System and method for representing the information technology infrastructure of an organization

Abstract

A computer program for representing the information technology infrastructure of an organization includes an interactive display module and an output module. The interactive display module can generate a hierarchical list of information technology elements and organizational elements in the information technology infrastructure of the organization and can generate an interactive user interface that presents the hierarchical list. The output module can generate a hierarchical graph of the information technology infrastructure of the organization. The hierarchical list and the hierarchical graph each represent the information technology infrastructure of the organization.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . Information technology infrastructure management software, embodied in a computer-readable medium and operable, when executed, to: 
 generate a hierarchical representation of information technology elements categorized according to one or more organizational elements of a business entity with which each information technology element is associated;    wherein the hierarchical representation represents the information technology infrastructure of the business entity.    
     
     
         2 . The software of  claim 1 , wherein the organizational elements comprise departments of the business entity.  
     
     
         3 . The software of  claim 1 , further operable to generate an interactive user interface that presents the hierarchical representation to a user, wherein the hierarchical representation comprises a hierarchical list.  
     
     
         4 . The software of  claim 3 , further operable to: 
 receive user input via the interactive user interface relating to modifications of the relationships between the information technology elements and the organizational elements in the hierarchical list; and    modify the relationships between the information technology elements and the organizational elements in the hierarchical list based on the user input.    
     
     
         5 . The software of  claim 3 , further operable to: 
 receive user input via the interactive user interface relating to a search of the hierarchical list for multiple occurrences of an information technology element; and    search the hierarchical list for multiple occurrences of an information technology element.    
     
     
         6 . The software of  claim 3 , further operable to: 
 generate a listing of at least some of the information technology elements for presentation by the interactive user interface in a first section;    generate the first section of the interactive user interface that presents the listing;    generate a copy of one of the information technology elements in the listing presented by the interactive user interface in the first section; and    insert the copy in the hierarchical list presented by the interactive user interface in a second section.    
     
     
         7 . The software of  claim 3 , wherein the interactive user interface is a graphical user interface.  
     
     
         8 . The software of  claim 1 , further operable to: 
 maintain a dependency relationship between a first information technology element and a second information technology element; and    connect the second information technology element to each occurrence of the first information technology element.    
     
     
         9 . The software of  claim 1 , wherein the information technology elements comprise applications and databases.  
     
     
         10 . The software of  claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical representation comprises a hierarchical graph.  
     
     
         11 . A system for representing the information technology infrastructure of a business entity, comprising: 
 a memory operable to store data representing information technology elements of the business entity, organizational elements of the business entity with which each information technology element is associated, and relationships between the information technology elements and the organizational elements;    a processor coupled to the memory and operable to: 
 access the data in the memory; and  
   generate a hierarchical representation of the information technology elements categorized according to one or more organizational elements of the business entity with which each information technology element is associated; and    a display device coupled to the processor, the display device operable to display the hierarchical representation, wherein the hierarchical representation represents the information technology infrastructure of the business entity.    
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the organizational elements comprise departments of a business entity.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further operable to generate an interactive user interface that presents the hierarchical representation to the user, wherein the hierarchical representation comprises a hierarchical list.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the display device is operable to display the interactive user interface that presents the hierarchical list to a user.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the interactive user interface is a graphical user interface.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is further operable to: 
 receive user input via the interactive user interface relating to modifications of the relationships between the information technology elements and the organizational elements in the hierarchical list; and    modify the relationships between the information technology elements and the organizational elements in the hierarchical list based on the user input.    
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is further operable to: 
 receive user input via the interactive user interface relating to a search of the hierarchical list for multiple occurrences of an information technology element; and    search the hierarchical list for multiple occurrences of an information technology element.    
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is further operable to: 
 generate a listing of at least some of the information technology elements for presentation by the interactive user interface in a first section;    generate the first section of the interactive user interface that presents the listing;    generate a copy of one of the information technology elements in the listing presented by the interactive user interface in the first section;    insert the copy in the hierarchical list presented by the interactive user interface in a second section; and    generate a new hierarchical list of the information technology elements and the organizational elements with which each information technology element is associated for presentation by the interactive user interface in the second section.    
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the information technology elements comprise applications and databases.  
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the hierarchical representation comprises a hierarchical graph.  
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , further comprising an output device coupled to the processor, the output device operable to generate a hard copy output that presents the hierarchical graph.  
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein: 
 the memory is further operable to store a dependency relationship between a first information technology element and a second information technology element; and    the processor is further operable to connect the second information technology element to each occurrence of the first information technology element.    
     
     
         23 . A method performed on a computer for representing the information technology infrastructure of a business entity, comprising: 
 storing data representing information technology elements of the business entity, organizational elements of the business entity with which each information technology element is associated, and relationships between the information technology elements and the organizational elements;    accessing the data in a memory;    generating a hierarchical representation of the information technology elements categorized according to one or more organizational elements of the business entity with which each informational technology element is associated; and    displaying the hierarchical representation on a display device;    wherein the hierarchical representations represents the information technology infrastructure of the business entity.    
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the organizational elements comprise departments of a business entity.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein generating the hierarchical representation comprises generating an interactive user interface that presents a hierarchical list.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the interactive user interface is a graphical user interface.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein displaying the hierarchical representation comprises displaying a hierarchical list to a user.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising: 
 receiving user input via the interactive user interface relating to modifications of the relationships between the information technology elements and the organizational elements in the hierarchical list; and    modifying the relationships between the information technology elements and the organizational elements in the hierarchical list based on the user input.    
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising: 
 receiving user input via the interactive user interface relating to a search of the hierarchical list for multiple occurrences of one of the informational technology elements; and    searching the hierarchical list for multiple occurrences of one of the information technology elements.    
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising: 
 generating a listing of at least some of the information technology elements for presentation by the interactive user interface in a first section;    displaying the first section of the interactive user interface that presents the listing on the display device;    generating a copy of one of the information technology elements in the listing presented by the interactive user interface in the first section; and    inserting the copy in the hierarchical list presented by the interactive user interface in a second section.    
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the information technology elements comprise applications and databases.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein generating a hierarchical representation comprises generating a hierarchical graph.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising: 
 maintaining a dependency relationship between a first information technology element and a second information technology element; and    connecting the second information technology element to each occurrence of the first information technology element.