System and method for operation management and monitoring of bots

{
  "publication_number": "US10735522B1",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B1",
  "title": "System and method for operation management and monitoring of bots",
  "abstract": "A framework and a method are provided for monitoring and managing software bots that collectively automate business processes. The method includes interfacing with the bots executing on a bot infrastructure. The method also includes obtaining the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data recorded by the bots and the bot infrastructure. The method further includes generating or modifying a bot dependency chain based on the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data. The bot dependency chain represents at least one of dependencies amongst the bots and dependencies amongst the related business processes. The method also includes generating an outcome for the business processes according to the bot dependency chain and the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data recorded by the bots and the bot infrastructure.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A method of monitoring and managing software bots that collectively automate business processes, the method comprising: interfacing with a plurality of bots executing on a first bot infrastructure, each bot of the plurality of bots automating one or more business processes of a plurality of related business processes, each bot including first instrumented instructions that record bot-specific performance data corresponding to respective one or more business processes of the plurality of related business processes automated on the first bot infrastructure by said each bot, the first bot infrastructure including second instrumented instructions that record infrastructure-level performance data during execution of the plurality of bots; obtaining the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data recorded by the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure; generating or modifying a respective bot dependency chain based on the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data recorded by the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure, wherein the respective bot dependency chain represents at least one of dependencies amongst the plurality of bots automating different business processes of the plurality of related business processes and dependencies amongst different business processes of the plurality of related business processes; and generating an outcome for the plurality of related business processes according to the respective bot dependency chain and the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data recorded by the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure.",
    "2. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective bot dependency chain represents a hierarchical dependency among bots automating different business processes of the plurality of related business processes and wherein generating the outcome for the plurality of related business processes comprises performing temporal correlation of data corresponding to different business processes of the plurality of related business processes.",
    "3. The method of claim 2, further comprising obtaining metadata corresponding to respective bots automating different business processes of the plurality of business processes and using the metadata in performing the temporal correlation.",
    "4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the outcome for the plurality of related business processes comprises detecting a failure of the plurality of bots and performing root cause analysis (RCA) of the failure based on the bot-specific performance data.",
    "5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the outcome for the plurality of related business processes comprises obtaining a set of rules corresponding to one or more business assets corresponding to the plurality of bots, and evaluating status of the one or more business assets based on data corresponding to the plurality of related business processes and the set of rules.",
    "6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the outcome for the plurality of related business processes comprises detecting an outage of the plurality of bots based on the bot-specific performance data, the respective bot dependency chain, a rules-based asset and cross asset status evaluation of data corresponding to the plurality of related business processes, and patterns-based temporal correlation of data corresponding to the plurality of related business processes.",
    "7. The method of claim 6, wherein generating the outcome for the plurality of related business processes comprises simulating execution of the plurality of bots on the first bot infrastructure by playing back operations of the plurality of bots based on the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data the simulation indicating a cause of the outage of the plurality of bots.",
    "8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the outcome for the plurality of related business processes comprises applying one or more statistical threshold analyses, using one or more predetermined thresholds, on the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data to determine a positive or a negative outcome for the plurality of related business processes.",
    "9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the outcome for the plurality of related business processes comprises generating and providing a dashboard that indicates status of the plurality of bots and one or more business assets corresponding to the plurality of bots.",
    "10. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the outcome for the plurality of related business processes comprises evaluating the bot-specific performance data to determine return on investment (ROI) due to the plurality of related business processes.",
    "11. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the outcome for the plurality of related business processes comprises generating and displaying a dependency tree that encapsulates dependencies amongst the plurality of related business processes.",
    "12. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a user interface and generating and displaying, in the user interface, a bot dependency view that represents dependencies amongst the plurality of bots, a process view displaying the plurality of related business processes, a machine view displaying a mapping between the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure, and an error view displaying recent errors and correlation information.",
    "13. The method of claim 1, further comprising, collecting and aggregating data from one or more processes monitoring at least one of the plurality of bots, the first bot infrastructure, one or more applications executing on the first bot infrastructure, and using the aggregate data in determining and generating the outcome for the plurality of related business processes.",
