Abstract:
A system includes one or more wireless handheld devices, one or more enterprise servers in communication with the one or more wireless handheld devices, and an enterprise server monitor in communication with the one or more enterprise servers to collect communications performance data from one or more of the one or more enterprise servers in communication with one or more of the one or more wireless handheld devices associated with a select group of users, and to generate one or more alerts if the collected communications performance data match one or more alert conditions, the one or more alert conditions being indicative of one or more levels of potential communication failures.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to systems and methods for monitoring the availability and performance of a communications enterprise server, and more particularly to a system and method for monitoring the availability and performance of an enterprise server communicating with wireless handheld devices. 
     2. Discussion of the Related Art 
     Because of the mobile nature of today&#39;s society, wireless handheld devices play a critical role in enterprises. Wireless handheld devices allow users to send and receive email, for example, over wireless networks. An example of one such device is the BlackBerry®, which was introduced in 1999, that supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services. 
     Generally, if there are performance issues with the email services in an enterprise, such as a system outage or slow system performance, affected users of the service will notify the Information Technology (IT) help desk of the enterprise about the issues. The first-level IT support must handle all of the phone calls or other communications and address each user&#39;s problems individually. The first-level IT support may not even know there is a system-wide problem when working to solve each user&#39;s complaint until a large number of service problems of a similar nature has been logged. By then, many users have already been affected, and IT support has to rush to figure out the source of the problem in a reactive manner. Thus, there remains a need for a system, method, and software that acts as a centralized link between wireless handheld devices, enterprise applications, and wireless networks to proactively monitor the performance of the communications to detect early warning signs of systemic failures. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an enterprise server monitor that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art. 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for monitoring one or more enterprise servers running communications applications. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for proactively monitoring enterprise servers running communications applications for performance issues. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method to monitor select users of wireless handheld devices for issues related to the delivery of content while taking into account performance conditions such as whether the issues are occurring during work hours or non-work hours, status of the wireless handheld device, or the battery level of the wireless handheld device. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for identifying whether the detected performance issue is originating from the enterprise network or carrier networks. 
     Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. 
     To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a system includes one or more wireless handheld devices, one or more enterprise servers in communication with the one or more wireless handheld devices, and an enterprise server monitor in communication with the one or more enterprise servers to collect communications performance data from one or more of the one or more enterprise servers in communication with one or more of the one or more wireless handheld devices associated with a select group of users, and to generate one or more alerts if the collected communications performance data match one or more alert conditions, the one or more alert conditions being indicative of one or more levels of potential communication failures. 
     In another aspect, an enterprise server monitor includes a server in communication with one or more enterprise servers, the one or more enterprise servers in communication with one or more wireless handheld devices, the server including a watcher service to collect communications performance data from one or more of the one or more enterprise servers in communication with one or more of the one or more wireless handheld devices associated with a select group of users, and to generate one or more alerts if the collected communications performance data match one or more alert conditions, the one or more alert conditions being indicative of one or more levels of potential communication failures. 
     In yet another aspect, a method includes selecting one or more users of one or more wireless handheld devices for monitoring, collecting communications performance data from one or more enterprise servers in communication with the one or more wireless handheld devices, comparing the collected communications performance data with one or more alert conditions, and generating one or more alerts if the collected communications performance data match one or more alert conditions, the one or more alert conditions being indicative of one or more levels of potential communication failures. 
     In still yet another aspect, a computer program product including a computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed on a computer, configure the computer to perform a method comprising the steps of selecting one or more users of one or more wireless handheld devices for monitoring, collecting communications performance data from one or more enterprise servers in communication with the one or more wireless handheld devices, comparing the collected communications performance data with one or more alert conditions, and generating one or more alerts if the collected communications performance data match one or more alert conditions, the one or more alert conditions being indicative of one or more levels of potential communication failures. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a system diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 2A-2D  illustrate-exemplary process flows in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIGS. 3A-3B  illustrate exemplary service flows in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary configuration interface; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary database table in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIGS. 6-8  illustrate exemplary screens in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  shows a network diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the exemplary system of the present invention includes wireless handheld devices  101  for sending and receiving information, such as electronic mail or calendar data. The information may be stored on enterprise-class email systems, such as email servers  104 . Microsoft Exchange® servers and Domino® servers are examples of email servers  104 . The email servers  104  may communicate directly with the enterprise server (“ES”)  106  and ES database  105 . For example, the wireless handheld devices  101  may be Blackberry® devices, the service provider may be a provider of Blackberry® service, the enterprise servers may be Blackberry® enterprise servers (“BES”), and databases may be BES databases. However, other types of communication devices and communication services and protocols may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     In the exemplary embodiment, the ES  106  has an ES application linking the wireless handheld devices  101 , the wireless carriers  102 , and the email servers  104 . The ES application may be used to synchronize email and other information, such as personal information or corporate data between a computer desktop and the wireless handheld device  101  of a user. In some embodiments, there may be a plurality of enterprise servers  106  running the ES application. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the ES database  105  is included in the ES  106  running the ES application. However, other combinations may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the ES database  105  may be located on one or more separate database servers in communication with the ES application running on a plurality of enterprise servers  106 . 
