Importance

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Abstract

A method and system for automated error handling in system management flows by enhancing workflow engines by an error handling component and by adding a supportive error handling layer to invoked system management tasks which serves as the counterpart to the workflow engine's error handling component. The additional functionality of the task-provided error handling layer is accessible for the workflow engine via extended Web services interfaces. The workflow engine's error handling component and the task-provided error handling layer allow for the definition of a standard protocol between the workflow engine and invoked tasks for automated error handling. Furthermore, an interface and method of communication between the enhanced workflow engine and an external error resolving device (such as an expert system) is defined with the purpose of using the external error resolving device for automatic error recovery. The internal or external error resolving device is capable of performing corrective actions on the managed IT infrastructure using mechanisms outside the scope of this invention. The benefit of the presented architecture is that the complexity concerning error handling is completely removed from system management flow definitions, and the designer of a system management flow can concentrate on the logical structure of the flow (e.g. the correct sequence of tasks).

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First Claim