Online Service Health Monitoring via Automated Workflow Execution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cloud-provided software applications can be unreliable or unavailable, leading to decreased productivity for users due to unmet reliability metrics and downtime, especially in production systems and enterprise environments.
Innovation Solution
A computer system that receives online service workflows and expected outcomes, executes them, and generates reports comparing actual to expected outcomes, while also scheduling automatic execution and monitoring for proper operation, ensuring timely completion and functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If cloud-provided applications are deployed to serve multiple users, then service coverage and accessibility are improved, but system reliability and availability deteriorate due to potential failures and downtime
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by continuously executing automated workflows that perform health checks, dependency validations, and functional tests before actual user transactions occur. These pre-executed workflows detect potential failures in advance, allowing the system to maintain reliability while serving multiple users across different cloud environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs feedback mechanisms by capturing outcomes from workflow executions and using this information to dynamically adjust system behavior. The feedback loop identifies reliability issues, triggers automated remediation workflows, and provides visibility into system health, thereby maintaining high availability even as service coverage expands across multiple users and environments.
2Reliability
If automated workflow execution is implemented to monitor online services, then service reliability is improved, but system complexity and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the monitoring system into modular workflow components that can be independently configured, executed, and managed. Each workflow represents a discrete monitoring task that can be scheduled and executed separately, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive reliability monitoring across multiple online services.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-service by enabling workflows to automatically execute, monitor service health, detect issues, and trigger remediation actions without human intervention. This automation reduces the operational complexity of managing reliability monitoring while maintaining continuous service oversight through self-managed workflow execution and outcome analysis.
3Speed
If workflow execution time is constrained to ensure timely monitoring, then responsiveness is improved, but measurement precision and completeness of monitoring may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by allowing workflow execution time limits to be dynamically configured based on service requirements. Different workflows can have different time constraints tailored to their specific monitoring needs, enabling the system to maintain responsiveness for time-critical monitoring while allowing more comprehensive checks for less time-sensitive services, thus preserving measurement precision without sacrificing overall responsiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments are directed to verifying the accessibility and functionality of an online service and to scheduling the automatic execution of an online service. In one scenario, a computer system receives online service workflows and corresponding expected outcomes for each workflow. Each online service workflow is associated with an online service, and each online service workflow includes workflow steps that cause the online service to perform specified operations that produce observable outcomes within a specified amount of time specified by the online service provider. The computer system executes at least one of the received online service workflows and abandons execution of the online service workflow if execution is not completed within the specified amount of time. The computer system also compares the outcomes of the workflow execution to the expected outcomes corresponding to the executed online service workflow and generates a report that includes the results of the comparison.