     Examples are provided to illustrate sending and receiving email through a wireless handheld device  101 . To receive email through a wireless handheld device  101 , the drafted email is sent to the email server  104  to be delivered to the wireless handheld device  101 . The ES  106  locates the email and forwards it to the service provider servers  103  through a network, such as the Internet. The service provider servers  103  then send the email to one or more wireless carriers  102 . The wireless carriers  102  then transmit the email to the wireless handheld device  101  for viewing. To send email from the wireless handheld device  101 , the process may be reversed. 
     The ES database  105  stores, among other things, data related to the communications between the wireless handheld devices  101  and the ES  106 . Some of the data include, but are not limited to, IT policies, mobile data service (“MDS”) configurations, personal identification number (“PIN”) email data, user statistics, sync data, wireless data, and any other information concerning the communications betweens the wireless handheld devices  101  and the ES  106 . For example, the PIN-email data is used by the wireless handheld device  101  to identify the device and ensure that the email or other data destined for a particular individual assigned to the wireless hand held device  101  is delivered properly. The data may provide the appropriate settings for a wireless handheld device  101  to work within the restrictions of an enterprise and may provide statistics on a user&#39;s usage of a wireless handheld device  101 . The statistics aid in categorizing a wireless handheld device  101  by the ES watcher service  108 . The data also may help in providing routing and communication between the ES  106  and the service provider servers  103 . 
     The ES  106  feeds the communications data stored in the ES database  105  to an ES watcher server  107 . The ES watcher server  107  includes an ES watcher service  108  that monitors the communications data fed to the ES watcher server  107 . The ES watcher service  108  may be a service application run in the background without any user intervention. The ES watcher service  108  monitors activities on the ES  106  or ES database  105  for any issues relating to the communications between the ES  106  and the wireless handheld device  101 , such as successful delivery of content, for example. The communications issues may include internal issues, such as events between the email servers  104  and the ES  106 , or external issues, such as events between the ES  106  and the service provider servers  103  and/or wireless carriers  102 . Other network affecting events, such as building outages that may disrupt the communications service are also monitored. In some embodiments where there are multiple enterprise servers  106  or ES databases  105 , the ES watcher service  108  receives activity feeds from the multiple enterprise servers  106  or ES databases  105 . 
     If the ES watcher service  108  is running and is in an active state, the ES watcher service  108  accesses data stored in the enterprise server  106  at a refresh period. The refresh period may be modified. For example, a refresh period of ten minutes may be used, and the ES watcher service  108  accesses data stored in the enterprise server every ten minutes. 
     The ES watcher service  108  in accordance with the present invention proactively identifies potential or confirmed communications performance issues. Once the ES watcher service  108  identifies potential or confirmed issues, it notifies the appropriate personnel of the performance issues by generating alerts. Thus, the ES watcher service  108  can prevent large numbers of wireless handheld device users from having to notify the appropriate personnel of issues with their communications services. 
