Conformance authority reconciliation

Abstract

An automated method for facilitating management of a data processing environment is disclosed. In various embodiments, the method may include facilitating detecting of a change to an element of a data processing device of the data processing environment. In various embodiments, the method may further include facilitating reconciling the change with a conformance authority, the conformance authority having one or more guidelines. Other embodiments of the present invention may include, but are not limited to, apparatuses adapted to facilitate practice of the above-described method.

1 . An automated method for facilitating management of a data processing environment comprising:
 facilitating detecting of a change to an element of a data processing device of the data processing environment; and   facilitating reconciling the change with a conformance authority, the conformance authority having one or more guidelines.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein facilitating detecting comprises facilitating taking a snapshot of a current state of the element, and comparing the snapshot to a previously taken snapshot of a prior state of the element. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the prior state is the baseline state. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein facilitating reconciling the change comprises determining whether at least one of the one or more guidelines of the conformance authority relates to at least a subset of the element where the change was detected. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein facilitating reconciling the change comprises determining whether the change detected violates at least one of the one or more guidelines. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the method further comprises facilitating definition of one or more responses on determining whether the change detected violates at least one of the one or more guidelines, wherein (a) the one or more responses include modifying a severity state of the change detected, (b) the one or more responses include a baseline response, and/or (c) the one or more responses include an alert response. 
     
     
         7 .- 9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . The method of claim  9 , wherein the alert response includes facilitating a user to modify the element to conform to at least one of the one or more guidelines of the conformance authority. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising facilitating determining one or more users associated with the change. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising reporting the change supplemented with a performance parameter of the data processing device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising reporting the change among a plurality of detected changes, the reporting supplemented with one or more performance parameters of a plurality of data processing devices. 
     
     
         14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data processing device is a device selected from the group consisting of a networking device, a server, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a cellular phone, a set top box, and a media player. 
     
     
         16 .- 21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . An apparatus comprising:
 a storage medium having stored therein instructions adapted to enable the apparatus to
 facilitate detection of a change to an element of a data processing device of a data processing environment, and 
 facilitate reconciliation of the change with a conformance authority, the conformance authority having one or more guidelines; and 
   a processor coupled to the storage medium and adapted to execute the instructions.   
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the instructions are further adapted to enable the apparatus to facilitate detection of the change by at least taking a snapshot of a current state of the element, and comparing the snapshot to a previously taken snapshot of a prior state of the element. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the instructions are further adapted to enable the apparatus to facilitate reconciliation of the change by at least determining whether at least one of the one or more guidelines of the conformance authority relates to at least a subset of the element where the change was detected. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the instructions are further adapted to enable the apparatus to facilitate reconciliation of the change by at least determining whether the change detected violates at least one of the one or more guidelines. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 25 , wherein the instructions are further adapted to enable the apparatus to facilitate definition of one or more responses upon the reconciliation module determining whether the change detected violates at least one of the one or more guidelines. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 26 , wherein the one or more responses include an alert response. 
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 26 , wherein the one or more responses include an elevate to baseline response. 
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the apparatus is further adapted to maintain or demonstrate control of one or more selected from the group consisting of an enterprise's information technology infrastructure, an enterprise's financial systems, an enterprise's financial data and an enterprise's business processes. 
     
     
         30 . An apparatus comprising:
 a change control subsystem adapted to identify a change to an element of a data processing device of a data processing environment; and   an audit subsystem coupled to the change control subsystem to provide an audit trail of reconciling the change with a conformance authority, the conformance authority having one or more guidelines.