposal to the customer from the components included in the system configuration data in accordance with answers to questions to the customer based on relationships between the components.

7. A search unit that searches sales performance data, which is data in which customer data and system configuration data are associated with each other, using the customer data and acquires system configuration data of the system corresponding to the customer data; An information processing device having an extraction unit that extracts components to be included in a proposal to the customer from the components included in the system configuration data in accordance with answers to questions to the customer based on relationships between the components.

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