     To determine the likelihood of a system-wide failure, the ES watcher service  108  monitors communications between the ES  106  and the wireless handheld device  101 . The ES watcher service  108  may generate alerts when defined conditions are met, such as if a threshold value is exceeded. For example, the threshold values may include a maximum number of pending messages or a maximum amount of time since a wireless handheld device has contacted a server. If a wireless handheld device  101  exceeds these threshold values, then an alert will be generated for that particular wireless handheld device  101 . The alert may list the conditions that caused the alert to be generated. If a problem with the communications service exists, then IT personnel can proactively address the problem. Based on the date or time monitoring is occurring by the ES watcher service  108 , criteria for when to generate alerts may vary. For example, one set of criteria may be used during work hours and another set of criteria may be used during non-work hours. When generating alerts, the ES watcher service  108  may also include analysis rules that take into account the status of the wireless handheld device  101 . For example, the battery level of the wireless handheld devices and whether the wireless handheld device has been muted may be considered by the ES watcher service  108 . If a wireless handheld device has been muted, then an alert will not be generated for that device. If the battery level of a wireless handheld device is low, then the alert will notify the appropriate personnel of this factor as there may not be an issue with communications service for this device. Other conditions may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     A user interface, such as a web browser, may be used to configure the ES watcher service  108  and to view warnings and alerts generated.  FIG. 4  is an example of an interface for configuration. Alternatively, the warnings and alerts may be received on handheld wireless devices assigned to users in charge of monitoring the communications system. For example, the ES watcher service  108  can be configured through a web interface to accept identification information of individuals, groups, or organizations who will receive alerts generated by the ES watcher service  108 . The ES watcher service  108  can be configured to accept source mailboxes being monitored by the ES watcher service  108 . The source mailboxes for monitoring are selected from among those that will provide a sampling of the communications activity, such as the mailboxes of high profile or frequent users of email, for example. The users of email selected for monitoring generally rely heavily on the communication between the ES  106  and the wireless handheld devices  101 , and may include senior management, executives, or IT support individuals with on-call duties. The ES watcher service  108  is configured with conditions for generating alerts. For example, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the exemplary interface includes conditions, such as the maximum number of pending messages allowed before an alert is generated, the maximum time period of last contact a user should have with the ES  106 , and a description of work-hours and non-work-hours. Other conditions may be included without departing from the scope of the invention. 
     The ES watcher service  108  may also receive input relating to users who have been temporarily or permanently “muted.” For example, if a user is “muted,” the ES watcher service  108  will not generate alerts for the wireless handheld device  101  of that user. Muting a user may include identifying through the ES watcher service  108  the source mailboxes that need to be “muted” and the reason for muting. The “muted” users are stored in the Users.xml file  302   a  to be described further below. For temporary muting, the user may be “unmuted” either manually or after a designated expiration date or time has passed. 
       FIGS. 2A-2D  illustrate an exemplary monitoring process performed by the ES watcher service  108 .  FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate an exemplary flow of the service running on the ES watcher server  107 . For example,  FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate exemplary calls performed by the ES watcher service  108  during the exemplary monitoring process illustrated in  FIGS. 2A-2D . 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the ES watcher service  108  retrieves application configuration data (step  201 ). To retrieve application configuration data, the function checkConfig  301  retrieves initial values for the primary settings or configurations of the ES watcher service  108  from the App.config file  301  including configuration data accepted by the ES watcher service  108  during configuration. 
       FIG. 4  is an exemplary configuration interface for entering configuration data. For instance, the configuration data includes conditions and management of the alerts, such as identifying to whom the alerts are to be sent, the source mailboxes for the alerts, the maximum number of pending messages allowed before an alert is generated, the maximum time period of last contact a wireless handheld device should have with the ES  106  before an alert is generated, and/or a description of work-hours and non-work-hours. For further accuracy, the configuration data may include additional criteria, such as whether the handheld wireless devices have been turned off/on and/or are out of battery life. The data for a user&#39;s last contact may be based on the last forward time of a message or the last sent time a message was sent. For purposes of example only, criteria may be set where if three of the selected wireless handheld devices have a last contact with the server greater than one hour and thirty minutes on a weekday and three hours on a weekend, then an alert is generated. Other examples of criteria for generating an alert include but are not limited to: if five of the selected wireless handheld devices have last contact and pending values greater than a set limit; if ten of the selected wireless handheld devices at a location have last contact and pending values greater than a set limit; or if all of the selected wireless handheld devices have a last contact of a similar range. The ES Watcher service  108  uses the configuration data to determine when to generate alerts and/or to whom the alerts are sent. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, once the ES watcher service  108  has been configured, the ES watcher service  108  scans and updates monitored users (step  202 ). Function cleanUsersXml  302  scans through the monitored users on the ES database  105 . The list of monitored users may be stored in the Users.xml file  302   a . The Users.xml file  302   a  is updated with any changes in user data, such as if the service provider server  103  of the user has been changed. If the expiration date or time has passed in which the user was muted, function cleanUsersXml  302  will reinstate (“unmute”) the user for monitoring and update the Users.xml file  302   a.    