    "14. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the outcome for the plurality of related business processes comprises generating and reporting long term trends calculated using one or more analytics frameworks based on the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data.",
    "15. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of bots includes a first group of bots that collectively automate a first business process and a second group of bots that collectively automate a second business process.",
    "16. The method of claim 2, wherein the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data are recorded asynchronously by the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure.",
    "17. The method of claim 2, wherein the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data are recorded in real-time by the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure.",
    "18. The method of claim 1, wherein the bot-specific performance data includes raw event data and processed data including at least (i) one or more bot metrics corresponding to operation of the plurality of bots, and (ii) one or more business metrics corresponding to the plurality of related business processes.",
    "19. An electronic device, comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: interfacing with a plurality of bots executing on a first bot infrastructure, each bot of the plurality of bots automating one or more business processes of a plurality of related business processes, each bot including first instrumented instructions that record bot-specific performance data corresponding to respective one or more business processes of the plurality of related business processes automated on the first bot infrastructure by said each bot, the first bot infrastructure including second instrumented instructions that record infrastructure-level performance data during execution of the plurality of bots; obtaining the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data recorded by the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure; generating or modifying a respective bot dependency chain based on the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data recorded by the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure, wherein the respective bot dependency chain represents at least one of dependencies amongst the plurality of bots automating different business processes of the plurality of related business processes and dependencies amongst different business processes of the plurality of related business processes; and generating an outcome for the plurality of related business processes according to the respective bot dependency chain and the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data recorded by the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure.",
    "20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device, the one or more programs including instructions for: interfacing with a plurality of bots executing on a first bot infrastructure, each bot of the plurality of bots automating one or more business processes of a plurality of related business processes, each bot including first instrumented instructions that record bot-specific performance data corresponding to respective one or more business processes of the plurality of related business processes automated on the first bot infrastructure by said each bot, the first bot infrastructure including second instrumented instructions that record infrastructure-level performance data during execution of the plurality of bots; obtaining the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data recorded by the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure; generating or modifying a respective bot dependency chain based on the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data recorded by the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure, wherein the respective bot dependency chain represents at least one of dependencies amongst the plurality of bots automating different business processes of the plurality of related business processes and dependencies amongst different business processes of the plurality of related business processes; and generating an outcome for the plurality of related business processes according to the respective bot dependency chain and the bot-specific performance data and the infrastructure-level performance data recorded by the plurality of bots and the first bot infrastructure."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present disclosure relates generally to testing frameworks, and more specifically, to systems and methods that enable operation management and monitoring of software bots that automate business processes.\n\nRobotic Process Automation (RPA) includes technologies used to automate repetitive human activity in business processes. RPA enables businesses to accomplish tasks more efficiently and accurately. RPA has evolved beyond its early form in screen scraping, and includes complex techniques for processing and entering data into an interface meant to be used by a human. The advent of virtualization technology has led to scalable RPA deployments. However, such systems have also complicated maintenance of conventional software. For example, software bots that implement business processes create unexpected issues with graphical user interfaces used in business environments. Moreover, large-scale operation of RPA requires that the operation of hundreds, if not thousands, of such bots are continuously monitored, and that appropriate actions are taken, sometimes in real-time.\n\nIn addition to the problems set forth in the background section, there are other reasons where an improved system and method of performing operation and monitoring of software bots are needed. For example, some existing tools and products for managing the operation of RPA bots fail to provide the right granularity of information and control for business users. Bot failures are not traced to business process failures, or vice-versa. Moreover, such tools also lack one or more features required for the proper monitoring of software bots.",
  "cpc": [
    "H04L 67/125",
    "G06F 17/18",
    "G06Q 10/103",
    "H04L 67/10",
    "H04L 67/53",
    "H04L 69/40"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "G06F 15/173",
    "G06F 17/18",
    "G06Q 10/10",
    "H04L 29/08"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Prokarma Inc"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Ramanathan Sathianarayanan",
    "Krishna Bharath Kashyap"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2019-09-25",
  "publication_date": "2020-08-04",
  "grant_date": "2020-08-04",
  "priority_date": "2019-08-14",
  "application_number": "US-201916583118-A",
  "family_id": "71838714",
  "cited_by_count": 20,
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}