Cloud Service Feature Rollout via Hierarchical Group Enablement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cloud service providers lack effective methods to selectively enable new or updated features for customers based on their preferences and license agreements, leading to inefficient feature rollout.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that organize users into groups, enabling features based on enablement values, with hierarchical rollouts and adjustable thresholds, allowing features to be enabled for higher-level groups before lower-level groups and enabling/disabling based on calculated enablement values.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If features are enabled for all customers simultaneously, then customer satisfaction and feature adoption are improved, but system stability and risk control deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the customer base into multiple groups with different enablement thresholds. Each group is assigned a threshold value that determines when features are enabled for that group. This segmentation allows gradual rollout to different customer segments rather than simultaneous enablement for all customers, thus maintaining system stability while enabling feature adoption across the entire customer base.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by calculating enablement values for each customer group in advance and establishing threshold values before actual feature enablement. This preliminary configuration allows the system to control the timing and sequence of feature enablement across different groups, ensuring system stability is maintained while planning for comprehensive feature adoption.
2Reliability
If features are enabled selectively for specific customer groups, then system stability and risk control are improved, but feature rollout efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic threshold values that can be adjusted based on system performance, customer feedback, and operational metrics. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to optimize the balance between stability and rollout efficiency - thresholds can be increased to accelerate rollout to subsequent groups once stability is confirmed in earlier groups, or decreased to slow down rollout if issues arise.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where enablement decisions for subsequent customer groups are based on performance data and feedback from previous groups. This feedback loop allows the system to learn from early deployments and make informed decisions about enabling features for larger groups, improving overall rollout efficiency while maintaining stability through data-driven decisions.
3Measurement precision
If hierarchical group structures are implemented with strict enablement sequences, then control precision and risk management are improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent manages complexity by focusing on changing key parameters (threshold values and group assignments) rather than implementing complex hierarchical structures with multiple interdependent rules. Each customer group is assigned a single threshold value that controls feature enablement, simplifying the control mechanism while maintaining precise enablement control through parameter adjustment rather than structural complexity.
4Productivity
If enablement thresholds are set low for rapid rollout, then feature adoption speed is improved, but system stability and quality control deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the rollout process into multiple customer groups, each with appropriately calibrated threshold values. Early groups can have lower thresholds for rapid initial adoption, while subsequent groups have higher thresholds that maintain quality control. This segmentation allows different quality-speed tradeoffs for different phases of the rollout without compromising overall system stability.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for managing cloud services are disclosed herein. According to various aspects of the disclosure, a number of users of cloud services can be organized in to a plurality of hierarchically organized groups. A feature associated with a cloud resource can then be enabled for a first group of users. An enablement value can then be calculated for a member of a second group of users and the feature can be enabled for that member of the second group of users based on the calculated enablement value.