     The ES watcher service  108  clears its cache (step  203 ) after function checkConfig  301  is called. Function clearCache  303  is executed to reset statistical data used by the ES watcher service  108  as well as other data needed for the monitoring. In addition, function clearCache  303  may clear the queue of the ES watcher service  108 , which may be used to store identification information for users who need to be alerted when certain events are detected in the ES  106 . 
     Using the configuration data stored in the App.config file  301   a , the ES watcher service  108  is configured with criteria for generating alerts (step  204 ). Function getWorkStatus  304  retrieves the configuration data stored in an App.config file  301   a . Based on the configuration data and the current date and time, the function getWorkStatus  304  will set criteria for when an alert should be triggered.  FIG. 2D  is an example of the process used by the ES watcher service  108  for setting the criteria for generating alerts. This function retrieves the current date and time (step  204   a ). Based on the date and time, a determination is made as to whether it is work hours or non-work hours (step  204   b ). For example, if the current date and time retrieved from the ES watcher server  107  is 4:00 pm on a workday, then alert criteria for work hours will be used. However, if it is 4:00 pm on a Saturday, then alert criteria for non-work hours will be used. 
     Function getWorkStatus  304  may determine the maximum number of pending messages (step  204   c ). The maximum number of pending messages describes a factor in which a trigger can be generated if a user has more than the maximum number of pending messages in their mailbox. The number of pending messages for a wireless handheld device is generated using data stored on the ES database  106 . Because some users may receive large numbers of messages in a short period of time, the number may be set to ten or more pending messages to avoid false alerts. The maximum time period of last contact a user has with the ES  106  or ES database  105  may also be determined (step  204   d ). In the alternative, the data for generating alerts may be based on scanning server logs for SRP connectivity, MAPI health, mail flow and connectivity to users&#39; mailboxes. Function getWorkStatus  304  may determine the source mailboxes of the alerts (i.e., the user mailboxes that are being monitored) (step  204   e ) and to whom alerts are to be sent (step  204   f ). 
     The ES Watcher service  108  processes user data (step  205 ). For example, the function processUsers  305  may retrieve user identification information, such as a user ID, from the Users.xml file  302   a  or the App.config file  301   a . The function may then create a list of user IDs. The user IDs are used to determine user statistics, such as the number of pending messages and the last contact time with the server for a user. Function processUsers  305  may identify permanently or temporarily “muted” users. These users will not be monitored while they are muted and therefore are not added to the list of user IDs. Once the monitoring list is generated by function processUsers  305 , the function passes the list to the getStats function  306 . 
     The monitoring list may identify multiple user IDs separated by a space delimiter to be processed by processUsers  305 . Alternatively, function processUsers  305  may be a SQL function. By using this function, a single query can retrieve statistics about the monitored users. This can allow for better processing of statistics of the users being monitored and avoids having to monitor all of the users on the ES  105 . In alternative embodiments, multiple queries can be used to retrieve data from the ES database  105 . 
     The processed user data is then stored (step  206 ). For example, function getStats  306  may receive the list of user IDs from the processUsers  305  function and pass the list of user IDs to a stored procedure. In an exemplary embodiment, this procedure is a SQL server stored procedure called “procBESWatcher.” The stored procedure may be used to query the ES database  105  and generate a data table (steps  207  and  208 ). The data table can contain various columns and rows containing data. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary statistical data table. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the data table may contain a “User ID” column, a “Last Contact” column, and a “Pending” column. The data table may also include a date and time stamp and the last sent time/last forward time of a message. The data stored in the “User ID” column include user IDs, such as an email address or PIN for each user&#39;s wireless handheld device. The data stored in the “Last Contact” column includes the period of time that has passed since the last contact with the ES  106  for each user. The last contact period may be determined by taking the lowest value from the difference between the date and time stamp and the last sent time/last forward time data stored in the “Last Sent Time/Last Forward Time” column for each user. The data stored in the “Pending” column includes the number of pending messages for each user. 
     Function writeStats  306   a  can generate an XML file of the data table generated by the function getStats  306 . This XML file, described as UsersStats.xml  306   b  in  FIG. 3A , can be used for graphing statistics of monitored users by the ES watcher service  108 . For example, statistics about users&#39; wireless handheld devices and/or the enterprise servers can be generated. Additionally, the statistical data may be filtered based on parameters such as the carrier, the number of pending emails, or the total number of emails sent and received. The generated statistics may then be viewed through a web interface, for example. 
