Maintaining operational continuity of business systems

Abstract

An example method for monitoring operations of a business organization electronic computing device includes executing a checklist on a monitoring electronic computing device to obtain an operational status of an application being implemented on the business organization electronic computing device. Data is received from the business organization electronic computing device regarding the operational status of the application being implemented on the business organization electronic computing device. When a determination is made that the data identifies an operational threat for the business organization electronic computing device, an action is proposed or implemented to remediate the operational threat. An implementation of the checklist is adjusted based on an effectiveness of the action to remediate the operational threat.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for monitoring operations of a business organization electronic computing device, the method comprising:
 obtaining data from the business organization electronic computing device regarding an operational status of an application being implemented on the business organization electronic computing device, wherein the data includes one or more operational variables;   simulating the business organization electronic computing device within a business system using the one or more operational variables;   determining the one or more operational variables of the data identify a potential operational threat for the business organization electronic computing device using the simulating;   in response to determining the one or more operational variables of the data identify the potential operational threat for the business organization electronic computing device using the simulating, proposing or implementing a proactive action to remediate the potential operational threat; and   evaluating an effectiveness of the proactive action.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more operational variables are recorded in operational logs. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more operational variables used for the simulating are obtained from the operational logs. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein obtaining data from the business organization electronic computing device regarding the operational status of the application being implemented on the business organization electronic computing device comprises obtaining data from the business organization electronic computing device regarding the operational status of a plurality of applications being implemented on the business organization electronic computing device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the data is obtained on a per application basis from the operational logs of each application of the plurality of applications. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein, for the each application of the plurality of applications, the data is obtained for operational variables identified in a checklist for the each application. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising determining a reliability score for the checklist for the each application based on the effectiveness of the proactive action. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein evaluating the effectiveness of the proactive action comprises determining the proactive action removed the potential operational threat. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein evaluating the effectiveness of the proactive action comprises determining a length of time the proactive action took to remove the potential operational threat. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the length of time is determined according to timestamps in the operational logs. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 obtaining one or more benchmarks for aspects of the application; and   when the data exceeds at least one of the one or more benchmarks by a threshold value, determining that the potential operational threat exists for the business organization electronic computing device.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein determining that the potential operational threat exists for the business organization electronic computing device further comprises determining that the data exceeds the at least one of the one or more benchmarks by the threshold value for a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein determining that the potential operational threat exists for the business organization electronic computing device further comprises determining that the data exceeds the at least one of the one or more benchmarks by the threshold value for a predetermined number of monitoring cycles. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising, when the data exceeds the at least one of the one or more benchmarks by less than the threshold value, that the data represents a spike in the data. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more benchmarks are dynamically determined based on historical trends of the data. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising determining a level of the potential operational threat, the level being based on an extent to which the data exceeds the threshold value. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 determining the level of the potential operational threat is a self-correction level based on the data exceeding the threshold value by a first percentage;   determining the level of the potential operational threat is a manual level based on the data exceeding the threshold value by a second percentage, wherein the second percentage is greater than the first percentage; and   determining the level of the potential operational threat is a replacement level based on the data exceeding the threshold value by a third percentage, wherein the third percentage is greater than the second percentage.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein, in response to determining the level of the potential operational threat is the self-correction level, the proactive action is clearing a memory cache. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein, in response to determining the level of the potential operational threat is the replacement level, the proactive action is disabling a network connection to the business organization electronic computing device and activating the network connection to a backup business organization electronic computing device. 
     
     
         20 . An electronic computing device, comprising:
 a processor; and   system memory, the system memory including instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic computing device to:
 obtain data from a business organization electronic computing device regarding an operational status of an application being implemented on the business organization electronic computing device, wherein the data includes one or more operational variables; 
 simulate the business organization electronic computing device within a business system using the one or more operational variables; 
 determine the one or more operational variables of the data identify a potential operational threat for the business organization electronic computing device using the simulating; 
 in response to determining the one or more operational variables of the data identify the potential operational threat for the business organization electronic computing device using the simulating, propose or implement a proactive action to remediate the potential operational threat; and 
 evaluating an effectiveness of the proactive action.