     The ES watcher service  108  compares the data stored in the data table, such as that shown in  FIG. 5 , to the criteria for generating alerts. For example, the function processRules  307  may launch and begin processing of the data stored in the data table shown in  FIG. 5 . The criteria set by function getWorkStatus  304  will be compared to the data stored in the data table. Function processPending  307   a  may take the number stored in each row of the “Pending” column for each user in the data table of  FIG. 5  and compare it to the maximum number of pending messages value. If the number of pending messages for a user is greater than the maximum number of pending messages value, then the user ID, such as the user&#39;s name, email address, or PIN, will be added to a queue of the ES watcher service  108  for alerting (step  210 ). Function processLastContact  307   b  may take the number stored in each row of the “Last Contact” column for each user in the data table of  FIG. 5  and compare it to the maximum last contact value. If the last contact for a user is greater than the maximum last contact value, then a user identification, such as the user&#39;s name, email address, or PIN, will be added to a queue of the ES watcher service  108  for alerting. 
     The function processQueue  308  may retrieve the queues generated from the function processPending  307   a  and the function processLastContact  307   b . At step  211 , the data in the queue may be sorted. For example, the function processQueue  308  may process the user ID data stored in the queues and sort the data. The sorting can be based on the data stored in the data table, such as the one shown in  FIG. 5 . For example, the sorting may be based on a user&#39;s electronic mail or the user ID. 
     The ES watcher service  108  generates emails or other alerts using data in the queue (step  212 ). The sorted list may be passed to the function genEmail  309 . The function genEmail  309  may loop through the list and format the email based on the sorted list (step  213 ). The source and destination for the email may be set (step  214 ). For example, the function sendEmail  310  may set the source and destination of the email based on the configuration information, such as information identifying to whom alerts are to be sent. The ES watcher service  108  may then send the email(s) (step  215 ). For example, the function sendEmail  310  may pass the message to a configured SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) host. This may be the email servers  104  shown in  FIG. 1 . The email servers then send the message to a recipient, such as an IT specialist monitoring the ES  105 . It is to be understood that the alerts may be sent via other communication channels without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, IT specialists logged onto the ES  106  may receive direct alert feeds from the ES Watcher Service  108  without going through the email servers  104 . 
     There may be several different types of email alerts generated. For example, a carrier alert may be generated when alert conditions are met for users across multiple enterprise servers, thereby indicating a potential issue with the carrier. An example of a carrier alert is shown in  FIG. 6 . The email may be formatted so that users are grouped by their associated enterprise server. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the exemplary alert indicates the users have a similar time period of no connectivity even though the users are assigned to different servers. Such conditions may indicate a potential issue with the carrier. 
     The data in the email may be separated by various delimiters. For example, the email may be formatted as follows: 
     Server: ES01 
     User: User1 (11) [0 Hr(s) 17 Mins]&lt;80%&gt;. 
     The server may be the enterprise server that a user&#39;s data is stored on. “User1” may be the name or user ID of the specific user from which the alert triggered. The value in ( ) may be the number of emails pending. The value in [ ] may be the amount of time that has passed since the last contact or last forward to the enterprise server. The value in &lt; &gt; may be the battery strength of the wireless handheld device. 
       FIG. 7  is an example of a server alert that indicates a potential issue with a particular enterprise server. The email alert may group the user or users based on the enterprise server. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the server alert indicates users having a similar time period of no connectivity on a common enterprise server. Such condition may indicate a problem with the identified enterprise server. 
       FIG. 8  is an example of a user alert that indicates a potential issue at the user level. For example, the alert in  FIG. 8  may indicate that the handheld wireless device of the identified user may be out of service and has not been able to connect with the enterprise server. IT support may then attempt to troubleshoot the user&#39;s problem based on the email alert. Other email alerts may be generated by the ES watcher service  108  without departing from the scope of the invention. 
     The ES watcher service  108  may monitor and alert based on the battery level of a user&#39;s wireless handheld device. This monitoring can provide better insight into an alert sent by the service. For example, if a battery level is low, the wireless handheld device may turn off the wireless or a user may shut the device down. In this case, there are likely no major issues with the successful delivery of content, such as issues with internal servers or external carriers. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the enterprise server monitor of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.